Notre Dame (2-5, 1-3) held the Stanford Cardinals (4-2, 2-1) scoreless in the first half, controlling their own destiny entering the second half. The Cardinals took advantage of two interceptions and a safety to rally from behind and beat the Irish 17-10.
DeShone Kizer was pulled in the middle of the third quarter for senior Malik Zaire. Though head coach Brian Kelly went back to Kizer down a touchdown. Late in the fourth quarter. Kizer led the Irish 61-yards down the field on 15 plays, the drive stalled on fourth-and-10 on the Stanford 14-yard line when Kizer coughed up the ball to end the game.
The Irish may have entered the second half with all the momentum, but the Cardinals made sure that did not last for very long. Just two minutes into the second half Kizer’s pass was intercepted by Stanford’s Quenton Meeks for a 50-yard pick six.
Notre Dame would get the ball back following the pick six, this drive would end just like that last. Kizer’s pass was intercepted once again, this time by Dallas Lloyd. The Irish would get the ball back when Ryan Burns sacked Jonathan Jones forcing a fumble.
Following the two interceptions, head coach Brian Kelly made a change a quarterback sending Malik Zaire in to control the pace and attempt to get this Notre Dame season on the right path.
The Cardinals and Fighting Irish would trade punts making way for a Notre Dame safety with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter brining us to a 10-9 game entering the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame has not been able to catch many breaks, playing in a hurricane last week, now watching the Stanford Cardinals get every bounce go their way.
Stanford was able to recover its own fumble in the end zone to take the 15-10 lead, the Cardinals would convert the two-point conversion brining us to our 17-10 final score.
Stanford entered hostile territory in South Bend, Indiana without Heisman hopeful Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey was sidelined due to lingering injuries, this opened the door for sophomore running back Bryce Love. Love carried the ball 23 times for 129 yards.
“This is the first time we’ve really been able to see it, and I’ve been saying it, Bryce Love is a running back. He’s an every-down back. He’s a physical runner, he’s an explosive runner.” Stanford Head coach David Shaw said following the 17-10 win on the road.
The Irish drop their third home game in a row, and the quarterback situation continues to draw questions as Kelly goes back and forth trying to find the right man. Kelly made it clear though following the loss that Kizer is still his man at quarterback.
“I don’t think there’s really a question about who the starting quarterback is.” Kelly told media following the loss. “DeShone is the starting quarterback. Each game is treated as a game in itself. We’re trying to win the game.”
2-5 is certainly not where many expected the Irish to be on this point in the season. Notre Dame will work on getting things back on the right track with a BYE week before they are set to square off with a struggling Miami Hurricane team.
Kelly remains optimistic about this team though saying “There’s a commitment that I love about this group, they really energizes you to do everything you can to get them through this really difficult time.”
