Despite the loss, Kizer steps up for the Irish

Hood had a career-high 220 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead North Carolina, which had already wrapped up the Coastal Division title and a spot against No. 1 Clemson in the ACC championship game.

Notre Dame will settle for an alternate fate. The game was a contrast in styles, with Notre Dame thriving on big plays and Stanford moving the ball efficiently down the field. “I’m just trying to win football games”. USC did it twice, seven straight from 1970-82 and four consecutive from 2002-08.

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

We were treated to a classic duel between two quarterbacks – Stanford senior Kevin Hogan had as many touchdowns as incompletions, four, while Irish sophomore DeShone Kizer turned in one of his best performances yet.

Instead, it’s the fourth-ranked Irish who are out despite a 10-win season in which they endured an astounding number of major injuries to key players.

No. 25 TEMPLE 27, UCONN 3 (at Philadelphia) – Jahad Thomas ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns and P.J. Walker threw for 160 yards and a score to help the Owls (10-2, 7-1) beat the Huskies (6-6, 4-4) and secure a spot in the AAC’s inaugural championship game. That is the most in a regular season since 11 in 1983, with Allen Pinkett mainly doing the honors. With Notre Dame loading up the box to slow down Heisman candidate running back Christian McCaffrey, Hogan was incredibly efficient, completing 17 of 21 passes for 269 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. So what other conference do you throw out like last week’s trash if you give Notre Dame the nod? But the injuries everywhere on both sides of the ball – most recently to cornerback KeiVarae Russell – proved to be too much against the high-powered Cardinal offense. If he can do it with us huddled around him, screaming insane things at him, then he can go out and win the game against Notre Dame. It also moves McCaffery into third all-time for all-purpose yards in a season. Freshman running back Josh Adams gashed the Cardinal defense for a 62 yard score.

Notre Dame couldn’t win for losing this season. Sanders scored on a punt return versus UMass on September 26 and then the kickoff versus the Cardinal.

“It was all about McCaffrey and making sure he didn’t wreck the game from special teams”, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said.

Conrad Ukropina’s kick from 45 yards perfectly split the uprights as time expired, and mayhem ensued as Stanford’s players and fans all stormed the field to celebrate a dramatic 38-36 victory for No. 13 Stanford (10-2, 8-1 Pac-12) over No. 4 Notre Dame (10-2) in one crowning triumph for Stanford Football’s class of 2016 on a dramatic Senior Night. But if Penn State pulls off the upset, that could open the door for Notre Dame as the victor of Ohio State at MI would then play Iowa next weekend. There were six lead changes before the Trojans (8-4) dropped the hammer on their crosstown rivals, scoring the game’s final three touchdowns in a de facto Pac-12 South title matchup with the Bruins (8-4). Until Notre Dame reached the red zone. A loss to Stanford on Saturday ends the Notre Dame playoff campaign for 2015. The Irish scored one TD and made three field goals. Plus the 14 red-zone turnovers the past two seasons also are No. 1 in the country. Stanford had all three timeouts left, but it did not use them, letting Notre Dame kill some clock.

A 30-point second quarter from the Sooners put any drama to rest. “We know that kind of fell away with this loss”. The game will be played at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. “It’s a culmination of the game, and the reality is, we’re two plays away from being the No. 1 team in the country – one play at Clemson and one play here at Stanford”. Stanford isn’t one of those right now, but by the end of Championship Week, they very well could be.