Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/219972
on paper revisited Stanford Running Game Vs. Notre Dame Run Defense The Cardinal go into each game saying, "We're going to run, and you can't do anything about it," and follow through much more times than not. Tyler Gaffney's 189 rushing yards had few frills and probably 66 yards after initial contact on his 33 carries (we're guessing an average of two yards extra per carry after the first hit). By lou somogyi Anthony Wilkerson's 20-yard touchdown run through the middle on third-and-nine to make it 21-6 was crucial. Underrated was quarterback Kevin Hogan's 32 yards off the read option that helped freeze the Irish defense. His 15-yard run set up the first Cardinal touchdown and forced Notre Dame to honor that element, similar to Irish opponents with Everett Golson last year. Overall, 261 yards rushing, 5.1 yards per carry and no fumbles say it all. ADVANTAGE: Stanford Stanford Passing Game Vs. Notre Dame Pass Defense This was the sixth time in 12 games quarterback Kevin Hogan (12-of-18 passing for 158 yards) attempted less than 20 passes in a game, and he's never had to throw more than 27 times. Stanford's play-action passing is a thing of beauty because its running game is so potent. Notre Dame did a good job on leading receiver Ty Montgomery (three catches for 46 yards), but 6-4 wide receiver Devon Cajuste — who came into the game with 22 catches this year — burned the Irish on 23- and 16-yard catches, the second of which was a touchdown, on the first scoring drive, and then hauled in a 36-yarder during the touchdown march to open the second half. Still, the Irish defense did pick off two passes and became relatively more effective as the game progressed. ADVANTAGE: Even Notre Dame Running Game Vs. Stanford Run Defense Freshman running back Tarean Folston paced Notre Dame's ground attack with 50 yards on 14 carries, but the Irish netted only 64 yards as a team. photo by bill panzica Against the nation's third-ranked run defense, Notre Dame needed to probably duplicate last year's 150-yard rushing effort against the Cardinal to give itself a chance at victory. It came nowhere close with only 64, led by freshman Tarean Folston's 50 yards on 14 attempts. The stretch run was not functioning at all, and bad things happen when Notre Dame has to rely