Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Critical to Notre Dame's success was limiting Stanford wide receiver Ty Montgomery's effectiveness. The Cardinal used him in a number of roles, including on jet sweeps and in the wildcat formation, but the Irish held him to 12 receiving yards and 14 rushing yards. "We focused on it," senior line- backer Joe Schmidt said. "You've got to understand that he's very explo- sive and one of the best playmakers in the country. There's a reason everyone knows Ty Montgomery's name. I tried to know where he was on every play. They did some interesting things to get him the ball." One of Notre Dame's methods of holding him at bay on special teams was to employ Smith on kickoff cover- age for the first time this season. "They have a top-five kickoff return team," Smith said. "Coach [Kelly] came up to me Monday and told me I was going to be on kickoff this week, and I said, 'Good.' " While Montgomery's lone kickoff return went for 42 yards, Notre Dame considers it a success because they "kept him in the park," to steal a base- ball phrase. The first Stanford touchdown — a 10-yard run by quarterback Kevin Ho- gan — came after an Everett Golson fumble backed the Irish defense up against the goal line. With 3:01 left in the game and the Cardinal facing a third-and-goal at the Irish 11-yard line, running back Remound Wright slipped through the middle of Notre Dame's defense for an easy go-ahead score. "It was just a scenario where we were trying to disguise some things, and we got caught off guard," Smith said. "We shouldn't have because they did the same thing last year and we repped it all week. It just goes into buying into each play and knowing one play can cause a loss." That loss, however, will have to wait for another day. Notre Dame is 5-0, with much of the credit due to the de- fense from which little was expected. • Senior quarterback Everett Golson threw 12 touchdown passes in 13 games in 2012. With two touchdowns against Stanford, he has thrown for 13 through five games this season. Golson's rate of interceptions, however, has increased slightly. In 2012, he threw six interceptions over the course of the season. With one pick versus the Cardinal, Golson has already thrown three in 2014. • Junior slot receiver C.J. Prosise, who received praise from head coach Brian Kelly during the week for his run blocking on the perimeter, took a jet sweep handoff for a 26-yard run of his own in the second quarter. The carry was the first of Prosise's career. • Fifth-year senior captain Austin Collinsworth made his season debut after missing the first third of the year due to a sprained MCL. • When Stanford opted to receive the opening kickoff after winning the coin toss, it marked the first time this season the Irish did not begin the game on offense. • Prior to Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan's first-quarter touchdown run, Notre Dame had scored first in nine straight games, dating back to a 38-34 victory over Navy on Nov. 2, 2013. • Freshman defensive end Andrew Trumbetti's seven-yard sack in the third quarter was the first of his career. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES