Stanford vs. Notre Dame: Score and Twitter Reaction

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish weathered the damp conditions in South Bend, Indiana, and overcame the Stanford Cardinal, winning by a score of 17-14 and improving to a blemish-free 5-0 on the season. However, as the final score indicated, it wasn't easy for the home team.

A steady rain helped each squad's defense to dominate the early portion of Saturday's contest. Notre Dame's defense forced a three-and-out to begin the game, and although quarterback Everett Golson led the Fighting Irish into Stanford territory on the ensuing drive, the Cardinal defense remained stout, forcing a turnover on downs.

Following a punt from each team, the Notre Dame defense finally came up with a big play. Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan was pressured by Elijah Shumate, and Cole Luke intercepted the poorly thrown pass deep in Irish territory.

John Heisler of Notre Dame's media and broadcast relations tweeted how the pick affected all parties involved:

But as quickly as the momentum appeared to sway in Notre Dame's favor, it shifted right back to Stanford on the following play. Golson decided to tuck the ball away and scramble on first down, and his ball-security issues came back to haunt him, as a fumble was recovered by the Stanford defense.

Two plays later, Hogan made the Irish pay for their mistake, taking a keeper 10 yards for the game's first touchdown. College GameDay tweeted the end result:

Another two punts saw the first quarter come to a close, and the second quarter didn't begin any better for the Irish.

Golson successfully drove Notre Dame's offense down to the Stanford 6-yard line; however, on a crucial 3rd-and-5, the quarterback was intercepted by Jordan Richards. Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News tweeted his reaction to the play:

The two early turnovers were very concerning for Notre Dame with the team coming off a five-turnover performance against Syracuse in Week 5.

The team's ensuing offensive possession only continued to add to the early woes of the Irish. After driving down to the Stanford 24-yard line, kicker Kyle Brindza got a great look at a field goal. Unfortunately, a bad snap led to an attempt that sailed wide right, and Notre Dame remained scoreless.

However, the Irish defense continued to show great resilience on the following drive. A bend-don't-break attitude allowed Stanford to drive into Notre Dame territory but held the Cardinal without a score. Former NFL scout Greg Gabriel tweeted his opinion on the Irish defense:

"

This may be the best Notre Dame defense I have seen in over 10 years

— Greg Gabriel (@greggabe) October 4, 2014"

Golson returned to the field, and this time, he wouldn't be denied. After two consecutive incomplete passes, the Notre Dame offense faced a 3rd-and-10. Using great vision, Golson broke loose for a 33-yard run—the longest of his career—and an Irish first down. Two plays later, the quarterback connected with Chris Brown for a 17-yard touchdown strike to tie the game at 7-7.

Ashley Adamson of Pac-12.com, tweeted the successive plays:

After another punt from each team, the game entered halftime.

The official Twitter account of Notre Dame Athletics displayed a nice graphic that compared both schools at the break:

Midway through the third quarter, Notre Dame appeared ready to keep momentum in its favor. A blocked punt by Drue Tranquill gave the Irish great field position; however, head coach Brian Kelly opted to run Cam McDaniel right into the teeth of a very good Stanford defense.

An exchange of punts ensued, and the contest entered the fourth quarter knotted at seven.

The Irish defense continued to come up big, as Luke intercepted Hogan on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving Notre Dame fantastic field position deep in Cardinal territory.

Here's a look at the celebration that followed the pick, via Observer Sports:

Despite an apparent shift in momentum, Stanford's defense held strong once again, forcing another Notre Dame field-goal attempt. Brindza trotted on the field and came away empty-handed once again after his kick was blocked.

Angelo Di Carlo of WNDU tweeted the occurrence:

Yet, another strong stand by Notre Dame's defense gave the Irish the ball—and a big chance to finally get on the board once more. A couple nice connections between Golson and Corey Robinson put the Irish back into field-goal range.

This time, Brindza earned his redemption, nailing a 45-yarder to give Notre Dame the 10-7 lead. Di Carlo tweeted what the score meant for the kicker:

Stanford's offense returned to the field shortly after, and with Hogan at the helm, a comeback was well within reach.

Hogan orchestrated a near-flawless drive, connecting with Devon Cajuste and Michael Rector to bring his offense to the Notre Dame 11-yard line. Remound Wright took it from there, pounding his way up the middle for a touchdown and a 14-10 lead.

ABC57News tweeted the end result of the drive:

Needing a touchdown to notch a much-needed home win, Golson and the Irish offense took the field at the 35-yard line after Jordan Williamson's kickoff sailed out of bounds. The quarterback took the drive into his own hands, completing passes to William Fuller and Robinson for consecutive first downs.

Robinson nearly struck again, when he found himself wide open in the end zone after double move torched the Stanford secondary. However, the pass from Golson was late, but Notre Dame did come away with a 15-yard gain due to pass interference.

After three plays, it was do or die for Golson and the Irish, as they faced a 4th-and-11 at the Stanford 23-yard line. What happened next was simply unbelievable, as Ben Koyack stood alone in the end zone due to busted coverage from the Cardinal. Golson found him for a touchdown and the 17-14 lead.

SportsCenter tweeted how the game stood following the score:

Hogan and the Stanford offense still had some time to do work, as they only needed a field goal to force overtime. The quarterback put his team in great position to strike, moving quickly to the Irish 49-yard line, but Notre Dame's defense came through once more, pressuring Hogan and forcing an intentional grounding call that ended the game.

Stanford put up a great road performance in a hostile environment against a very good football team. The Cardinal certainly proved worthy of the nation's No. 14 ranking, and the team's loss shouldn't drop it out of the AP Poll's Top 25.

Head coach David Shaw praised the efforts of Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder after the game, via JJ Stankevitz of CSNChicago:

The Cardinal have a difficult schedule ahead, as they will face Washington State, Arizona State and Oregon State before taking on Marcus Mariota and the Oregon Ducks. However, after the way Stanford played on Saturday, it's not far-fetched to think they have a solid chance to get through that stretch unscathed.

Notre Dame may have just produced its biggest win of the season. The team moves to 5-0 on the year, and thanks to losses by No. 2 Oregon, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Oklahoma in Week 6, the Irish could quickly find themselves in great position to participate in this year's College Football Playoff.

During a post-game press conference, Kelly was asked about the team's current top-10 standing. Here's his response, via Matt Fortuna of ESPN.com:

Fortuna relayed another comment from the coach—this time, a witty comment about the team's decision to put gloves on the hands of its holder:

"

#NotreDame's Brian Kelly: "We found a revolutionary idea, will probably be the biggest thing in cfb: We're gonna put gloves on the holder"

— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) October 4, 2014"

October 18 will be a highly difficult challenge for Notre Dame, as the team hits the road to take on No. 1 Florida State. The Irish proved they can win games in the face of adversity over the past two weeks, and we'll see if they can keep up that trend against the best in the nation.