Category: Stanford Cardinal

Notre Dame Week 7 highlight: Riley Leonard fakes run, passes to Jayden Thomas for TD

Riley Leonard had a nice pass to Jayden Thomas.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard has run for one touchdown so far and thrown for another against the Stanford Cardinal in South Bend.

This time, Leonard faked a handoff to Jeremiyah Love on a run-pass option and then found Jayden Thomas for a 15-yard touchdown pass that capped off a 7-play, 52-yard drive that took 3:20 off the clock.

The Fighting Irish started the drive at midfield after Howard Cross sacked Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels on fourth-and-5.

Notre Dame now leads the Cardinal 14-7 early in the second quarter.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard warms up before a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Stanford at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in South Bend.

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Notre Dame Week 7 highlight: Riley Leonard finds the end zone to tie it at 7

Notre Dame ties it, sighs of relief sound across South Bend.

Notre Dame once again got off to a rough start against an underdog opponent — this time the Stanford Cardinal.

A holding call against Anthonie Knapp and a sack allowed by Knapp stalled a promising first drive for the Fighting Irish. Then the Notre Dame defense struggled to stop Stanford and the Cardinal punched it in from the goal line.

The Irish answered by moving the ball downfield with a mix of runs and passes, though observers were wondering why Jadarian Price got all the carries and Jeremiyah Love wasn’t in the game. Love came in on the final play of the drive — but it was quarterback Riley Leonard taking the ball into the end zone on the ground to tie things up.

Once again, Leonard’s legs have capped off a Notre Dame drive with a touchdown.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard makes another big-time watch list
Sep 21, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) runs for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Miami Redhawks at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame missing just one player versus Stanford

Notre Dame is pretty healthy for the matchup with Stanford.

The injury report is out for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish against the Stanford Cardinal, and all but one of the players listed on the two-deep roster this week are available.

Junior defensive lineman Jason Onye is out for personal reasons.

While it’s good news to see the Irish have a relatively clean bill of health going into the game against Stanford, the defensive line is already depleted with the losses of Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore for the year.

On the other hand, defensive lineman Gabe Rubio was seen participating in early warmups. Rubio broke his foot during fall camp.

Even though Notre Dame is expected to beat Stanford, the Irish can use all the help they can get on the defensive line.

Notre Dame still has playoff hopes.
Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish long snapper Rino Monteforte (39) prepares to snap the ball on an extra point in the fourth quarter against the Louisville Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

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Experts say Notre Dame will sail over Stanford

The experts all think Notre Dame will have it easy against Stanford.

It looks like there’s once again consensus that Notre Dame Fighting Irish will win at home.

This time they’re hosting the Stanford Cardinal in South Bend, and experts have the Irish winning — though more than a few believe the Cardinal will at least cover the spread.

We’re still worried about it being a trap game, but then again, the Cardinal aren’t very good and the Irish may have figured a few things out.

We hope, for the sake of the Irish’s playoff chances, that Notre Dame will walk away winners on Saturday. Certainly, most, if not all, experts think that they will.

For example, CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli has the Cardinal covering the spread, along with several other experts at the network. Yet the staff has unanimously has Notre Dame winning.

“Stanford isn’t likely to try to air it out against this Irish defense, so I don’t know that either team will be able to pull away from the other,” Fornelli wrote.

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA – SEPTEMBER 28: Beaux Collins #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in action against Tahveon Nicholson #23 of the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on September 28, 2024 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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This mistake by Stanford men’s basketball could haunt them for years to come

Stanford basketball coach Jerod Haase was let go on Thursday, magnifying the Cardinal’s mistake not hiring Mark Madsen last offseason.

They say hindsight is 20-20, but Stanford’s decision to retain head coach Jerod Haase after last season – instead of hiring prominent alumni and Utah Valley coach Mark Madsen – was viewed as a crucial mistake at the time.

And it looks even worse now.

Madsen instead took the head job at Cal and is clearly in the process of turning the Golden Bears around, while Stanford floundered in mediocrity for another season before ultimately doing what should have been done last year, letting Haase go.

Haase was dismissed shortly after Stanford’s loss to Washington State on Thursday in the Pac-12 Tournament, and held himself accountable for the team’s struggles in an emotional postgame press conference.

“I have not won here to the level that I expect,” Haase said. “Just like I hold my team accountable, I’m being held accountable, and I have no issue with that.”

Stanford failed to make the big dance in all eight of Haase’s seasons in Palo Alto, finishing with a nearly perfect .500 record at 126-127 overall. While he was able to add high-end talent as a recruiter, including Harrison Ingram and Andrej Stojakovic, the on-court results just were not there and the program wanted to find new leadership before moving to the ACC.

Meanwhile, Cal has a full year head start on their rebuild – and it adds a little salt to the wound that Stanford’s bitter rival is in a better place because of Madsen, who almost certainly would have taken the Cardinal job if they had made it available one year ago instead of giving Haase one more – ultimately uninspired – season.

With Clark and Bueckers making announcements, attention turns to Stanford star Cameron Brink

Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers announced their plans for the future, so the women’s college basketball world turns their attention to Stanford’s Cameron Brink.

The star power in women’s college basketball is at an all-time high.

Not only is Caitlin Clark breaking records and dominating headlines, but Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and Cameron Brink are making women’s hoops appointment television. The future is clearly bright with USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo breaking records in their first collegiate campaigns.

And while Clark announced she is leaving to pursue the WNBA, Bueckers is giving it another shot at UConn, teaming with Azzi Fudd for what they hope will be a fully healthy season and a push for a national title.

That leaves Brink, a superstar forward from Stanford, as the biggest star yet to make a decision on her future.

“So, I’m sure all of you are wondering, as far as my decision goes to stay next year or enter the draft, I’m still undecided,” Brink told fans Sunday during a postgame celebration after Stanford defeated Arizona State to clinch Pac-12 regular-season title.

The 6-foot, 4-inch forward is averaging 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds on the year, including a dominant 25 point, 23 rebound performance against Oregon State on Thursday.

Should she declare, most expect her to go No. 2 in the WNBA draft behind Clark, but with name, image and likeness licensing opportunities aplenty in women’s basketball — and far more eyeballs watching the college game than the pros — Brink’s decision is not an easy one.

For now, Brink and the Cardinal turn their attention to finishing the regular season strongly, earning a top two seed in the NCAA Tournament and making a push to bring a national title to Palo Alto.

Notre Dame fans could not believe their last 2023 football game was on Pac-12 Network

This went as well as you might expect for Notre Dame football fans … which is to say, it went horribly.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the most famous football program in the United States, ended their 2023 season not on NBC or ABC or Fox, but on Pac-12 Network. We knew this game was going to be on Pac-12 Network, but a lot of casual fans did not. On this Thanksgiving weekend, they were probably visiting family and wanted to settle in on a Saturday and watch their Irish play Stanford. Boy, were they in for a surprise.

Notre Dame fans had to madly scramble for any outlet through which to gain access to Pac-12 Network. They learned about FuboTV. They might have had to go to a sports bar. Some of them, as you will see below, had to just bite the bullet and listen to a Notre Dame radio broadcast.

Just like the 1940s!

The reactions are pure comedy gold, and you can see for yourself:

North Carolina State changed its vote on Stanford, Cal, SMU joining the ACC

Reporting from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! reveals N.C. State changed its vote from no to yes, giving the ACC enough votes to pass the Stanford-Cal-SMU plan.

We mentioned in August that North Carolina State was holding back the Stanford-Cal-SMU expansion vote for the ACC. The conference had 11 yes votes out of 15, but that was short of the 75-percent threshold needed to approve the plan. The ACC needed 12 votes. It had to change an 11-4 vote total to a 12-3 vote total.

Reporting from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports reveals that North Carolina State was indeed the school which changed its position:

“’What does this do to the political landscape of NC State and UNC?’ asks one official working in the state.

“NC State’s football team and athletic administration arrived home after 3 a.m. Friday after playing Thursday night at UConn to open the 2023 season. Four hours later, the school casts the deciding vote.

“’It is insane,’ says one ACC athletic administrator.”

Reaction to the ACC approving the Stanford-Cal-SMU expansion plan was colorful and explosive. In a world of surprises, no one should be surprised about that particular detail:

Stanford going independent in football could happen and would make sense

Stanford women’s basketball needs a conference, but football could be indie. Here’s a schedule the Cardinal could create:

Stanford women’s basketball, an elite program for decades, needs a conference. Basketball teams need conferences to fill a majority of their schedule and participate in a conference tournament. They also need a conference for splitting and generating revenue. Football, however, doesn’t necessarily operate the same way. Just ask Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish aren’t going to the Big Ten. They don’t need to. Why would they split Big Ten TV revenue with almost 20 other schools when they have their own NBC TV deal and get every cent of it without sharing? Notre Dame can also customize its schedule. Given its national brand and identity, it can command top dollar. It is working well for the Irish, and it will continue to work well for them.

Stanford doesn’t have the brand Notre Dame does, but Stanford also has a brand that is more valuable than BYU’s. BYU was independent for a number of years before finding a Big 12 home. BYU played its own customized schedule much as Notre Dame did, but BYU was treated as a Group of Five team more than a Power Five team the way Notre Dame was.

Stanford would be treated as a Power Five team more than a Group of Five team if it goes independent in football — not as prestigious as Notre Dame, but more prestigious than BYU.

Below, you will find some reactions to Stanford being left in the cold with the other members of the so-called “Pac-4” after Friday’s Pac-12 bloodbath. After those reactions, we will present a 12-game football schedule Stanford could realistically produce as an independent, creating a mix of challenging games and attractive TV properties ESPN would pay for. (We refer to ESPN since Stanford going to the Big Ten would mean Fox exposure. If Stanford goes indie, ESPN would be its most likely broadcaster.)

Here we go:

Stanford takes home 2022-23 Learfield Directors Cup

The Stanford Cardinal once again sit on top of the college athletics world.

The race is over. The 2022-2023 Learfield Directors’ Cup has been won. The Stanford Cardinal will be bringing home the Directors’ Cup to Palo Alto for the 26th time over the last 28 years

The Directors’ Cup is awarded to the university with the best athletic department overall, earning points for the finishing of their individual athletic programs.

Stanford narrowly edged out Texas 1,339 to 1,306.5 to win the Directors’ Cup. Filling out the top 10 was Ohio State (1,210.75), USC (1,073.00), Georgia (1,072.5), Michigan (1,045.75), Virginia (1,032.50), North Carolina (1,030.50), Florida (1,1001.5), and Tennessee (1,000.75).

The other winners at Division II, Division III, and NAIA levels were Grand Valley State (Division II), John Hopkins (Division III), and Indiana Tech (NAIA).

The cup has been awarded annually since the 1993-1994 academic year when North Carolina beat out Stanford. Stanford, however, would go on to win each Directors’ Cup between the 1994-1995 and 2018-2019 academic years. The Cup was not awarded in the 2019-2020 academic year due to COVID. Each of the last two years, Texas defeated Stanford becoming just the third university to win the Cup. Stanford finished second in both years, now the Cardinal is back on top.

At the Division II level, Grand Valley State is a frequent winner as well. This is their 15th Directors’ Cup, they have won all 15 since the 2003-2004 academic year. This year’s cup is the first for John Hopkins at the Division III level as well as for Indiana Tech at the NAIA level.