Stanford vs Notre Dame: 3 things we learned

After Notre Dame fell to 2-5 on the season, here are the three things we learned about them and Stanford going forward.

For the first time since 2010, the road team won the contest between Stanford and Notre Dame. It was as ugly as advertised, but it was a much-needed win for Stanford. Losing at home to Washington State was inexcusable, and while Notre Dame are the biggest joke in college football this year, there’s nothing more satisfying than beating a rival.

Meanwhile, for the Irish, this has to be their lowest point of the season. It’s not even their most embarrassing loss of the year, but the fans have been through enough. Kelly was coaching for his job, and he came up short on national television. If this doesn’t cost him his job, he’s the luckiest man in the world.

But aside from the obvious, here were the three things we learned after Stanford was able to capture the Legends Trophy.

1. Fire Brian Kelly

This was the last straw for Brian Kelly. They got away with pinning the first four games on Brian VanGorder, as well as their NC State loss to Hurricane Matthew. But there’s nothing he can hide from now. The Irish blew a 10-point halftime lead, and he poorly mismanaged his quarterbacks. The Irish came into this season hoping to make the College Football Playoff, but they’re going to struggle to be bowl-eligible.

2. Stanford shouldn’t rush Christian McCaffrey back

McCaffrey didn’t play most of the second half against Washington State due to an undisclosed injury, and also because it wouldn’t have made a difference. As such, he was held out of the lineup against Notre Dame, but Bryce Love filled in very well in his absence. He had 138 total yards on 23 carries, and was responsible for the eventual game-winning touchdown. While that type of game shouldn’t be hard against the 84th best run defense in the FBS, Love proved himself to at least be a serviceable replacement.

You can’t just replace Christian McCaffrey’s production, but provided his injury isn’t too serious, they can run their offense capably through Bryce Love. We’re already seeing this happen in LSU with Derrius Guice. But it remains to be seen if McCaffrey decides to take an “extended vacation” then comes back right before the NFL Draft.

3. DeShone Kizer isn’t great, but he’s the best option you’ve got

You never know what type of game DeShone Kizer will give you on any given week. But if his six-touchdown performance against Texas was his ceiling, and his dud against NC State was his floor, this game was somewhere in between. He started out great, getting a rushing touchdown in the first half, but then he threw two picks in the second half. Kelly thought he couldn’t come back from that, and so Kelly brought him in for Malik Zaire.

Zaire has hardly gotten meaningful game time this year, and going to him in a close situation was not the solution. He finished 0-for-2 passing, and had three yards on as many carries. It sucked the life out of Notre Dame’s offense, and it let Stanford get back into the game.

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When even Jimmy Clausen calls it out on Twitter, you know it was a bad choice:

Kizer nearly brought his team back at the end of the game, but his confidence was shot by that point. He’s not great, he’s horribly inconsistent, but he’s the best thing going for Notre Dame. He may give them the best chance to win, but as Kevin Spacey once said, “the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that Notre Dame is good.”