Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/904117
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 27, 2017 39 17‑14 on a fourth‑down‑go‑for‑broke 23‑yard touchdown pass from Ever‑ ett Golson to tight end Ben Koyack with 1:09 remaining. The 10‑1 Irish appeared to have another 11th‑hour win the follow‑ ing year when DeShone Kizer scored the go‑ahead touchdown and Justin Yoon kicked the extra point with 30 seconds remaining for a 36‑35 advan‑ tage. Remarkably, the Cardinal drove into field goal range and won 38‑36 when kicker Conrad Ukropina con‑ verted from 45 yards as time elapsed. In the seven seasons from 2000‑06, Notre Dame had a school‑record seven straight games versus Michi‑ gan State that were decided by seven or fewer points, or basically one pos‑ session. This series could challenge that mark. THE WEEK AFTER NAVY With last year the exception, Notre Dame has not fared well the past 10 years against opponents the week after playing Navy's triple‑option attack. Aiding its cause last year in the 44‑6 rout of Army West Point is the Black Knights also ran the triple option and were dominated by the well‑prepared Irish defense, getting limited to 229 rushing yards and a meager 13 passing yards. The defense recalibrating to a more conventional offense like Stanford's might sound simple, but it often hasn't turned out well in the contest after the Midshipmen. In fairness, most of the opposition was pretty darn good, which can be said about Stanford this year as well. In 2015, Notre Dame rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat USC 41‑31, although the Irish did permit 590 yards of total offense. In 2014, the 49‑39 win versus Navy was followed by a 55‑31 defeat at No. 11 Arizona State in which the Irish fell behind 34‑3 — similar to the opening salvo Miami fired at them this Nov. 11. In 2013, the back‑and‑forth 38‑34 victory versus Navy, in which there were a Notre Dame school‑record nine lead changes, was draining and possibly showed the next week when the Irish were upset 28‑21 at Pitt. In 2012, the Irish needed a field goal with seven seconds left to defeat Purdue 20‑17 the week after defeat‑ ing Navy 50‑10 in Ireland. In 2011, following a 56‑14 win over the Midshipmen, Notre Dame trailed at halftime at Wake Forest before ral‑ lying to a 24‑17 win. In 2010, the 35‑17 debacle against the Midshipmen carried over with a 28‑27 home loss to Tulsa. In Charlie Weis' final three sea‑ sons as Notre Dame's head coach (2007‑09), the week after Navy also was a problem with losses to Air Force (2007) and a 2‑8 Syracuse team at home (2008). The Navy loss in 2009 (23‑21) was the first of four defeats in a row to end his career with the Irish. Stanford has its own gauntlet to run in the final five games of 2017 when it traveled to Oregon State and survived a 15‑14 scare, lost 24‑21 at Washington State, and followed with a 30‑22 victory against then top‑10 Washington before facing archrival Cal and then concluding with Notre Dame. If there is a potential benefit for the Irish, it's that they have the knowl‑ edge that they don't have to play the next week, whereas Stanford is still looking at the possibility of compet‑ ing in the Dec. 2 Pac‑12 champion‑ ship game as the North Division champion. ✦ GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD Predictions Corey Bodden: Notre Dame 30, Stanford 24 Notre Dame is 1-3 against Stanford the past four seasons, but the Cardinal isn't as efficient on defense as usual, leaving room for the Irish to take advantage. That helps Notre Dame pull out a tough victory. Bryan Driskell: Notre Dame 37, Stanford 24 This is a tale of two teams who run it well but don't pass it well. In the end, the Irish defense will allow the Notre Dame ground attack to roll the Cardinal. David McKinney: Notre Dame 34, Stanford 21 The battle between breakaway artists Josh Adams and Bryce Love should be entertaining, but I think Adams has more pieces around him over four quarters. Lou Somogyi: Notre Dame 31, Stanford 23 Notre Dame has never lost its final regular season game in five consecutive seasons, but falling to Stanford would establish that mark. It needs to avoid that dubious distinction. Each of the last five Notre Dame-Stanford clashes have come down to the final series, including the 38-36 Cardinal victory in Palo Alto in 2015 that was decided on the last play. PHOTO COURTESY STANFORDPHOTO.COM