Notre Dame suffers a stunning 16-14 upset to Stanford
Staying on its schizophrenic script, Notre Dame returned home as a 17-point favorite Saturday against Stanford, then failed to score 17 points in the entire game during a stunning 16-14 home loss to Stanford, an opponent that hadn’t beaten an FBS team since Oct. 2, 2021, and had lost three straight games to Notre Dame.
Trailing 16-14 late in the fourth quarter, but with Notre Dame on a potential game-winning field-goal drive, the Stanford defense turned the Irish over on downs to secure the unexpected upset.
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“These kids deserve to win,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said immediately after the game, “These kids from Notre Dame fought us hard but our guys played with so much passion and fired up, stepping up and earning it, I’m so proud.”
With Pyne scrambling to secure a comeback win on his last offensive drive late in the fourth quarter, his 4th-and-7 pass was broken up by Stanford defensive back Jonathan McGill with 1:04 left in the game.
A couple of kneel downs by junior Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee gave the Cardinal (2-4) its first win over Notre Dame in its last four tries.
Trailing 13-0 in the third quarter Notre Dame took the lead 14-13 on a 10-yard rushing touchdown from sophomore tailback Audric Estime and a 41-yard touchdown reception from freshman wide receiver Tobias Merriweather.
It was the first career reception for the promising rookie wideout.
The celebration was short-lived.
With 10:20 remaining in the game, junior Stanford placekicker Joshua Karty converted his third of three field goal tries to give the Cardinal the 16-14 lead it never relinquished.
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As it has all season, Notre Dame started the game slowly.
Through six games, Notre Dame (3-3) has been outscored 27-6 in the first quarter and has trailed — and led — in all six of those.
An Irish three-and-out on its first offensive possession set up an easy 8-play, 66-yard, Stanford touchdown drive for a 7-0 Cardinal lead.
A mix-and-match of unexpected play-calling, and sloppy play for Notre Dame put the Irish on their heels the entire first half when it fell behind 10-0, and never fully stabilized.
After being celebrated as the quarterback savior after his performance in a 28-20 in last week over No. 16 BYU, Irish junior quarterback Drew Pyne went only 13-of-27 passing for 151 yards with 1 touchdown against Stanford, in an inconsequential performance.
Stanford didn’t play brilliantly, but it didn’t turn the ball over and its quarterback McKee still managed a 26-of-38, 288-yard passing performance that came with no touchdowns or interceptions, but with some clutch third-down throws.
