The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-4) could not contain QB Andrew Luck as the Stanford Cardinal (11-1, 8-1 PAC 10) finished the season with a win.
Luck, a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy and a player widely expected to be the top overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, threw for 233 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception on his way to a third-straight victory against the Fighting Irish. Luck also added 20 rushing yards to go with an impressive showing from junior RB Stepfan Taylor, who compiled 149 yards on 20 carries for the Cardinal.
Notre Dame began the game with Tommy Rees at quarterback, but after switching to Andrew Hendrix in the second half, the Notre Dame offense gained some momentum, putting together a pair of touchdown drives -- including a rapid, 39 second drive in the dying moments of the fourth quarter.
Hendrix finished the day with 192 passing yards, a touchdown, an interception, and a rushing touchdown. The Cardinal defense reached Hendrix for several sacks, reducing his rushing yardage total to 14 yards, but the speedy QB actually injected the Irish offense with an otherwise missing running game, as Cierre Wood managed only 41 rushing yards and 3.4 average.
Despite the loss to Stanford, Notre Dame is still poised for a bowl game, but it is unknown who will start at quarterback.
For further reading, news, discussion and more, visit Notre Dame blog One Foot Down and Stanford blog Rule Of Tree. Here’s the complete Week 13 college football TV schedule, and stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news hub for more.