Stanford vs. Notre Dame: How Fighting Irish's Win Reshapes Playoff Picture
In a thrilling showdown between two Top 15 teams, Notre Dame got a last-minute touchdown pass from Everett Golson to secure a 17-14 victory over Stanford and keep its hopes for the College Football Playoff alive.
Golson led a nine-play, 65-yard drive that was highlighted by a pass interference penalty against the Cardinal and a 23-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-11 to Ben Koyack in the back of the end zone.
Stanford's hopes of tying the game on the final drive ended when quarterback Kevin Hogan was flagged for an intentional grounding penalty that ran 10 seconds off the clock when there was just six seconds left to play.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
The win moves Notre Dame to 5-0 and also gives Brian Kelly's team its first win of the season against a ranked opponent. Prior to today, the Fighting Irish had four wins over teams that had combined for an 8-12 record.
Despite the victory, there are still questions about how good Notre Dame is. Golson made the big play at the end of the game but has looked vulnerable in the last two weeks. ESPN's College Gameday tweeted out the Notre Dame quarterback's knack for giving up the ball lately:
However, at this point in the season, the only thing that matters is getting the victory. Notre Dame had to deal with Stanford's third-ranked scoring defense and horrible weather conditions in South Bend, doing so in dramatic fashion.
The Fighting Irish's climb up the College Football Playoff rankings has gained a lot of momentum over the last 72 hours. In addition to the big win over Stanford, Oregon lost on Thursday, and Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Alabama lost on Saturday.
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Florida State |
| 2 | Auburn |
| 3 | Mississippi |
| 4 | Mississippi State |
As you can see from my personal rankings, I don't have the Fighting Irish among the top four teams for the College Football Playoff even with all the movement this week. Florida State does have its flaws, but until someone knocks off the Seminoles, they are still the team to beat.
After that, Auburn should move up to No. 2 with Oregon, Alabama and Oklahoma all losing. The Tigers will be able to prove themselves after a soft early-season schedule with games against Mississippi State, South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama still to come.
By virtue of having better wins right now, Mississippi and Mississippi State belong in the mix ahead of teams like Notre Dame, Baylor and UCLA. That may seem like a lot of SEC love, but the conference is the best and deepest in college football for a reason.
These rankings are very fluid because no one will come out of the SEC schedule unscathed, which leaves the door wide open for the Fighting Irish if they take care of business the rest of the way. They will have their chance on October 18 at Florida State.
Considering Notre Dame entered Week 6 ranked eighth in the USA Today Poll and ninth in the Associated Press Poll, it figures to move up at least a couple of spots. It will be interesting to see how the voters put this win against Mississippi's win over Alabama and Mississippi State's win over Texas A&M.
Regardless, the Fighting Irish are very much in the team picture for the four-team College Football Playoff. Before the season started, during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, via College Football Talk, Kelly admitted that he hopes to see the format expanded in the future, saying "four’s a great start but I don’t think it’s enough."
On the losing side, Stanford's slim hopes for the College Football Playoff went out the window. The Cardinal were already fighting an uphill battle after losing a heartbreaker to USC on September 6, but with two losses, there's little chance they get back in the mix.
The devastating part for David Shaw's team is they killed themselves in the two losses. They scored just 10 points against USC despite having five trips into the red zone. A busted coverage against Notre Dame led to the game-winning touchdown on fourth down.
You can't make those kinds of mistakes and leave that many points out there against good teams, otherwise you will have two losses after the first week in October.
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.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
