Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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permitted a rushing touchdown — not including the overtime goal-line stand versus Stanford. It is the lone team in the 120-team Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) not to permit a rushing score so far in 2012. BY THE NUMBERS 34 Quarters over a span of eight games, dat- ing back to 2011, that Notre Dame has not BY LOU SOMOGYI it finally fell behind for the first time, at the 6:06 mark of the second quarter. The Irish were the last team in the FBS to have not trailed in a contest this season, and this was the first time since 1947 it had not fallen behind in the first five games. 323:54 TAKING A CLOSER LOOK a defensive unit is making a play when the players' backs are against the wall. Notre Dame was able to stop the runs of a physically imposing Stanford offense by shutting down senior Stepfan Taylor on four straight tries from the 4-yard line to win the game in overtime. fense went five straight series in the first half without getting a first down, it started to ap- pear the Irish were going to have to rely on the defense or special teams to put points on the board. That didn't turn out to be the case, however. A quick spark in a series just before halftime included four first downs — more than the entire offensive production in the first half up to that point. • taking a (goal line) stand. The hardest test for displayed an ability to shut down the run game this season, and the young secondary group has continued to perform well in limiting the success of opponents through the air as well. The Irish defensive backs positioned themselves to take away the deep pass from Stanford, and the front line was able to apply pressure without a blitz package. This allowed the second level of the defense to drop into the zones where the potent Cardinal tight ends normally do their most dam- age. Notre Dame held the group to four catches for 55 yards. • Momentum shift. After Notre Dame's of- What Worked • Bracketing the tight ends. Notre Dame has back Everett Golson fumbled and lost the ball on three separate occasions. Besides not putting the ball away on his scrambles and showing his youth by trying to hit a pursuing defensive back head on instead of sliding or running out of bounds after getting the first down, he pressured numerous times when his backside protection broke down. • Discipline. Not only did the Irish have nine penal- What Didn't Work • Protecting the football. Sophomore quarter- Minutes and seconds played this season by Notre Dame before early putting a complete drive together and finding a way to combat Stanford loading the box, which forced the Irish to try to make plays downfield. The Irish eventually connected on some touch passes late in the contest, but it never came easy because of their inability to establish a balanced attack due to clogged running lanes. ties for 70 yards in the contest, but the mistakes were also being made at crucial times. Examples include a late hit on Cardinal quarterback Josh Nunes by sophomore defensive end Stephon Tuitt that negated a three-and-out for the defense at the Stanford 30- yard line and resulted in the Cardinal moving the ball all the way to Notre Dame's 8-yard line; a block in the back on a punt return that pushed the Irish back to their own 10-yard line and resulted in Golson being sacked, fumbling the ball and Stanford recovering in the end zone for its only touchdown of the game; and five false starts after earning a first down. • sustaining a drive. Notre Dame had trouble — Jason sapp