2009: Stanford 45, Notre Dame 38
This game will forever be remembered for two things:
Charlie Weis’s final as Notre Dame’s Head Coach and Jimmy Clausen’s black eye.
Losing at home in embarrassing fashion to Connecticut was the icing on the cake to Charlie Weis’s career at Notre Dame, with the entire college football world knowing he’d be fired after the season concluded at Stanford.
In typical Charlie Weis fashion, the defense did nothing on this evening as Toby Gerhart ran for 205 yards, caught a 33 yard pass and scored three times.
Jimmy Clausen, who had been sucker-punched at CJ’s bar after that loss to Connecticut, led the Irish with an all-time night, throwing for 340 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Golden Tate, playing in his final game at Notre Dame, just like Clausen, pulled in ten catches that night while finding the end zone three times himself and Michael Floyd added two more scores.
The Irish had no answer whatsoever for Gerhart, who’s final score came with under a minute left as Notre Dame’s defense strategically let him get into the end zone, something that happened fairly often under Weis.
Clausen and Tate’s final drive at Notre Dame would end 31 yards short of the end zone as time expired. Clausen would sneak his helmet out of the locker room and get it to his family before exiting the stadium that night, while Weis would be fired just two days later.
Next: 2011 – Andrew Luck Looks Part of No. 1 Draft Pick