Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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it appeared they would be able to pick up significant yardage or a fresh set of downs. Freshman George Atkinson III slipped and fell during a kick return at the end of the first half. Sophomore wide receiver TJ Jones and junior run- ning back Cierre Wood were both tackled by the choppy grass a couple of times on important plays. The slippery Stanford turf drew attention during the Cardinal's last couple of home games, and Eifert said the equipment staff warned Irish players that they should wear longer, detachable cleats to help give them better footing on the field. "It was very slippery," Eifert said. "It didn't feel that bad when we were out there in warm-ups, but it kind of got moist and slippery as the game went on." MISSING JONAS Notre Dame's running game strug- gled mightily without senior running back Jonas Gray to eat up carries in the backfield. Gray's career ended when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the third quarter of a win over Boston College. During the week before the Stanford game, head coach Brian Kelly said Notre Dame would call on its two freshmen backs, George Atkinson III and Cam McDaniel, to help junior Cierre Wood occasionally. Neither freshman was used on of- fense, but junior wide receiver Theo Riddick motioned into the backfield on several occasions and carried the ball four times for a total of six yards. Wood didn't fare much better, run- ning 12 times for 41 net yards. Dual-threat quarterback Andrew Hendrix gave the Irish an extra run- ning threat in the second half, but they still struggled to move the ball against Stanford's run defense, which entered the game ranked No. 5 na- tionally while allowing an average of 90.3 yards a game. Hendrix tied Wood for a team-high 12 carries. He picked up 53 yards, but also lost 33 on sacks and other negative plays. NOT GOOD ENOUGH The expectations at Notre Dame are colossal, sometimes unrealistically so. But several Irish veterans said it was clear that this year's team failed to live up to its preseason expectations. "We don't come to Notre Dame to be 8-4," junior linebacker Manti Te'o 28 DECEMBER 2011 Sophomore running back Cierre Wood found the going difficult against a stout Stanford defense, plus a slippery field, and the Irish managed only 57 rushing yards on 31 attempts (1.8 yards per carry). PHOTO BY AARON SUOZZI Stanford Time of Possession Notre Dame Time of Possession 3rd-Down Conversions 4th-Down Conversions Avg. Field Position 3rd-Down Conversions 4th-Down Conversions Avg. Field Position NOTRE DAME VS. STANFORD QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final 8:06 2-4 0-0 9:06 3-3 0-0 ND-26 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) Stanford Poss. TD FG Score 2 Notre Dame 3 2 0 2 0 No 0 1 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards (-) Yards 0-5 Yards 6-9 Yards 10-19 Yards 20-29 Yards 30-39 Yards 40-49 Yards 50 or more Yards STAN ND 6 40 13 11 1 1 0 1 10 32 10 9 6 0 1 0 0-4 0-0 50 7:21 1-3 0-0 7:39 1-3 0-0 8:12 2-5 0-0 STAN-34 STAN-28 STAN-19 STAN-45 5:54 6:48 1-4 0-0 ND-24 Stanford • 3-3 ND28 Luck pass complete to Fleener for 28 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 STAN19 Taylor rush for 31 yards to the 50-yard line • 2-7 STAN45 Luck pass complete to Fleener for 55 yards and a touchdown Notre Dame • 2-15 ND23 Hendrix pass complete to Floyd for 25 yards to the ND48 • 3-1 ND40 Hendrix pass complete to Floyd for 25 yards to the STAN35 • 1-10 ND13 Hendrix pass complete to Riddick for 45 yards to the STAN42 ND-24 17:12 5-7 0-0 3-8 0-0 15:33 3-8 0-0 14:27 2-7 0-0 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final 6:54 3-4 0-0 ND-40 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) 32:45 8-15 0-0 STAN-31 STAN-34 STAN-32 12:48 27:15 5-15 0-0 ND-24 ND-32 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED