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Notre Dame rallies to beat Stanford on Koyack TD

The Sports Xchange

October 04, 2014 at 7:39 pm.

 

Ben Koyack's 23-yard TD reception helped Notre Dame defeat Stanford. (Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Ben Koyack caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from Everett Golson with 1:01 left to give No. 9 Notre Dame a 17-14 victory over No. 14 Stanford on Saturday.

The winning pass, as Golson scrambled to his left, capped a nine-play, 65-yard scoring drive. Koyack, the Irish tight end, was wide open in the corner of the end zone.

It was the culmination of a game dominated by defense.

Stanford trailed 10-7 late in the fourth quarter when the Cardinal put together their first long drive of the second half.

After a 42-yard kickoff return by Ty Montgomery, Stanford (3-2) moved into the red zone against Notre Dame (5-0). On third-and-goal from the 11, running back Remound Wright burst untouched up the middle and scored easily as the Cardinal took a 14-10 lead with 3:01 to play.

Notre Dame had taken a 10-7 lead with 7:32 remaining when Kyle Brindza kicked a 45-yard field goal. He had missed two earlier field goal attempts that resulted from bad snaps related to the cold (42 degrees), constant drizzle and wind (17 mph).

After the teams battled to a 7-7 tie at halftime, the third quarter was a chess match between Stanford coach David Shaw and Notre Dame counterpart Brian Kelly. Most of the 15 minutes was played in Cardinal territory. The Irish got as far as the Stanford 37 but stalled. Stanford’s farthest advancement was its own 39.

Then, as the fourth quarter began, both teams made mistakes.

First, Irish cornerback Cole Luke came up with his second interception of the game, giving Notre Dame possession on the Stanford 29.

The Irish reached the Cardinal 10 and tried a 27-yard field goal. A bad snap led to a botched kick that Stanford returned 39 yards to the Stanford 44. But the Cardinal’s offense stalled.

Notre Dame had been prolific in the red zone all season with 17 scores in 18 attempts but in the second quarter came up empty. With third-and-5 on the Cardinal 6, Golson rolled left and tried to thread the needle. His pass was intercepted by safety Jordan Richards at the 2.

Notre Dame’s second trip deep into Stanford territory resulted in a score.

Golson was pivotal in a six-play, 62-yard march when, on third-and-10 from midfield, he ran 33 yards on a quarterback draw. That set up a 17-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Brown to tie the score.

In the first quarter, Golson fumbled inside his own 10-yard line. Stanford capitalized and scored first when quarterback Kevin Hogan ran 8 yards for a 7-0 lead.

NOTES: Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly mentioned that Notre Dame had been hit by a flu bug this week, but all indications were that the illness was confined primarily to a group of freshmen that didn’t play a significant role. … Five Irish players (cornerback KeiVarae Russell, receiver DaVaris Daniels, defensive end Ishaq Williams, linebacker Kendall Moore and safety Eilar Hardy), who are the focus of an academic fraud investigation, had their honor code hearings this past week. They remained suspended for a fifth straight game. An announcement of the findings from the hearings is expected soon. … Stanford’s first touchdown ended a streak of nine straight games in which Notre Dame has scored first.

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