being," Kizer said. "We know how to
go about a fourth-quarter comeback
now."
Unfortunately for the Irish, there
was still one more heartbreak left on
the 2015 slate in the 38-36 loss at Stan-
ford Nov. 28.
In one of college football's best
games of 2015, the Irish and Cardinal
went back and forth for 60 minutes,
each trying to make a strong case for
inclusion in the College Football Play-
off.
When Kizer 's keeper put the Irish
ahead 36-35 with 30 seconds to play,
the lead looked safe. Stanford, how-
ever, had one more scoring drive left
in the tank. Aided by a facemask pen-
alty by junior defensive end Isaac Ro-
chell, head coach David Shaw's squad
traveled 45 yards in five plays to set
up the game-winning 45-yard field
goal by Conrad Ukropina. The kick
was good, and the Irish were 10-2.
"We truly thought that we were one
of the best teams in the country," Kizer
lamented. "The goal was to make it in
the playoffs. We know that that oppor-
tunity has kind of fallen away."
RED ZONE AND DEFENSIVE WOES
In the end, injuries proved to be
less costly for Notre Dame than its
struggles under second-year defensive
coordinator Brian VanGorder and red
zone issues on the other side of the
ball.
Only three times did Notre Dame
hold an opponent to less than 20
points, but what truly became frus-
trating for the Irish faithful to swallow
is how a unit laden with future NFL
talent could fall victim to the peaks
and valleys through which the 2015
