Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/219972
murphy's Law dan murphy A Big Plays Make Little Difference small patch of green appeared between freshman receiver Will Fuller and Stanford cornerback Wayne Lyons on what turned out to be the last meaningful play of Notre Dame's regular season. Like an eye springing open in a brief moment of false hope, the separation ford held on to beat the Irish 27-20 in its home finale. Rees' deep heave came up short, and so did Notre Dame's bid for a regular-season-ending upset on the road. It should have been a perfect metaphor for the game and for Kelly's 2013 team as a whole: Sustained suc- Stanford grinded its way to a 419-263 advantage in total yards despite notching just one play of more than 25 yards, and it also converted three of its five red-zone trips into touchdowns. photo by bill panzica came and went just as senior quarterback Tommy Rees let loose with a 38yard bomb down the sideline. Fuller tried to fight his way back to the underthrown pass, but it wasn't to be. "We just needed to make another play," head coach Brian Kelly said. "We had an opportunity. We just couldn't get the ball to Will when we needed to." Lyons intercepted the ball, his second pick of the quarter, and No. 8 Stan- cess kept just a tantalizing arm's reach away. But that's far too neat and tied with a bow for the slugfest that Stanford-Notre Dame has become on an annual basis. All three of Notre Dame's captains delivered the message after the loss. The big opportunities were there, they said, the Irish just didn't seize them. "At the end of the day, Stanford made more plays than us," fifth-year senior left tackle Zack Martin said.