Stanford Saves for a Rainy Day

Carlyle Holiday had no trouble understanding his bad statistics. It was just that kind of night for quarterbacks at Stanford Stadium.

Kenneth Tolon scored on a one-yard pitch with 1:08 to play as No. 13 Stanford’s slumbering offense woke up just in time for a rain-soaked 17-13 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday night.

Driving winds, intermittent rain and two hyped-up defenses created miserable conditions for both offenses. Stanford’s Randy Fasani and Notre Dame’s Holiday and Matt LoVecchio had games they would rather forget--but Fasani got the ball to his running backs late in the contest, who carried the Cardinal to victory.

Holiday threw a first-quarter touchdown pass but finished one for 16 for Notre Dame, which wasted an outstanding defensive game with an equal amount of offensive ineptitude. As Holiday’s miserable night wore on, he saw the Irish’s bowl hopes disappear.

“It’s just one of those things you dream about, but you hope it doesn’t ever happen,” said Holiday, speaking of his performance but also describing Notre Dame’s season. “It’s not anybody’s fault. We just didn’t get any plays that we needed to get.”

Casey Moore also scored on a late run as the Cardinal (8-2), ranked fifth in the nation in scoring and ninth in total offense, plodded unsuccessfully through the first three quarters under Fasani, whose return after a month out with injuries was fairly dismal.

“Our offensive line started dominating in the fourth quarter,” Fasani said. “Those last couple of drives, it was great to hand the ball off.”

Stanford put together two impressive scoring drives in the fourth quarter to end the bowl chances of Notre Dame (4-6).

Tank Williams intercepted LoVecchio’s pass with 54 seconds left to seal the victory. Notre Dame completed two passes all night.

“We were completely anemic in the second half,” said Irish Coach Bob Davie, just 6-15 against ranked teams. “We couldn’t get anything going offensively to break the game open, and we even had tremendous field position. We couldn’t make a play. This was a tough way to lose.”

On the deciding drive, Stanford went 59 yards in 10 plays, capped by Tolon’s easy run into the corner of the end zone. Tolon, playing in place of injured starters Kerry Carter and Brian Allen, rushed for a career-best 133 yards.

Fasani, who missed most of the previous four games because of a sprained knee, struggled as Stanford sluggishly moved the ball. The Cardinal, likely locked into a trip to the Seattle Bowl despite their lofty bowl championship series ranking, had little to play for against the Irish, and it showed in a poor offensive performance.

Fasani was back in the starting lineup in place of Chris Lewis, who led the Cardinal to four wins. Fasani had little chemistry with his receivers, however, going eight for for 159 yards--just 95 in the first three quarters--and an interception.

“I think we made a statement that we’re not a bunch of smart softies--that we stayed in the game and pounded the ball,” Fasani said.