Sept. 25, 2010

Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery

TODAY’S DEFEAT…

• Drops the Irish record to 1-3 for the first time since 2007.
• Extends Notre Dame’s losing streak against top 20 foes to 11 games.
• Snaps Notre Dame’s seven-game winning streak over Stanford at Notre Dame Stadium.
• Drops Notre Dame to 17-8 (.680) in the all-time series with Stanford.
• Drops the Irish to 10-3 (.769) in the all-time series with the Cardinal in Notre Dame Stadium.
• Drops Notre Dame to 82-45-6 (.639) all-time against the Pac-10 Conference.
• Drops the Irish to 46-17-1 (.727) all-time against the Pac-10 Conference at home.
• Drops an unranked Notre Dame squad (post 1932) to 5-6 (.455) all-time against Stanford.
• Drops an unranked Irish squad (post 1932) to 3-1 (.750) all-time against the Cardinal in Notre Dame Stadium.
• Drops an unranked Notre Dame squad (post 1932) to 0-3 (.000) all-time against a ranked Stanford squad.
• Drops an unranked Irish squad (post 1932) to 0-1 (.000) all-time against a ranked Cardinal squad in Notre Dame Stadium.
• Drops Kelly’s record to 172-60-2 (.739) overall, 54-25 (.684) at the FBS level and 34-9 (.791) over the last four seasons.
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record to 838-293-42 (.732).
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record at Notre Dame Stadium to 307-103-5 (.746).
• Drops Notre Dame to 69-42-5 (.616) all-time against schools from the state of California.
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record against opponents ranked in the Top 25 to 140-128-10 (.522).
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record against opponents ranked in the Top 20 to 132-124-10 (.515).
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record when unranked against opponents ranked in the Top 25 to 27-53-1 (.340).
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record when unranked against opponents ranked in the Top 20 to 22-50-1 (.308).
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record at home against opponents ranked in the Top 25 to 63-53-3 (.542).
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record at home against opponents ranked in the Top 20 to 59-52-3 (.531).
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record at home when unranked against opponents ranked in the Top 25 to 11-26-0 (.297).
• Drops Notre Dame’s all-time record at home when unranked against opponents ranked in the Top 20 to 8-25-0 (.242).

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES…

• Notre Dame won the coin toss and elected to receive. Stanford will defend the North end zone.
• Captains for the game were senior OG Chris Stewart and senior NG Ian Williams.
• Official attendance was 80,795.
• Saturday was the 215th consecutive sellout at Notre Dame Stadium. Since 1966, every home football game for the Irish has been a sellout except one – a 1973 Thanksgiving Day game vs. Air Force. Notre Dame has now played in front of sellouts in 263 of its last 264 home games.

THIRD DOWN…

• Notre Dame entered today’s game with Stanford ranked 18th in the FBS in third down defense. The Irish had limited their first three opponents to just 28 percent (14 of 50), but Stanford converted six of its first seven third down attempts.
• The Cardinal finished the first half seven of nine on third down. Stanford’s seven third down conversions were more than each of Notre Dame’s first three opponents in the entire game: Purdue (five), Michigan (three) and Michigan State (six).
• Notre Dame limited its first three opponents to 1 of 13 on third down plays of 10 yards or longer. In the first half alone, Stanford converted a pair of such third down attempts (11 and 10 yards).
• Stanford finished the game with 11 third down conversions in 15 attempts. An Irish opponent has not converted more third down attempts than Stanford’s 11 since Michigan had 12 third down conversions on Sept. 13, 2003.

TURNOVERS…

• Notre Dame sophomore S Zeke Motta recovered a Stanford muffed punt to setup Notre Dame’s first score of the afternoon. Motta recovered the fumble at the Cardinal 21-yard line.
• Stanford forced a Dayne Crist fumble at the Irish 15-yard line and came away with a field goal. Notre Dame did limit the Cardinal on the scoring drive to nine yards on four plays .
• Notre Dame junior S Jamoris Slaughter picked off his first career pass to negate a possible Stanford scoring chance. Irish junior CB Robert Blanton broke up the pass attempt and Slaughter caught the ball at the Irish two-yard line. The interception was Luck’s first of the season.
• Notre Dame senior CB Darrin Walls added his second interception of the season and fourth of his career. He also picked off a pass in the season opener against Purdue.
• Stanford committed just two turnovers over its first three games, but the Irish forced three Cardinal turnovers this afternoon.
• Notre Dame had forced three turnovers over its first three games, but had three against Stanford this afternoon.
• Stanford LB Owen Marecic picked off a Dayne Crist pass and returned 20 yards for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

NOTRE DAME VS. PAC-10

• Notre Dame is 82-45-6 (.639) all-time against teams from the Pac-10 Conference. Stanford represented the first of two Pac-10 opponents for the Irish this season. Notre Dame travels to USC on Nov. 27 to close the regular season.
• The 133 games against Pac-10 teams is the second-most for the Irish against any conference. The Big Ten Conference (351) represents the most games played against Notre Dame and the ACC ranks third (109).
• Notre Dame has a winning series record against nine of the Pac-10 teams. Most of those games (81) have come versus USC (42-34-5), while 25 other matchups have come versus Stanford (17-8).
• Notre Dame has also played California (4-0), Washington (8-0), UCLA (4-0), Arizona State (2-0), Oregon (1-0-1), Washington State (2-0), Arizona (2-1) and Oregon State (0-2).

NOTRE DAME – STANFORD SERIES NOTES

• Saturday’s game marked the 25th meeting between Notre Dame and Stanford. The Irish lead the series 17-8, including a 10-3 advantage in Notre Dame Stadium.
• The two teams have met every year since 1988, with the exception of the 1995 and 1996 seasons.
• After a five-game stretch from 1989-93 in which the visiting team won every game, the home team won each of the next seven games (1994-2002) before the Irish put a stop to that trend with a 57-7 victory at Stanford Stadium in 2003. In fact, Notre Dame won three straight games in the series on the road before stumbling last year.
• Notre Dame won seven consecutive meetings with Stanford from 2002-08, which was the longest winning streak for either school in the all-time series.

NOTRE DAME – STANFORD SERIES HISTORY

• Notre Dame leads the all-time series versus Stanford (17-8), including a 10-3 edge when the scene shifts to Notre Dame Stadium.
• The series began on Jan. 1, 1925 (the end of the 1924 season) when Notre Dame’s famed Four Horsemen and head coach Knute Rockne travelled across the country to meet Stanford’s Pop Warner and Ernie Nevers. Notre Dame’s 27-10 victory earned the Irish their first-ever national championship and the first of four national crowns to come via bowl wins.
• The series then included one game in the 1940s and two in the 1960s. This year’s game will represent the 21st meeting between the schools in the last 23 years (no games in 1995 or 1996).
• The winner of the Notre Dame-Stanford series receives the Legends Trophy, a combination of Irish crystal and California redwood. The trophy was presented for the first time in 1989 by the Notre Dame Club of the San Francisco Bay Area. Notre Dame has won 13 of 19 games since the Legends Trophy was first introduced.

Michael Floyd, Jr., WR

• Floyd registered a 10-yard reception late in the first quarter that moved him into 10th place all-time in Notre Dame history for receiving yards. He moved ahead of former All-American tight end Ken MacAfee (1,759; 1974-77).
• Floyd eclipsed 100 yards receiving for the first time this season and 10th in his career.
• Floyd stands alone in third place in career 100-yard receiving games. He trails only Golden Tate (15, 2007-09) and Tom Gatewood (13, 1969-71).

David Ruffer, Sr., PK

• Ruffer converted a 22-yard field goal with 8:11 to go in the first quarter to give the Irish a 3-0 lead.
• Ruffer added a 40-yard field with 13:22 remaining in the second quarter to cut the Stanford lead to 10-6.
• Ruffer has recorded 12 consecutive successful field goals, including all seven this season. In fact, Ruffer is 12 of 12 for his career.
• Ruffer’s 12 straight field goals rank as the third-longest overall streak in school history and second longest to open a career.

Jamoris Slaughter, So., S

• Slaughter registered his first career interception late in the second quarter.

Manti Te’o, So., LB

• Te’o established a career-high in tackles. His previous career-high for tackles in a game was 13 set earlier this season against Michigan.
• Te’o has eclipsed 10 or more tackles in each of the last three games and five times in his brief Irish career.
• The last Notre Dame player to have more tackles in a game was Chinedum Ndukwe on Nov. 11, 2006 when he recorded 22 in a victory at Air Force.

Darrin Walls, Sr., CB

• Walls registered a pair of pass break-ups on the day.
• Walls now has 18 career PBUs, which ranks tied for eighth all-time in Notre Dame history. He is tied with Vontez Duff (2000-03).
• Walls added his second interception of the season and fourth of his career. He picked off a pass in the season opener against Purdue.

Stanford Post-Game Notes
at Notre Dame, September 25, 2010

• This is just the third win in series history at Notre Dame Stadium (10-3) and first win in South Bend since 1992. It is also the first time Stanford has won in back-to-back meetings. The series is now 17-8 in Notre Dame’s favor.
• Coach Jim Harbaugh is now 21-20 at Stanford and the Cardinal are now 4-2 under Harbaugh as a ranked team.
• It is the first 4-0 start for Stanford since 1986 and just the sixth time since 1940 that Stanford has gone 4-0 to start a season.
• Owen Marecic scored 13 seconds a part on a rushing TD in the fourth (7:58) and his first career interception (7:45). He had his first career sack last week. It was the first time since Eric Weddle (now with the Chargers) ran two interceptions and scored a rushing TD for Utah against San Diego State on September 23, 2006 that a player has scored on offense and defense. It is the fourth time it has happened since 2003.
• Former Irish kicker and current Stanford senior Nate Whitaker has now made 13-straight field goals dating back to last season (a 21, 23, 29, 33 and 41 yarder in this game). The five field goals tied a single-game record, set by John Hopkins at Cal in 1990. It bests Whitaker’s previous best of three he hit against Notre Dame last year. He is 8-for-8 against his former mates in two games. He transferred to Stanford in 2008.
• Stanford is perfect inside the Red Zone this season, converting on all seven possessions today and 26-of-26 for the season.
• Shayne Skov recorded his first two career sacks in the first quarter.
• Andrew Luck threw his first and second interceptions of the season in the second (1:21) and third quarters (6:20). Both tipped passes were the first time the third-year sophomore was intercepted since Cal in the second to last regular season game in 2009. He threw just four INTs last year.
• Lemont, IL native (just outside Chicago) and senior Coby Fleener caught his second career touchdown pass (3:37) in the first quarter.
• The 3-0 lead by the Irish in the first (8:11) was the first time Stanford had trailed all season.