Fair / 26° F
Notre Dame rally falls short in 45-38 loss to Stanford
Published 10:24am Monday, November 30, 2009STANFORD, Calif. – Heisman Trophy candidate Toby Gerhart ran for 205 yards and three touchdowns to lead Stanford past Notre Dame 45-38 in what very well could be Charlie Weis’ final game as head coach of the Fighting Irish.
Gerhart scored on runs of 4, 10 and 4-yards and threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Whalen, which tied the game at 38-38 late in the game.
Gerhart then capped a 10-play, 67 yard drive with his final touchdown with just 59 seconds remaining.
The comeback victory doomed Notre Dame to finish the season at 6-6, losing all six contests by seven points or less and a total of 18 points.
Stanford improves to 8-4.
The contest was a showdown of two different offensive styles.
Notre Dame behind junior Jimmy Clausen, who may have played his final game for the Fighting Irish, threw for 340 yards and a total of 447 yards.
Stanford, behind the ground game of Gerhart, ran for 294 yards, but was also able to throw for 216 yards and a total of 496.
The game went back and forth in the first half before Notre Dame was able to use big plays from Clausen to wide receivers Golden Tate and Michael Floyd to build a 31-20 lead in the third quarter following Floyd’s 46-yard touchdown reception.
But the Cardinal came storming back behind the play of Gerhart and red-shirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck.
Gerhart scored on a 10-yard touchdown run to make it 31-27 and a Nate Whitaker, a transfer from Notre Dame, 29-yard field goal made it 31-30.
The Fighting Irish used another big play to extend its lead to 38-30 when Clausen connected with Tate for a third time, this one good for 28-yards.
But Gerhart took over.
His 18-yard touchdown toss to Whalen tied the score at 38-38 when Luck connected with Jim Dray on the 2-point conversion pass.
After forcing Notre Dame to punt, Stanford drove down the field in the final five-plus minutes to take the lead when the Irish “allowed” Gerhart to score to conserve time on the clock.
Notre Dame had one more drive and it appeared that things might turn out differently for the Fighting Irish this time as they got to the Cardinal 24-yard line as time ticked off the clock and Notre Dame had no time outs.
On the next play Clausen was sacked by Chase Thomas at the 31-yard line. Notre Dame hurried to spike the ball, leaving just one more play and seven seconds on the clock.
The “Hail Mary” toss into the end zone was battled down by Stanford’s Michael Thomas and the Cardinal had a big win and the Irish had another disappointing loss.
“It was a microcosm of our season,” Weis said. “You know when we’re up 38-30, and then they come down and score and then they go for two to tie. You figure, ‘Here we go again.’ Then we move the ball some and then get stopped on that third and one. They move the ball down there and was forced to do something, and then we go, ‘what are we doing letting them score?’ I figured it was the only way to get us an opportunity to get it down there and score.
“We get it down there to the 30-yard line with an opportunity to get it to the end zone, but with the way things were going today, crazier things have happened, and we just played short… It’s just the way the year’s been.”
Clausen finished the game 23-of-30 for 340 yards and a career-high tying five touchdowns.
Tate had 10 catches for 201 yards and three touchdowns, in what might have been his final game as well. Floyd finished with six receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
Gerhart, another player who may leave early for the National Football League, had 29 carries for his 205 yards and three touchdowns. Luck was 14-of-20 for 198 yards.
Irish notebook
• Clausen eclipsed 300 yards passing for the seventh time in 2009 – a school record. It was his 10th career 300-yard passing game, which ranks second best in Notre Dame history.
• Clausen finished the regular season with 3,722 yards and 28 TDs and four interceptions. The 3,722 yards rank as the second most in single-season school history and the 28 TDs rank third best.
• Clausen recorded his fifth TD pass of the night, third alone to junior WR Golden Tate, with 12:56 remaining in regulation. The five TD passes is a season-high and equals his career-high set last season in the Hawaii Bowl.
• Clausen has now recorded four or more TD passes in a single game three times over his career. He is the second Irish QB in school history to post multiple games with four or more passing TDs.
• Clausen has thrown a TD pass in all 12 games this season and 13 consecutive games when you include the 2008 Hawaii Bowl.
• Clausen has registered multiple TD passes in 10 of Notre Dame’s 12 games this season. In fact, he has 20 multiple TD passing games in his career – all of which have occurred in the last 28 games for the Irish.
• Kyle McCarthy surpassed the 100-tackle mark for the second consecutive season. He is the only Irish defensive back to surpass 100 tackles in one season and he has now done it in back-to-back seasons.
• Tate finished the Stanford game with a career-high 10 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns. The 10 receptions was a career high and his 201 yards receiving were the second most in his career.
• Tate is the first Irish wideout to eclipse 200 or more yards receiving in a game on more than one occasion. His 201 yards rank seventh best in single-game school history.
• Tate finishes the regular season with 1,496 yards, 15 receiving touchdowns and 18 overall touchdowns.
• He also finishes with 1,915 all-purpose yards, which is the second most in single-season school history. Only Tim Brown (1986, 1,937) has ever had more in one year.
• He hauled in his third TD reception of the evening with 12:56 remaining in regulation to push Notre Dame’s lead to 38-30. The TD reception was Tate’s 15th of the season and 26th of his career. He has now recorded a touchdown reception in eight consecutive games – equalling former All-American Jeff Samardzija’s school record for consecutive games with a touchdown catch. Tate has recorded a touchdown, either receiving, rushing or punt return, in 11 straight games. He has a touchdown in all but one game this season. C.J. Spiller of Clemson is the only FBS player to score a TD in every game this year.
• Tate’s 15 TD receptions this season equal Samardzija (2005) and Rhema McKnight (2005) for most in a single year in Irish history.
• Tate’s 18 total TDs this year rank tied for second in single-season Notre Dame history. In Notre Dame football history, only Jerome Bettis (1991, 20) has scored more TDs in a single year.
• Tate’s three receiving TDs against Stanford rank were a season high and equaled his career high set last season in the Hawai’i Bowl. It also is tied for second-most in single-season school history. He is the second Notre Dame wide out to ever post multiple games with three or more receiving TDs.
• Tate has recorded two or more TD receptions in four games this season and six times in his career.
• Already the owner of the most catches and receiving yards in single-season history, Tate surpassed the Notre Dame school record for career receiving yards – surpassing Samardzija’s total of 2,593. He also eclipsed 100 yards receiving for the ninth time in 2009. The nine 100-yard receiving games this year break Tom Gatewood’s (1970) school record for most in a single year. Tate already holds the career record for 100-yard receiving games with 15.
Notre Dame 14 10 7 7 – 38
Stanford 10 10 7 18 – 45
S – Gerhart, Toby 4 run (Whitaker, Nate kick)
ND – Golden Tate 5 pass from Jimmy Clausen (David Ruffer kick)
S – Whitaker 40 field goal
ND – Michael Floyd 18pass from Clausen (Ruffer kick)
S – Whitaker 47 field goal
ND – Ruffer 42 field goal
ND – Tate 78 pass from Clausen (Ruffer kick)
S – Marecic, Owen 1 run Whitaker kick)
ND – Floyd 46 pass from Clausen (Ruffer kick)
S – Gerhart 10 run (Whitaker kick)
S – Whitaker 29 field goal
ND – Tate 28 pass from Clausen (Ruffer kick)
S - Whalen, Ryan 18 pass from Gerhart (Dray, Jim pass from Luck, Andrew)
S - Gerhart 4 run (Whitaker kick)
