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Scout's Notebook: Stanford @ Notre Dame 09/25/10

Written By: Tyler Oberly

Stanford came into South Bend with the nation’s top-ranked run defense and showed why, as they held the Irish to only 44 rushing yards on the day. The bright point statistically for Notre Dame came through quarterback Dayne Crist, who was able to throw for over 300 yards, connecting to star wide out Michael Floyd eight times for 110 yards.

Crist looked uncomfortable in the pocket all game against the Cardinal defense, as he was sacked three times and threw one interception for a touchdown. Two sacks came from linebacker Shayne Skov, who also forced a fumble and racked up eight tackles. OLB Chase Thomas introduced himself to Crist as well, hitting him three times and registering seven tackles. Senior two-way player Owen Marecic put the game away when he intercepted Crist and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown to put Stanford up 34-6. The Marecic interception came right after he ran the ball in from the three yard line for Stanford’s offense.  “He's a perfect football player,” said Coach Jim Harbaugh after the game. “I’ve just never been around a guy like this in 30-some years of playing college, pro football and in coaching. He does everything right. He's conditioned himself to play that kind of football game. He's worked extremely hard. Then to really consider, just mentally, what that takes to learn both systems, offensively and defensively, to be able to go out there and execute and make plays. You know, he's the perfect football player. You know, a couple of the other things about Owen, he's a very humble guy, a very quiet guy, but takes a lot of pride in what he's doing. Just treats every game like no matter what he's proved in the past, now he's proven it again. It's unchartered water. Nobody's doing it except for him. I think the biggest thing is that he's playing the two most physical positions in the game of football: fullback and middle linebacker. You’ve just got to take your hat off to him and enjoy watching it, 'cause I sure do.”

Stanford’s defense caught the Irish off guard as they continually rushed three and dropped eight into coverage, forcing Crist to make throws he didn’t necessarily want to make. “They didn’t show rushing three and dropping eight in any game tapes we looked at. But again, you can’t sit back and point your finger at that. You have to go into the game ready for anything. We have to do a better time adjusting to what they’re throwing us,” said a frustrated Crist after the game.

Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly challenged his defense earlier in the week to come up big and slow down Stanford’s offensive star quarterback Andrew Luck. The Irish were able to contain Luck, forcing him to throw two interceptions and holding him under 250 yards passing. But it wasn’t the passing game that sliced the Irish defense. Running back Stephan Taylor ran for 108 yards of the 166 total Cardinal rushing yards. The Irish are now 0-3 this season when their defense gives up over 150 yards rushing. Sophomore linebacker Manti Te’o turned out an impressive 21 tackles for the Irish, but it wasn’t enough to slow down the smash mouth Stanford offense. “It doesn't matter if I have a hundred (tackles) if we don't win," said Te’o following the defeat.

Notre Dame now faces the prospect of falling to 1-4 as they travel to Chestnut Hill to battle rival Boston College in the Holy War this Saturday. Stanford looks to continue its ascent in the polls and take a step towards winning the Pac-10 as they take on dangerous conference rival Oregon on Saturday.