Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/219972
Junior left guard Conor Hanratty (above) was part of a revamped Notre Dame interior that lost center Nick Martin and guard Chris Watt to season-ending knee injuries the last two games. 10 at the time of the game. Two of the three losses were to Stanford, first in 2011 (28-14) when the Cardinal was No. 4 and this year with them at No. 8. The other defeat was to No. 2 Alabama (42-14) in last January's BCS National Championship Game. The victories came in 2012 at No. 10 Michigan State (20-3) and No. 8 Oklahoma (30-13). 3 New offensive linemen in the Notre Dame interior after an early second-quarter injury to fifth-year senior guard Chris Watt sidelined him for the rest of the game. Junior Matt Hegarty was making his first career start at center, while junior Conor Hanratty filled in at left guard and freshman Steve Elmer has been the regular at right guard since Oct. 26. Quarterback sacks yielded all season by Notre Dame in 383 attempts, with one coming against Stanford, which ranked in the top 10 nationally in sacks recorded. That was the second fewest sacks allowed in the country this regular season (behind Toledo), and no team in the nation permitted fewer sacks in as many pass attempts. 8 12 photo by bill panzica Times in the last 20 seasons (since 1994) that Notre Dame lost a minimum of four games during the regular season. It also is the sixth time in the last seven years, with the 12-1 mark in 2012 the exception. 16.8 Points averaged by Notre Dame in its last four meetings against Stanford. In all four the Irish have been unable to score more than two touchdowns and eclipse 20 points. 61 Career touchdown passes by senior quarterback Tommy Rees after firing scoring tosses to senior TJ Jones and junior DaVaris Daniels. That surpassed Jimmy Clausen's 60 for second place on the all-time Irish chart. Brady Quinn (2003-06) is easily No. 1 with 95. 1993 The year junior Irish cornerback Tom Carter turned pro and became a firstround selection along with fellow junior Jerome "The Bus" Bettis. Carter's son, Alex, is now a starting sophomore cornerback for the Stanford Cardinal.