Irish Chop Down Cardinal
Ian Book and Dexter Williams led a balanced run/pass attack in #8 Notre Dame’s (5-0) dominant 38-17 win over #7 Stanford (4-1) in South Bend on Saturday night.
When Notre Dame kicker Justin Yoon missed a 50-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter that would have given the Irish a two-score lead, Stanford was set up with decent field position at their own 32-yard line down, trailing 24-17.
The Irish defense was on its heels, but came up with three straight big plays to force a punt. Senior interior lineman Jerry Tillery set up a long third down after a sack on second down. The Cardinal’s followed up the sack with a stretch play on third-and-long, but Julian Okwara chased it down backside and tackled Bryce Love for a loss. Stanford was forced to punt.
"They started fast," stated Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly. "I thought their attention to detail was great. Great enthusiasm out there and then we finished strong. You have to put together four quarters when you play Stanford.
"We have a history with this football team and the fourth quarter has not been strong for us. We knew, especially last week and the way they came back, we would have to play four quarters if we were going to win this football game."
Notre Dame’s defensive stand swung the momentum. Book led a 10-play, 58-yard drive that was capped by an eight-yard touchdown pass by Miles Boykin. Boykin caught a screen pass and weaved into the end zone to give Notre Dame a 31-17 lead with 8:16 left in the game.
Notre Dame scored its last touchdown of the game after Te’von Coney’s interception with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter. Book rolled to the right, pivoted and threw back left to a wide-open Alize Mack for a 35-yard touchdown scamper.
Book was outstanding once again in his second consecutive start. The sophomore completed 24 of his 33 pass attempts for 278 yards and four touchdowns. He also added 47 yards on the ground.
Williams was excellent in his first game back this season, carrying the ball a career-high 21 times for 161 yards a touchdown.
Boykin was another standout, the big-target caught 11 passes for 144 yards and a score.
Tillery was a standout on the defensive side of the ball for the Irish. The senior recorded four sacks, which included back-to-back sacks in Stanford’s last offensive drive.
Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello was shut down in the second half by the Notre Dame defense. The junior signal-caller completed 15 of his 27 pass attempts for 174 and a touchdown in the game, but only completed four of his 10 pass attempts in the second half for 44 yards.
Love suffered an ankle injury midway through the fourth quarter and was shut down after a long first quarter touchdown. Last year’s Heisman runner-up ended the game with 73 yards on 17 carries.
"We talked about it all week," stated Kelly. "We were going to play with a sense of urgency, one play at a time and the play didn't end until at least two players had him on the ground because that's where he was so difficult is that you thought he was down and then he goes.
"Our guys were committed to that end in terms of making sure he was on the ground."
Late in the first half, Book connected with Boykin four times to push the Irish into the red zone. Then, Notre Dame’s signal-caller scrambled to the left, stepped up in the pocket and sent a bullet to Chase Claypool for a 10-yard touchdown. Notre Dame led 21-14 with 39 seconds left in the first half.
Not only did the Irish score last in the first half, they also were first in the scoring column. After forcing Stanford into a pair of three-and-outs on both of its opening drives, Notre Dame went 40 yards on six plays before Williams got his first carry since his suspension and took it 45 yards for a touchdown. This gave Notre Dame the early 7-0 lead.
Book was lights out in the first half. The sophomore connected on 12 of his 14 pass attempts for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
Boykin caught all eight of his targets for 106 yards. Williams also brought a big play aspect to the Notre Dame offense in the first half. He carried the ball nine times for 99 yards and a touchdown.
“What I liked the most about Book tonight was if it didn't look right to him he didn't enter into that picture; he got out of it, and he got out of it with his feet," explained Kelly. "What we did all week was really tell him if he didn't like what he saw, just solve it with your feet today.
“As you get more of these snaps -- they're a three-down defense. There are multiple droppers. They can roll coverages. They play a lot of robber coverage with a free hat. It can be troublesome if you're not exactly sure where that free dropper is.
“When he didn't like it he took off. When he was sure what he saw, and he was decisive, he put the ball where it needed to be, and I was proud of him because of it.”
Defensively, Coney was all over the field. The senior linebacker led the Irish defense with six total tackles in the first half.
For Stanford, Costello was efficient in the first half, completing 11 of his 17 pass attempts for 130 yards a touchdown while Love ran the ball 13 times for 69 yards. Most of his yardage came on his 39-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. JJ Arcega-Whiteside caught four passes for 24 yards which included a four-yard fade ball touchdown over Notre Dame cornerback Julian Love.