Miscues make Irish see red
Cardinal score 21 points in fourth quarter, thanks in part to 2 ND turnovers
STANFORD, Calif. — K. J. Costello threw two of his careerhigh four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and No. 21 Stanford rallied for a 38- 20 victory over No. 8 Notre Dame on Saturday night.
The night couldn’t have gone much better for the Cardinal ( 9- 3), who got the help they needed when Washington beat Washington State 41- 14 in the Apple Cup to send Stanford to the Pac- 12 title game. The Cardinal finished tied for first in the North with the Huskies but won the head- to- head matchup to take the tiebreaker.
“I was just so worried about this game,” Costello said. “At the end of the day, I couldn’t care less about that. Now I’m stoked that we have that opportunity.”
It didn’t seem like that opportunity would come after Stanford lost back- to- back games to USC and San Diego State in September to fall to 1- 2. But the Cardinal have won eight of nine since then with a boost from the change at quarterback to Costello and now will get a rematch against USC in the conference championship game.
“We sat at 1- 2 with a lot of doubt and some of it was internal,” coach David Shaw said. “We had to ask ourselves a lot of questions, change some pieces around on our end.”
Bryce Love capped a memorable regular season by running for 125 yards on a gimpy ankle.
Costello was the star of the offense for a change, throwing for 176 yards and delivering the four scores. Stanford has won seven of nine in the series, including the last five at home against the Fighting Irish ( 9- 3).
Notre Dame had a meltdown in the fourth quarter with two turnovers in the opening minutes and was dealt a serious blow in its hopes for making a New Year’s Six bowl game.
“We turned a good game into a not- so- good game by turning the ball over,” coach Brian Kelly said.
The game took a dramatic turn in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter as Stanford turned a 20- 17 deficit into a 38- 20 lead in a span of 3: 36 early in the quarter.
It started when Costello found Kaden Smith for a 19- yard score on third down that gave Stanford the lead for good. Brandon Wimbush then was intercepted by Curtis Robinson on the first play of the ensuing drive. The Cardinal needed three plays to turn that into another touchdown when Costello found Dalton Schultz for a 12- yard score.
C. J. Sanders then fumbled the kickoff for Notre Dame and Cameron Scarlett put the game away with three- yard run.