Notre Dame's Walkoff Loss to Stanford a Sad End to Impressive Regular Season

As Conrad Ukropina’s kick hurtled upward, crossed the bar and dropped to the ground, DeShone Kizer crumpled to the grass in unison with Notre Dame football’s College Football Playoff hopes.

Another two-point loss. On the road. Against a highly-ranked opponent.

Notre Dame bulldozed down the field on a remarkable—and potentially season-defining—15-play, 88-yard drive that chewed up six minutes and 18 seconds, not including the extra minute or so spent reviewing Kizer’s two-yard touchdown run on a gutsy bootleg call.

But 30 seconds later, Ukropina calmly drilled the 45-yard field goal, vaulted No. 9 Stanford to the 38-36 win and sent No. 6 Notre Dame to a 10-2 regular season.

Heartbreaking, for the Irish and their fans? Sure. Another last-second loss when victory seemed so tantalizingly close.

Disappointing? Absolutely. The Irish made their share of mistakes, Saturday and throughout the season.

Impressive? Inarguably.

Notre Dame won 10 games, including victories over Navy, USC, Temple and Pitt, and lost its other two by a combined four points to teams with a combined 22 regular-season wins. The Irish did it with 37 different starters. Nick Ironside of 247Sports shared head coach Brian Kelly's comments regarding his team's record:

They lost starting quarterback Malik Zaire and turned to DeShone Kizer, who’d been third on the spring depth chart. The late-season turnovers undoubtedly sting, but it’s worth remembering the plays Kizer did make.

How he stood in the pocket on 3rd-and-10 on the go-ahead drive Saturday, felt the free blitzer from his right and still delivered a strike to Corey Robinson on a crossing pattern for a first down. How, later on the same drive, he lowered his shoulder into Stanford star linebacker Blake Martinez on third down, as he did earlier this season against Temple’s Tyler Matakevich and Clemson’s Ben Boulware. How he raced to the left side for the go-ahead touchdown against the Cardinal.

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They lost starting running back Tarean Folston in the first quarter of the season opener, turned C.J. Prosise into a 1,000-yard rusher and, when Prosise was hampered down the stretch, received 168 rushing yards from true freshman Josh Adams against Stanford—74 more than Cardinal Heisman hopeful Christian McCaffrey.

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They lost starting nose tackle Jarron Jones in August and developed a sturdy sophomore in Daniel Cage, only to lose him to a concussion for some time in November. Yet there was Jerry Tillery, weeks removed from hitting the freshman wall, blowing up McCaffrey on 3rd-and-1 in the fourth quarter and forcing a Stanford punt.

In all, injuries to Zaire, Folston, Prosise, tight end Durham Smythe, top reserve lineman Alex Bars, Jones, safety Drue Tranquill and cornerback KeiVarae Russell kept Notre Dame, in part, from accomplishing its mission of a playoff berth.

That the Irish kept the mission intact, though, until the wee hours of Thanksgiving weekend is remarkable.

Notre Dame gained 533 yards of total offense against Stanford on Saturday. The Irish posted 36 points. Yet outside of Will Fuller and his 73-yard touchdown grab in the second quarter, who was expected to be a main contributor at the beginning of the season?

Not Adams and his 62-yard, third-quarter sprint.

Not Kizer and his 234 passing and 128 rushing yards.

Irish head coach Brian Kelly has preached a next-man-in mentality since he arrived in South Bend six years ago. And boy was it tested in 2015.

The realities of unexpected contributions, inexperienced starters and close losses don’t wash away the bitter taste of missed opportunities, of course.

The Irish committed four second-half turnovers in the October loss to No. 1 Clemson. They gave it away just once Saturday—when Kizer fumbled as Notre Dame was driving for points and a lead before halftime—but committed a slew of other miscues.

An offside call on Tillery gave the Cardinal a first down at the tail end of an early touchdown drive. A snap infraction turned a 4th-and-1 into 4th-and-6 and brought out the Irish field-goal unit. Devin Butler's missed tackle spurred a Cardinal touchdown with 48 seconds until halftime. Drops by Amir Carlisle and Will Fuller stalled drives and produced a field goal and punt, respectively. Poor coverage set Notre Dame killer WR Devon Cajuste free for a bevy of big catches.

It all added up to a loss Saturday.

But the season, which very well could’ve been, was not lost.

All quotes were obtained firsthand and all stats courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.