What they’re saying about Notre Dame’s 16-14 loss vs. Stanford
Notre Dame fans were left scratching their head after the Irish fell to a Stanford team that had lost four straight games coming into the contest. The Irish were scoreless against the Cardinal in the first half, and their efforts in the second half were too little, too late.
In this article, we’ll take a look around at what the media is saying about Notre Dame’s setback against Stanford, including Blue & Gold’s Mike Singer and Tim Hyde giving their instant reaction in a postgame live YouTube show.
Make sure to subscribe to the Blue & Gold YouTube channel here and tune in to The Mike Goolsby Show, which will be live on the page at 7 p.m. ET Sunday.
Patrick Engel, Blue & Gold: Another Notre Dame home dud reveals Marcus Freeman is still stuck on the same questions
SOUTH BEND – The plea was tongue-in-cheek, surely. At least partially. Its mere utterance, though, sums up just how far off course the first half of Marcus Freeman’s debut season as Notre Dame head coach has veered.
Moments after Irish players and coaches cleared the field, blank stares on their faces after a vibe-derailing 16-14 home loss to Stanford, a fan in Notre Dame Stadium’s north end zone stands bellowed three words to one of the remaining figures on the turf. That spectator saw former LSU head coach and 2019 national championship winner Ed Orgeron, a guest of Freeman this weekend, ambling toward the tunnel.
“Save us, ‘O!’” the fan yelled.
The fact such a line could even become material for a joke and the mere existence of cries for help points to a darker start to Freeman’s tenure than anyone reasonably predicted.
Notre Dame is 3-3 with two home defeats to teams that have combined for zero other FBS wins this year. Its three-game win streak that seemed to birth an identity is over. The Irish lost at home as a double-digit favorite for the second time this year. Stanford, which had lost 11 in a row to FBS teams, provided a nice path to extend the three-game winning streak. Instead, a Cardinal player did a brief Irish jig on his way off the field while Notre Dame gathered for another glum singing of the alma mater.
Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold: Grading Notre Dame football in loss to Stanford
Notre Dame lost at home as a heavy favorite for the second time this season. The Fighting Irish fell to Stanford, 16-14, in a game that was in some ways even worse than the defeat against Marshall in Week 2.
Here’s a report card explaining why.
Notre Dame Passing Offense: D
A 70-plus percent passer in junior quarterback Drew Pyne became a 48.1% passer overnight. That’s not a good thing.
Pyne didn’t look as comfortable as he did in the wins over North Carolina and BYU. He looked more like the Pyne who stumbled out of the gates with errant passes and less than sure hands in the first half against California.
He tried to connect with junior tight end Michael Mayer on 10 targets but only completed 5 passes to him. He tried to hook up with sophomore wide receiver Lorenzo Styles 6 times, but Styles only caught 2. Some of that was on Styles. He needs to be more of a playmaker. That can be said of everyone in the Notre Dame passing game not named Mayer. One-hundred and 51 yards, 41 of which came on true freshman Tobias Merriweather’s first catch (a touchdown), is not going to cut it. That’s a failing output.
Douglas Farmer, NBC Sports: Stanford stalls Notre Dame offense and ends three-game Irish win streak in 16-14 upset
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Sometimes a trip to Las Vegas does not catch up to you until days after it is over. Notre Dame enjoyed its win on the Strip last week, but that hangover caught up with the Irish on Saturday in a 16-14 loss to Stanford. The win was the Cardinal’s first in its last 12 tries against FBS opponents.
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“This one’s disappointing,” head coach Marcus Freeman said. “You have to give credit to Stanford. They did a good job, they played well, but our lack of execution is frustrating.”
Notre Dame (3-3) fell behind 10-0 heading into halftime and showed some life in the third quarter, taking a 14-13 lead on a 41-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Tobias Merriweather from junior quarterback Drew Pyne, Merriweather’s first career catch and just his second career target.
Stanford immediately responded with a drive ending in a field goal, a summation of the entire day for the Irish defense, struggling to make tackles in the field but standing up firm deeper into its own territory. By no means did the Cardinal play particularly well. Six drives inside Notre Dame’s 40-yard line boosted Stanford’s total stats — finishing with 387 total yards and an average of 4.8 yards per play before kneeling out the clock — but they resulted in only one touchdown, on the first Cardinal possession.
“Defensively, we can’t give them the touchdown on the very first drive,” Freeman said. “This is why it’s a team game. When there’s days your offense isn’t exeucting, your defense has to play better, we have to play perfect. Offense has been doing really well the last couple weeks when we haven’t been playing perfect defensively. Today was a day we needed the defense to play perfect, and we didn’t.”
Tom Noie: Nobody thought Notre Dame would look like it looked Saturday against Stanford
SOUTH BEND — Freshly showered after another home game that didn’t go their way, four Notre Dame football players carried with them the distinctive smell of soap — Dial? — into a stuffy and stagnant post-game interview room.
No amount of hot water or body wash or shampoo or anything else could completely cleanse the lingering stink from this one. You could try by lathering and rinsing and repeating, but it still would be there.
Smell it?
Sure, you do. You have to after a 16-14 loss to Stanford.
“It’s just frustrating, man,” said Irish head coach Marcus Freeman, who at times looked as cold on the sideline as his team did incompetent. “Frustrating. We’ve just got to be better.”
Having won three straight games after starting 0-2, Notre Dame was supposed to be better. Supposed to be beyond the point where it again found itself Saturday as midnight neared. Beyond having to dissect what went wrong after another four quarters of uncertain football at home. Beyond the point of singing the alma mater half-heartedly in their house, which again included the occasional chorus of boos when it wasn’t going right.
