Partly Cloudy / 36° F
Notre Dame rally falls short in 45-38 loss to Stanford
Published 10:11am 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.
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)
