In the last game of the regular season, Notre Dame took on Stanford. The game was such an emotional rollercoaster that *spoiler alert* ended on a sad note. It was still a great game and worth recapping.
1st Quarter: Stanford started out with a steady drive and 1-point conversion to put 7 on the board. However, in a truly epic start for the fighting Irish, C.J. Sanders had a 93 yard kick-off return for a touchdown with the follow up point by Yoon. In the next Stanford drive they would once again move up the field, one play at a time, to get another 7 points. With 1:54 left Notre Dame would start its offense down the field.
Score: 7-14
2nd Quarter: Notre Dame would continue, and after several passes from Deshone Kizer to Will Fuller and some running by freshman Josh Adams, the Irish got in field goal range and Yoon kicked a 26 yard field goal. Stanford failed to score and Yoon kicked another 25 yard field goal in the next Irish possession. After Stanford failed to score again, Notre Dame answered with a one play touchdown. Kizer threw a 73 yard pass to Fuller for a Notre Dame touchdown, complete with extra point by Yoon. After several successful passes from Stanford QB Kevin Hogan, Stanford put 7 points up. Kizer would then fumble and Stanford would recover, luckily with only 12 seconds left in the half.
Score: 20-21
3rd Quarter: Starting on offense, Yoon would pull through gain, kicking a 29 yard field goal after 11 plays. Stanford would again respond with 7 points. Next, Adams would run 64 yards for an Irish touchdown, followed by a failed two-point conversion (maybe we should stop trying those). Stanford continues their steady, yet effective driving down the field.
Score: 29-28 (Yay)
4th Quarter: Stanford finishes their drive for 7 points. This is then followed by four scoreless possessions, two for each team. Finally, after a long 15 play drive and a play review, Kizer runs for a touchdown with one-point by Yoon, putting the Irish up with 30 seconds left. You would think that would be a win…but then Stanford gets to the 45 and Conrad Ukropina scores the game-winning field goal for them.
Final Score: 36-38 (Boo)
To think that Notre Dame only lost by 4 points for the entire season, between Clemson and Stanford, is impressive but also upsetting. Even though our playoff chances are shot, we can still look forward to a solid bowl game.
Love thee Notre Dame, win or lose.
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