Stanford puts its kickers through a pressure cooker of sorts in practice leading up to the season. The stakes aren't as high as they might have been tonight, but as far as practice goes, they're still important. The whole team congregates around the special teams unit, yelling, screaming... trying to manufacture some sort of adversity. A made kick gets the players a light day of running. A miss doubles up the running.
Ukropina was perfect (21-21) in those situations this offseason.
And tonight, with six seconds left and all of the pressure in the college football world on him, Ukropina delivered. He perfectly split the uprights and gave Stanford its 10th win of the season, sending the program's seniors out in style.
-Ukropina's game-winning kick was the single most memorable moment from tonight's game, but Kevin Hogan's sterling play was the most impactful. Hogan grew up a Notre Dame fan + has a ton of family who attended the school, but did not receive an offer from the Irish. He was excellent today - particularly on third down and in the red zone.
That efficiency helped Stanford finish drives with touchdowns instead of field goals. And, ultimately, that was the difference in the game. Notre Dame was the more explosive team in between the 20's. Stanford won the football game.
The Cardinal was 8-12 on third down. Notre Dame was 3-9. Stanford scored touchdowns on all four of its red zone trips. The Irish settled for field goals on three occasions. Notre Dame averaged 8.9 yards per play. Stanford averaged 6.6. The Irish out-gained Stanford 533 - 422. And they had a kickoff return for a touchdown. Yet the Cardinal found a way to win the game, thanks to efficiency on third down and the red zone and a massive made field goal.
Hogan finished the game 17-21 for 269 yards and four touchdowns. He did not throw an interception (nor did Stanford commit a turnover.) His passer rating was 251.4. It was a fitting (regular season) conclusion to what's really been an excellent senior season.
-FYI - Here are the fourth-year juniors who participated in the Senior Day ceremony. This doesn't mean that these players will automatically leave (or that fourth-year juniors who did not participate will automatically return), but it might shed a bit of light on what some of these players are thinking.
Craig Jones
Nick Davidson
Noor Davis
Nate Lohn
Michael Rector
Sam Shober
Chris Harrell
-Stanford's defense obviously struggled today. The Cardinal was without its top two corners (I don't have an update on their status - we should receive one Monday morning), but held up relatively well in the passing game. They gave up the long touchdown pass to Will Fuller, who got past Terrence Alexander for a 72-yard touchdown, but otherwise didn't give up a ton of explosive plays. And they were very stingy in the red zone. DeShone Kizer ended up completing 13-25 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown.
Stanford's run defense, however, did not hold up well. In fairness, ND probably has the best offensive line the Cardinal will face this year. And true freshman running back Josh Adams (Stanford offered and recruited him), is very good. But Notre Dame rushed for 299 yards on 8.5 per carry. The Irish stuck with the run game for (close to) 60 minutes and they were able to move the ball consistently. The good news for the Cardinal is that Cody Kessler is not nearly the threat to run DeShone Kizer is - Kizer ran for 128 yards tonight.
-However... the Cardinal defense did step up in a few timely moments. They forced back-to-back stops in the fourth quarter. Peter Kalambayi, who has had a quieter than expected year, batted down on a pass on one drive. The Cardinal forced ND into a 3rd and 10 and escaped when Kizer's through was just beyond the reach of Will Fuller on the next. And, in hindsight, the defense came up with a critical stop in the final seconds of the first half. Brennan Scarlett got to Kizer and forced a fumble with the Irish in field goal range. That play probably saves three points - perhaps more. The final margin of victory? Two points.
-Stanford did get conservative on offense following their two fourth quarter stops. Given the potency of ND's offense, you can probably quibble with those play calls to a certain degree. Would certainly be the subject of a fair bit of debate if the end result was different.
-Interestingly, Notre Dame made major changes to its coverage units this week, inserting a number of defensive starters. And, the Irish were able to contain McCaffrey better than most opponents this year. On the other side, Stanford's kicking game was very solid after the C.J. Sanders KO return.
-The bigger picture...
Stanford has now won at least 10 games in five of the past six years. That's a crazy, crazy statistic. They'll now face a USC team that looked a lot better than I thought they would (and has gotten a few players back from injury) in the Pac-12 title game. Win and Stanford plays in its third Rose Bowl in the last four years, probably against Iowa. (I'm assuming Michigan State beats Iowa in the Big 10 title game. If Iowa wins, I think Ohio State and Michigan State are the possibilities.) Lose to USC and it's the Holiday Bowl or Alamo.
Oklahoma State's loss to Oklahoma put a major dent in the Cardinal's playoff chances. But a Florida upset over Alabama and/or a North Carolina upset over Clemson would make things interesting.
-Bryce Love is really, really, really fast. Isaiah Brandt-Sims might have the better 100, but I'm not sure I've seen a Stanford player with more football speed than Bryce. (Granted, I've only been covering them since '09, but his acceleration is unbelievable.) Love touched the ball four times and gained 44 yards. He also served as a decoy on several other plays.
-Trent Irwin, first down machine.
-Devon Cajuste, 100 percent healthy.
Notes
https://twitter.com/gostanfordnotes/status/670840596437692417
Christian McCaffrey is now 215 all purpose yards shy of Barry Sanders' record.
The last time ND lost on a walk-off field goal? Also against Stanford.
Ukropina was perfect (21-21) in those situations this offseason.
And tonight, with six seconds left and all of the pressure in the college football world on him, Ukropina delivered. He perfectly split the uprights and gave Stanford its 10th win of the season, sending the program's seniors out in style.
-Ukropina's game-winning kick was the single most memorable moment from tonight's game, but Kevin Hogan's sterling play was the most impactful. Hogan grew up a Notre Dame fan + has a ton of family who attended the school, but did not receive an offer from the Irish. He was excellent today - particularly on third down and in the red zone.
That efficiency helped Stanford finish drives with touchdowns instead of field goals. And, ultimately, that was the difference in the game. Notre Dame was the more explosive team in between the 20's. Stanford won the football game.
The Cardinal was 8-12 on third down. Notre Dame was 3-9. Stanford scored touchdowns on all four of its red zone trips. The Irish settled for field goals on three occasions. Notre Dame averaged 8.9 yards per play. Stanford averaged 6.6. The Irish out-gained Stanford 533 - 422. And they had a kickoff return for a touchdown. Yet the Cardinal found a way to win the game, thanks to efficiency on third down and the red zone and a massive made field goal.
Hogan finished the game 17-21 for 269 yards and four touchdowns. He did not throw an interception (nor did Stanford commit a turnover.) His passer rating was 251.4. It was a fitting (regular season) conclusion to what's really been an excellent senior season.
-FYI - Here are the fourth-year juniors who participated in the Senior Day ceremony. This doesn't mean that these players will automatically leave (or that fourth-year juniors who did not participate will automatically return), but it might shed a bit of light on what some of these players are thinking.
Craig Jones
Nick Davidson
Noor Davis
Nate Lohn
Michael Rector
Sam Shober
Chris Harrell
-Stanford's defense obviously struggled today. The Cardinal was without its top two corners (I don't have an update on their status - we should receive one Monday morning), but held up relatively well in the passing game. They gave up the long touchdown pass to Will Fuller, who got past Terrence Alexander for a 72-yard touchdown, but otherwise didn't give up a ton of explosive plays. And they were very stingy in the red zone. DeShone Kizer ended up completing 13-25 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown.
Stanford's run defense, however, did not hold up well. In fairness, ND probably has the best offensive line the Cardinal will face this year. And true freshman running back Josh Adams (Stanford offered and recruited him), is very good. But Notre Dame rushed for 299 yards on 8.5 per carry. The Irish stuck with the run game for (close to) 60 minutes and they were able to move the ball consistently. The good news for the Cardinal is that Cody Kessler is not nearly the threat to run DeShone Kizer is - Kizer ran for 128 yards tonight.
-However... the Cardinal defense did step up in a few timely moments. They forced back-to-back stops in the fourth quarter. Peter Kalambayi, who has had a quieter than expected year, batted down on a pass on one drive. The Cardinal forced ND into a 3rd and 10 and escaped when Kizer's through was just beyond the reach of Will Fuller on the next. And, in hindsight, the defense came up with a critical stop in the final seconds of the first half. Brennan Scarlett got to Kizer and forced a fumble with the Irish in field goal range. That play probably saves three points - perhaps more. The final margin of victory? Two points.
-Stanford did get conservative on offense following their two fourth quarter stops. Given the potency of ND's offense, you can probably quibble with those play calls to a certain degree. Would certainly be the subject of a fair bit of debate if the end result was different.
-Interestingly, Notre Dame made major changes to its coverage units this week, inserting a number of defensive starters. And, the Irish were able to contain McCaffrey better than most opponents this year. On the other side, Stanford's kicking game was very solid after the C.J. Sanders KO return.
-The bigger picture...
Stanford has now won at least 10 games in five of the past six years. That's a crazy, crazy statistic. They'll now face a USC team that looked a lot better than I thought they would (and has gotten a few players back from injury) in the Pac-12 title game. Win and Stanford plays in its third Rose Bowl in the last four years, probably against Iowa. (I'm assuming Michigan State beats Iowa in the Big 10 title game. If Iowa wins, I think Ohio State and Michigan State are the possibilities.) Lose to USC and it's the Holiday Bowl or Alamo.
Oklahoma State's loss to Oklahoma put a major dent in the Cardinal's playoff chances. But a Florida upset over Alabama and/or a North Carolina upset over Clemson would make things interesting.
-Bryce Love is really, really, really fast. Isaiah Brandt-Sims might have the better 100, but I'm not sure I've seen a Stanford player with more football speed than Bryce. (Granted, I've only been covering them since '09, but his acceleration is unbelievable.) Love touched the ball four times and gained 44 yards. He also served as a decoy on several other plays.
-Trent Irwin, first down machine.
-Devon Cajuste, 100 percent healthy.
Notes
https://twitter.com/gostanfordnotes/status/670840596437692417
Christian McCaffrey is now 215 all purpose yards shy of Barry Sanders' record.
The last time ND lost on a walk-off field goal? Also against Stanford.
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