Hogan tosses 4 touchdowns as Stanford beats Notre Dame in college football

With his father, Jerry, dying of colon cancer, Hogan had his least productive season as the Cardinal lost five games and he played particularly poorly in losses to Notre Dame, Arizona State and Utah.

As it turns out, despite the ominous feeling presiding over the stadium, the Cardinal weren’t ready to concede their faint playoff hopes.

DeShone Kizer, QB, Notre Dame: Put up 234 passing yards and 128 rushing yards in losing effort, including leading an outstanding drive to give Notre Dame a late lead. “We had a number of opportunities in the red zone that we should have converted, or could have converted into touchdowns that we had to settle for field goals”.

Hogan threw for 269 yards and four touchdowns for the Cardinal (10-2, No. 9 CFP), who kept their slim playoff hopes alive with the win. Or Stanford going 45 yards in five plays and 30 seconds to beat the Irish at the buzzer?

It was a wild, impactful weekend across the country… Win that one and it’s off to the national semifinals. Throw in the fact that Stanford knows it has little chance to crash the CFP with two losses, and perhaps the Irish can use that to their advantage. Hogan… Cajuste. A team of somebodies made a series of crucial plays. “I can’t say how proud I am of him”.

“We want to score touchdowns, but the object of the game is to score more points than the other team”, Kizer said. We don’t worry about the other teams in our conference. The Irish didn’t come away with the victory but Kizer played really well.

It was Fuller’s ninth touchdown of the season of more than 30 yards.

Does all of that excuse Kizer’s first-half fumble in field-goal range just before halftime?

If Oklahoma wins then they’re in, plain and simple. It hasn’t been pretty, just effective.

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) – Baker Mayfield threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score and Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State to take the Big 12 title and likely a spot in the College Football Playoff.

In the process, they all but laid out the carpet for Oklahoma to reach the playoffs. The Irish overcame injuries to a bevy of star players, yet were in contention all the way to the end. It was the fifth consecutive win for the Wildcats, putting them in position for a January 1 bowl game. We don’t need anyone to tell us that it’s a game we have to play our hearts out in. “I had to screen-shot that one”. “I was fortunate enough to play a good game”.

Stanford will face No. 24 USC (8-4) on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium in the Pac-12 Championship.

But even in their last ever 30 seconds playing in front of their home crowd, there was no sense of desperation or distress in that final huddle – only excitement and confidence. Prosise is averaging 131.7 rushing yards per game this season, and Russell is considered the Irish’s top cover man…. Fifteen seconds left. It was time to go to the well.

Of course, when it comes to the Irish that season, you know the rest of the story. After all, when was the last time any SEC team scheduled a true road game against a quality opponent?

Neither defense had much success in the first half, which ended with Stanford holding a 21-20 lead. When Shaw handed Hogan the game ball in the locker room, both were in tears. Now the college football odds for the game have the Cardinal favored to pick up the victory.

NO. 8 OHIO STATE 42, NO. 12 MI 13: Ezekiel Elliott ran for 214 yards and two touchdowns for Ohio State in its win over MI.

The last time the two teams squared off was in South Bend on October 4 of past year.

Next up is No. 11 North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game on December 5.

Penn State will visit East Lansing to take on Michigan State.

“He has got some scars”, coach David Shaw said. Will the Sooners, sitting at home next week, remain on the minds of the committee?

MI quarterback Jake Rudock was knocked out of the game when he was sacked and slammed onto his left shoulder. The regular season is done.