Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD RUN TO GLORY The last five meetings between Notre Dame and Stanford can be summarized by one major disparity: The running game. Stanford used to be known as a fi‑ nesse operation, but that changed in 2007 under new head coach Jim Har‑ baugh and continued from 2011‑13 with his successor David Shaw. The Cardinal defeated Notre Dame in four of the last five meetings by dom‑ inating the line of scrimmage with the run while also stifling the Irish ground attack. • In 2009, Stanford outrushed Notre Dame 296‑107 yards in its 45‑38 vic‑ tory. Heisman Trophy runner‑up Toby Gerhart carried 29 times for 205 yards and scored three of Stanford's four rushing touchdowns. • In 2010, the Cardinal held a 166‑44 dominance on ground yardage over the Irish during a 37‑14 victory in Notre Dame Stadium. • In 2011, Stanford led 28‑7 before a late Irish score made the score a more respectable 28‑14. Even though Heisman Trophy runner‑up Andrew Luck was in his third season as the starting quarterback, the Cardinal ran 42 times for 196 yards (Stepfan Taylor cracked the 100‑yard barrier a second straight season with 20 carries for 118 yards) while Notre Dame's 31 carries netted only 57 yards. • The one year, 2012, in the past five where Notre Dame outgained Stanford on the ground happened to be the lone Irish victory, 20‑13 in over‑ time. The Irish amassed 150 yards rushing to Stanford's 147. Most nota‑ bly, Notre Dame stopped four straight Cardinal running plays near the goal line in overtime to secure the victory. • Last year, Stanford again con‑ trolled the contest with its power at‑ tack that saw it carry 51 times for 261 yards — with 33 carries for 189 yards TOP STOrylineS Notre Dame has been outrushed by an average of 229.8-68.0 yards per game in its last four losses to Stanford. In their lone victory versus the Cardinal over the past five years, Theo Riddick (being tackled above) and the Irish had a 150-147 edge on the ground in 2012. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA