Notre Dame vs. Stanford: Game Grades, Analysis for Irish and Cardinal

The annual meeting between Notre Dame and Stanford is starting to get a reputation. Don't worry, it's a good one.

The Cardinal and Fighting Irish have developed their annual rivalry into a series filled with classic, last-minute victories that often come down to the final play. Saturday night's meeting was no different.

Just when it appeared Notre Dame was going to seal the victory with 30 seconds remaining by scoring what would have been the game-winning touchdown, Kevin Hogan led his team down the field to set up the game-winning field goal as time expired. Stanford won 38-36. 

A great game like this unfortunately has to have a loser, and this time it was Notre Dame. As a result, the Irish's College Football Playoff hopes have been dashed, while Stanford's slim chances are still alive.

Here is the box score via NCAA.com.

Position	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	A-	B+
Run Offense	A-	B+
Pass Defense	C+	C-
Run Defense	B-	B-
Special Teams	A+	A
Coaching	A	B+

Fighting Irish Pass Offense

DeShone Kizer finished the game with 234 passing yards and a touchdown on a night when he was solid in the pocket. There weren't really any glaring errors, and the receiving corps did a fine job—certainly a better effort than what we saw against Boston College last week.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Will Fuller, who had just three catches each against Boston College and Wake Forest, had six receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown.

Kizer was accurate all night, and Notre Dame did a nice job of exploiting the yardage underneath when Stanford backed off to cover the deep threats posed by Chris Brown and Fuller.

Fighting Irish Run Offense

Kizer was also dynamic in the running game, racking up 128 yards and scoring the go-ahead touchdown with about 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Josh Adams showed more of Notre Dame's depth at running back, putting up 168 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown.

The Irish totaled 299 yards on the ground. The Irish O-line imposed its will on the Stanford D-line for much of the night, and the Irish only had to punt twice all evening.

Fighting Irish Pass Defense

As great as the offense was for the Irish, the defense wasn't able to stop, or even slow, the Cardinal for long stretches of the game. Before halftime, Stanford's Kevin Hogan had already found the end zone three times through the air, and Notre Dame struggled to get off of the field on third down.

After halftime, both defenses did a bit better, but when it mattered most—in the final minute of the game—the Irish were just porous enough to allow Stanford to set up for the game-winning field goal.

Fighting Irish Run Defense

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The run defense for the Irish gave up 3.6 yards per carry and a lone touchdown. Most nights, that's going to be enough to win the game. But when you're playing a Stanford team that goes 8-of-12 on third downs, little plays that seem harmless at the time can wear a defense down over time.

Stanford only punted four times, thanks in large part to Notre Dame being unable to stop Christian McCaffrey in short-yardage situations.

Fighting Irish Special Teams

One of the biggest plays of the night for the Irish came on Stanford's first kickoff after taking its opening possession for a touchdown. C.J. Sanders took the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for the score, tying the game at seven.

That also led to Notre Dame's defense staying on the field for all but two minutes of the first quarter.

Tyler Newsome was also back to his usual tricks, averaging better than 50 yards on his two punts.

Justin Yoon was a perfect 6-of-6 on the night (three field goals, three extra points).

Fighting Irish Coaching

Brian Kelly schemed his offense perfectly to exploit Stanford's defensive weakness on the perimeter.

Unfortunately, the Irish weren't able to make enough adjustments to their own depleted defense to stop the Cardinal in the second half.

This game had the feel of a back-and-forth battle, which gave us the sense that the team that got the ball last would have an excellent shot at winning the game. That turned out to be true, and it turned out to be Stanford.

In the end, Notre Dame's two losses came by a combined four points against two potential conference champions. A 10-2 record is nothing to hang one's head over, but it's also not the kind of record that earns an independent team a trip to the College Football Playoff.

Injuries certainly took their toll, and that's just a part of the game. But the fact that Notre Dame suffered through the number of injuries it did and still managed to win 10 regular-season games is amazing.

Position	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	A	A
Run Offense	B-	B
Pass Defense	C+	B
Run Defense	C+	C
Special Teams	Inc.	A
Coaching	A-	A

Cardinal Pass Offense

What can you say about Kevin Hogan's performance against Notre Dame?

First, the numbers: He was 17-of-21 for 269 yards and four touchdowns.

Hogan distributed the football to eight different receivers, but it was Devon Cajuste who was the true star of the game.

He made several spectacular catches on the night, but the most important one was a deep ball over the middle with less than 20 seconds left that put the Cardinal in field-goal range.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Cajuste ended with 125 yards on eight receptions, as the Fighting Irish had no answer for him.

To be fair, the coverage by Notre Dame wasn't all that terrible. Cajuste is just that much of a beast when going up for the football. He always seemed to be in the right spot, and Hogan always seemed to find him in the right spaces for critical yards.

The Hogan-to-Cajuste connection ran about as perfectly as one could expect in a game like this, and that was the difference between winning and losing for Stanford this time around.

Cardinal Run Offense

Stanford wasn't able to establish the run with any consistency for much of the night, but McCaffrey made his presence known in critical situations.

He totaled 94 yards on 27 carries, but his long on the night was for just 11 yards. Nevertheless, his reliability to pick up positive yardage on 3rd-and-short situations made him an invaluable part of Stanford's eventual victory.

Cardinal Pass Defense

Stanford shouldn't feel bad for getting torched by a guy like Fuller. There probably isn't a defensive back in the nation who can keep up with him.

Stanford should feel particularly proud of the way it schemed its defense around Fuller, though.

Minus Fuller's 73-yard touchdown reception, Stanford limited him to five catches for 63 yards. The Cardinal also threw enough wrinkles into the mix to force the Irish into running the football for much of the second half.

Notre Dame still did a nice job of moving the football on the ground, but the attack through the air was limited in large part to solid man coverage and double-teaming Fuller after halftime.

Cardinal Run Defense

The big defensive play for Stanford kept the Irish from scoring just prior to halftime, as the Cardinal recovered a Kizer fumble in the final minute of the second quarter.

Why was that recovery so crucial? Notre Dame could have built a solid lead after halftime as the Irish received the second half's opening kickoff.

Giving up nearly 300 yards on the ground (299), however, won't win too many accolades.

Suffice it to say that the Cardinal's rushing defense didn't win the game for Stanford.

Cardinal Special Teams

We could talk about punting or kickoff coverage, but really, who cares?

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

This game belonged to Conrad Ukropina, who kicked his only field goal of the night from 45 yards as time expired to give Stanford the two-point victory.

Despite everything else he's done, that was the one kick of his career he—and everyone else at Stanford—will always remember.

Cardinal Coaching

When David Shaw took over at Stanford, many expected the Cardinal to sink back down into the depths of the Pac-12 standings. Jim Harbaugh was gone. Andrew Luck was gone. What could Stanford possibly hope to accomplish after the glory days?

Shaw never bought into any of that. Not for a second.

Stanford has not only maintained its edge, but it's improved upon the solid, new foundation laid by guys such as Harbaugh. The Cardinal are again the class of the North Division, and Shaw could have his team competing for a national title this year in the College Football Playoff should the stars align.

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Not only that, but he can match wits with the nation's best, like Brian Kelly, for 60 solid minutes and still emerge with a steely demeanor and ready for more.

The rest of the nation needs to take note: Stanford isn't going anywhere.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes or references to quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer.

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