Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DECEMBER 2021 21 BY TYLER HORKA E ven when things went right for Stanford, they went wrong. The Cardinal appeared to h ave b ro ke n No t re Da m e 's lengthy streak of not allowing an oppo- nent to score a touchdown in impressive fashion late in the second quarter, but a 44-yard scoring strike was called back for a chop block. The Cardinal tried to break up Notre Dame's shutout bid on the last play of the first half, but a 58-yard field goal attempt with plenty of leg soared wide left. No good — two words that defined not just that kick but Stanford's overall game on its home turf in the Cardinal's (3-9) sev- enth straight loss to end the season. The Fighting Irish, 45-14 winners, capped off an 11-1 campaign with their seventh straight win, meanwhile. Head coach Brian Kelly's team remains firmly in the College Football Playoff conver- sation after yet another convincing vic- tory over a Power Five opponent. "We made our case," Kelly said. "We'll now sit back and see what other people think, but we've got one of the best four teams without question in my mind in the country." The aforementioned touchdown-less streak for the Notre Dame defense was eventually snapped early in the second half. Graduate student Jack Coan threw an interception on the Irish's first pos- session of the third quarter and set the Cardinal up on the 13-yard line. Stan- ford scored two plays later. Still, Stan- ford was no match for the Irish. Coan connected with senior wide re- ceiver Kevin Austin Jr. on a 61-yard gain down the sideline on Notre Dame's next drive. Coan punched the ball into the end zone on a quarterback sneak two plays later. Coan completed 26 of 35 throws for 345 yards with two touchdowns. Junior running back Kyren Williams extended his touchdown scoring streak to eight games with a short plunge of his own and a 12-yard score in the final minute. He finished with 19 carries for 74 yards. Austin had six catches for 125 yards. Despite the streak snapping at 219 minutes of game time without allowing a touchdown, the Notre Dame defense still deserved its due for another stout per- formance. At one point late in the second half, Notre Dame had more points (24) than Stanford had total yards (23). Notre Dame held Stanford to 227 yards. The Cardinal couldn't do any- thing on the ground in averaging 2.5 yards per rush or through the air in av- eraging 8.6 yards per completion. "We controlled the controllable," Kelly said. "That was the theme all week. After today, we don't control anything. We were going to make sure today, we were going to control the outcome. "Whatever happened out there today, we made it happen. That was the sense we had from our team all day." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 7, STANFORD 0 Top Moment: Coan found senior wide receiver Braden Lenzy over the middle on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Lenzy burned the Stanford secondary on a post route, and Coan put the ball on the money to put Notre Dame ahead 7-0 a little more than five minutes into the game. Feature Performer: Coan connected on 10 of 12 passes for 115 yards and the touchdown in the first frame. He had a quarterback rating better than 300 af- ter the Irish's first drive. He was 3-of-3 passing for 45 yards on the possession. Stats: Notre Dame outgained Stan- ford 126-22 in total yards. The Irish av- eraged 7.4 yards per play to the Cardi- nal's 2.2. The Irish had eight first downs to the Cardinal's one. Items: Notre Dame's first play from scrimmage was a 33-yard completion to Austin … Coan completed passes to five different receivers in the first quarter (Austin, Lenzy, sophomore tight end Michael Mayer, Williams and freshman wide receiver Lorenzo Styles). SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 24, STANFORD 0 Top Moment: On the second play of the quarter, senior tight end George Takacs scored his second career touch- down from two yards out. The score put the Irish ahead 14-0. Feature Performer: Senior defen- sive end Justin Ademilola recorded a strip sack and eventually fell on top of the ball to not only register a forced fumble but a fumble recovery, too. Stats: Notre Dame outgained Stan- ford 108-25 in total yards. The Irish averaged 5.1 yards per play to the Car- dinal's 2.1. The Irish had seven first downs to the Cardinal's three. Items: Graduate student kicker Jon- athan Doerer made his 16th field goal of the season from 36 yards out to give Notre Dame a 17-0 lead … Williams scored his 16th total touchdown of the season to give Notre Dame a 24-0 lead. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 31, STANFORD 7 Top Moment: Coan threw a dart past a Stanford defender and into the hands of Austin for a gain of 61, the longest play from scrimmage for ei- ther team. He scored on a QB sneak two plays later to give Notre Dame a 31-7 lead. Feature Performer: Junior line- backer JD Bertrand had two tackles and a forced fumble. Stats: Notre Dame outgained Stan- ford 148-32 in total yards. The Irish averaged 8.2 yards per play to the Car- dinal's 2.7. The Irish had six first downs to the Cardinal's two. Items: Coan threw his sixth inter- ception of the season on Notre Dame's first drive of the second half … The STATEMENT MADE Notre Dame dominates in wire-to-wire 45-14 victory over Stanford Graduate student quarterback Jack Coan threw for 345 yards and two touchdowns in Notre Dame's 31-point win over Stanford. PHOTO BY CHUCK ARAGON