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Oct. 4, 1997
Stanford Runs All Over Irish, 33-15
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| Anthony Bookman sets up his fourth-quarter touchdown.<!hr> |
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Mike Mitchell and Anthony Bookman combined for 277 rushing yardsand four touchdowns as 21st-ranked Stanford kept Notre Damereeling with a 33-15 victory.
Bookman put the game away with fourth-quarter scoring runs of 58and five yards for the Cardinal (4-1), who led 17-9 heading intothe final 15 minutes. Stanford added a late safety and wore downthe Fighting Irish front line by pounding the ball on theground.
Mitchell finished with 135 yards and two touchdowns on 29carries while Bookman added 142 on 14 rushes. Chad Hutchinsoncompleted 26-of-38 passes for 192 yards as Stanford won itsthird straight game. The Cardinal have scored 91 points intheir last two games.
"We were able to do so many things on offense, and it makes ithard on the defense to cover all the things," said Hutchinson. Just beating Notre Dame by any margin is a feat. They're a good team. As coach said, their record isn't indicative of how they play."
Notre Dame fell to 1-4 under first-year coach Bob Davie and hasstarted a season with four losses in five games for the firsttime since 1986, which was Lou Holtz's first year. The FightingIrish have lost four straight games, their longest losing streaksince a five-game skid under Hugh Devore in 1963.
"I'm not sure what it's going to take to straighten us out," admitted Fighting Irish quarterback Ron Powlus. "In tough situations, you have to crank it up and commit to Notre Dame football. I'm upset and mad, but I'm not going to quit and that's how most of the guys feel."
Stanford still trails the all-time series, 8-4, and it was justthe second time in the last seven meetings that the home teamwon.
Notre Dame took a 3-0 lead on a 45-yard field goal by Jim Sansonwith 3:45 left in the first quarter, but the Cardinal answeredas Mitchell dashed in from 15 yards with four seconds to go.
The Fighting Irish took a 9-7 lead as Ron Powlus rolled to hisright and found tight end Jabari Holloway in the end zone from11 yards for the score.
Stanford regrouped and took a 10-9 lead with 18 seconds to playin the first half on a 37-yard field goal by Miller. TheCardinal had a chance to make it 13-9 after recovering a fumbleby Powlus on the first play, but Miller missed a 47-yarder rightbefore the half ended.
Stanford extended its lead to 17-9 with 1:13 left in the thirdquarter as Mitchell bulled in from three yards. After athree-and-out by the Irish, Bookman found a crease off righttackle and raced 58 yards to bump the margin to 24-9 with 13:42remaining.
Notre Dame answered with a six-play, 76-yard drive as Powlushooked up with Bobby Brown on a 27-yard catch-and-run score thatmade it 24-15 with 10:57 to go. But the Cardinal ended anychance of a Notre Dame comeback by scoring on its nextpossession. Stanford kept the drive alive by converting a4th-and-2 on the Notre Dame 30, and Bookman slashed in from fiveyards to make it 31-15 with 3:15 left.
"They did some things you don't need words to describe," said Stanford coach Tyrone Willingham in praise of his offensive line. "For three consecutive weeks, we've had guys go over 100 yards. That's the work of the offensive line."
Defensive end Kailee Wong sacked Powlus in the end zone on theensuing possession for Stanford's final points.
Powlus completed 13-of-21 passes for 177 yards and a pair ofscores while Autry Denson added 116 rushing yards on 21attempts. Brown hauled in five passes for 88 yards.
"The third quarter killed us," said Powlus. "We haven't scored in the third quarter all year. I feel that we let the defense down in the third."