Tag: cardinal

Notre Dame stunned by Stanford: Best photos

Inexplicable.

Some people claim there are such things as good losses although we’re not in that group.

Everyone knows there are such things as bad losses and lord knows Notre Dame fans have seen enough of those over the years.

Then there is this category of downright epically awful losses and that’s what a sold out home crowd at Notre Dame Stadium was witness to on Saturday night as the hosts laid a complete egg in their 16-14 loss against previously 1-4 Stanford.

Stanford hadn’t beaten an FBS team in 378 days previous to beating Notre Dame on Saturday night and it’s not one that the locals will soon forget about in South Bend.

If you can stomach it, here are the best photos from the forgettable night for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame-Stanford: 5 instant takeaways

This was beyond pathetic.

Notre Dame and Stanford met in a game that appeared on paper to be about as one-sided as you could hope for if you’re a Fighting Irish fan.  But that’s why the old saying goes “and that’s why they play the games!”

Notre Dame came out of the gate and I struggle to find the proper word to describe their effort.

Awful.

Pathetic.

Uninspired.

Disinterested.

In a game Notre Dame was favored by 16.5 points, the Irish looked like the uninspired ones who were coming off a heartbreaking loss on their home field before having to travel on a nearly five hour flight.

Here are five instant takeaways from Notre Dame’s truly abysmal showing against Stanford as the Irish were shocked 16-14 by the Cardinal.

Notre Dame-Stanford preview: Pac-12 expert talks Cardinal

Should Notre Dame be on upset alert this week and would Stanford really fire David Shaw? Our Pac 12 expert shares his knowledge.

You don’t have to flip the pages of your scrapbook back all that far to find a time that Notre Dame’s annual clash with Stanford was significant in the major college football landscape.

The Cardinal went to a bowl game each year from 2009, which was Jim Harbaugh’s third year on campus, to 2018, which was David Shaw’s eighth as head coach.  Since then things haven’t gone as desired for the Cardinal as they’re just 1-4 overall this year and just 13-25 since the start of the 2019 season.

So what has gone wrong with Stanford, is there any hope in Palo Alto that they’ll be turning things around anytime soon, and would they really force Shaw, a coach who NFL teams were said to be kicking the tires on a few years back, out after what he’s accomplished?

Matt Zemek is the managing editor of our sister-site Trojans Wire where they cover all things USC.  He also follows the Pac 12 incredibly closely and has insights to the rest of the league, not just USC.

Zemek was kind enough to take a few minutes away from his currently unbeaten football team to discuss how Stanford has fallen like they have and what to expect this Saturday.

Notre Dame releases depth chart for Stanford game

Notre Dame’s depth chart for an annual rival

After an incredible amount of turbulence to start the 2022 season, Notre Dame football appears to be back on track.  No, they haven’t looked like the top-10 team most outlets had them as in the preseason, but have improved in winning their last three games as now a few very winnable games present themselves the rest of October.

That starts with the annual Stanford date for Notre Dame, a matchup they’ve been playing each year since 1997 outside of the COVID season of 2020.  Although the rivalry was incredibly competitive and heated for a spurt from roughly 2011-2017, things have swayed majorly in favor of Notre Dame since Ian Book’s first career start at Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame enters this game 3-2 and looking better by the week while Stanford stumbles in at 1-4 after suffering a heartbreaking home loss to Oregon State last week.

Notre Dame has released their depth chart for the game which will look as follows:

Watch: Stanford’s epic collapse against Oregon State

Any other Notre Dame fans think of Miles Boykin immediately upon seeing this?

Notre Dame will play host to annual rival Stanford next week and the two teams couldn’t be coming from more opposite places. The Irish knocked off No. 16 BYU in Las Vegas on Saturday night in the Shamrock Series game they dominated statistically although the scoreboard didn’t reflect it.

Notre Dame has won three in a row after dropping its first two of 2022 and has a reeling Stanford team up next.

We already knew Stanford wasn’t good, but its ability to snatch defeat from the hands of victory reached an unreal level Saturday night against Oregon State.

Stanford was in control of their late-night home affair with the Beavers for the majority of the contest. Even leading by five with just over 20 seconds left, the Cardinal giving up 56 yards and a go-ahead touchdown didn’t seem likely.

But this isn’t David Shaw’s Stanford squad from a decade ago. This is a Stanford team that has fallen on hard times and become a Pac-12 bottom feeder. A Pac-12 bottom feeder that found an incredible way to lose. Check it out below.

Notre Dame (3-2) hosts Stanford (1-4) under the lights at Notre Dame Stadium.

NOTRE DAME-BYU POSTGAME COVERAGE:

5 Instant Takeaways from Notre Dame victory

5 stats that told story in Irish victory

How Twitter reacted to Notre Dame’s latest win

Best photos from epic Shamrock Series game vs. BYU

College football scoreboard: 6 Top 25 teams fall

Stanford loses running back for the season

Tough year only getting tougher for Stanford

Notre Dame is just over two weeks away from hosting Stanford in a night contest that, for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t be much of a game. That likelihood probably just grew a slight bit because Stanford will make the trek to South Bend without running back E.J. Smith.

Smith, the sun of NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith, will be out the remainder of the season with an undisclosed injury according to Cardinal head coach David Shaw.

Smith had a big start to the season, rushing for 206 yards on 30 carries, finishing with three touchdowns. He hasn’t played since, however, and will not play the rest of 2022.

Stanford was already playing from behind; it is 1-2 with blowout losses to both USC and Washington. Its only victory was against Colgate.

The David Shaw-led program isn’t too far removed from being a West Coast powerhouse. It had four top-10 finishes between 2010 and 2015 but hasn’t finished a year ranked at all since 2017.

With what appears to be another long fall ahead for Shaw and Stanford, you wonder how much longer he’ll be given to lead the Cardinal program.

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A.J. Green unlikely to play Sunday for Cardinals vs. Panthers

Cardinals WR A.J. Green is expected to miss Sunday’s game with the Panthers with a bone bruise injury suffered in Week 3’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

It has not been the season A.J. Green or the Arizona Cardinals had hoped for when he re-signed a one-year deal with the team following an 800-plus yard season.

In three games played, Green has five receptions for 29 yards. Now, he’s dealing with a bone bruise that is expected to keep him out of Week 4’s crucial matchup with the Carolina Panthers.

When asked about Green’s availability, Kliff Kingsbury had the following to say:

“It looks doubtful unless he really, really comes around he’s probably not going to be available.”

The Cardinals have a size issue at the receiver position, assuming Green does miss Sunday’s contest. The team currently does not have a receiver over 5-9 on the active roster.

More than that, however, is the lack of depth at the receiver position, as the team continues to be without DeAndre Hopkins. Second-year Rondale Moore, however, is progressing the right way, as he was limited in practice Wednesday.

There is currently no time set on Green’s return from injury.

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Kyren Williams joins rare list of Notre Dame running backs

Where does Kyren Williams rank on Notre Dame’s all-time running backs list?

Notre Dame has been playing football for 133 years and had some outstanding running backs along the way.  Where Kyren Williams ranks on that all-time list is a conversation I’m sure some will have this off-season, but Williams just some very rare air in Saturday’s blowout win over Stanford.

Williams rushed for two touchdowns and 74 yards in the victory.  Those 74 yards put his total at 1,002 for the season.  By doing so, Williams becomes just the fifth Notre Dame running back to ever rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons.

Here is the very short list:

No. 6 Notre Dame cruises past Stanford: 5 instant takeaways

Notre Dame cruised to victory with a 45-14 win at Stanford. What was your biggest takeaway from the easy victory?

No. 6 Notre Dame had already had a solid day before they took the field at Stanford for their 2021 regular season finale and their easy victory over the struggling Cardinal.  It got better though as the Irish jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead and cruised in the second half as the issue was never really in doubt.

What comes next for Notre Dame?  Where will they be ranked when the new College Football Playoff rankings come out on Tuesday night and have they done enough to stay ahead of a potential one-loss Big 12 champion?

Here are the five things we take away from Notre Dame’s 45-14 victory at Stanford that closes the 2021 regular season:

2021 Notre Dame first comes in Stanford finale

It took 12 games but something happened for the first time with the 2021 Notre Dame football team,

No. 6 Notre Dame has experienced quite a bit in 2021 with last-second finishes, thrilling games, and 10 wins in 11 tries.

Something happened for the first time all year though as Notre Dame got started at Stanford:

Notre Dame didn’t receive to start the game.

In all 11 games to date Notre Dame had received the opening kickoff but Stanford won the coin toss and opted to receive.

I have no idea what the history is for the most times a team has received the opening kickoff in a season, but I can tell you that Notre Dame’s bid at doing so came to an end Saturday night at Stanford.

Now enjoy the game.

Related:

College Football Playoff Top 25 Scoreboard – Rivalry Week

Does Michigan’s massive win over Ohio State help Notre Dame?

Alabama somehow survives at Auburn but it comes at a cost for Tide