By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.
Notre Dame used the "luck of the Irish" Saturday afternoon to turn back Stanford, 23-15 at Notre Dame Stadium.
The outcome of the game wasn't decided until the final play when Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards' second Hail Mary pass was batted down in the endzone.
Notre Dame dodged bullet after bullet, especially in the first half, and then found just enough offense in the final quarter to put the Cardinal away.
The Irish (4-2) found themselves down 6-3 at halftime, but just as easily could have been trailing 14-3 as Stanford dominated the line of scrimmage in the opening 30 minutes.
Stanford started out the second half much in the same fashion, but seemed to run out of steam in the later stages of the contest.
The Cardinal outscored the Irish 9-7 in the third quarter to take a 15-10 lead.
The Fighting Irish scored 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to stave off the upset-minded Cardinal.
In the opening 15 minutes of the game Notre Dame's defense had no answer for the Cardinal.
Stanford marched down inside the 10-yard line before the Irish defense stiffened and forced a 27-yard field goal by Michael Sgroi.
On its second possession, Stanford picked up 74 yards on four plays before Notre Dame once again got stingy ond defense and forced a 20-yard Sgroi field goal.
The Fighting Irish defense seemed to struggle with Stanford's four and five wide receiver sets.
However, once the Cardinal got inside the 20-yard line and had less field to work with, Notre Dame was able to provide better coverage.
On the offensive side of the football, Notre Dame moved the ball well on first down on both of its first two possessions, but then could not get its passing game on track.
Brady Quinn took a couple of punishing hits attempting to complete a pass on third down.
On its third possession of the first quarter, Notre Dame came out passing and Quinn again took a vicious hit on an incompletion.
Notre Dame went back to the running game which didn't yield much as the Stanford defensive line dominated most of the quarter.
As the first quarter wore down, Notre Dame finally put together back-to-back first downs and started driving on the Cardinal.
However, a dropped pass spelled the end of the drive at the Notre Dame 45-yard line.
Stanford led 6-0 after one quarter, but did not feel comfortable after having totally dominated the Irish offensively.
Edwards threw for 104 yards in the first quarter.
Notre Dame's offense finally clicked to start the second quarter only to end in disaster.
The Irish marched down the field, but back-to-back incompletions forced Notre Dame into a 38-yard field goal by D.J. Fitzpatrick.
Both offenses struggled to move the football in the second quarter.
Notre Dame had the best drive of the quarter, but it too stalled, leaving the game at 6-3 heading into the lockerroom at halftime.
Compared to the first half, the second 30 minutes was a high-scoring affair.
Both teams put together drives which resulted in points.
Stanford opened the second half scoring as Sgroi added yet another field goal, this time from 38-yard to make it a 9-3 contest.
Notre Dame grabbed the lead almost seven minutes later when senior Ryan Grant scored on a 1-yard run to make it 10-7 after the Fitzpatrick extra point.
It took less than two minutes of the Cardinal to respond.
Stanford reclaimed the lead when J.R. Lemon scored on a 1-yard run.
Stanford went for the two-point conversion, however, Edwards' pass was incomplete, leaving Notre Dame just five points behind.
Trailing 15-10 heading into the final 15 minutes, Notre Dame dominated the play for the first 10 minutes of the quarter.
The Irish made it 16-15 when Grant scored on a 3-yard run with 11:59 to play.
Notre Dame elected to go for the two-point conversion, but Quinn's pass attempt failed leaving Stanford a point away from the lead.
Any thoughts of a comeback by the Cardinal were crushed by a 2-yard quarterback keeper by Quinn with 4:10 remaining.
Fitzpatrick's PAT gave Notre Dame the final eight-point advantage.
Stanford (3-2) had a couple of cracks at the Irish in the final four minutes, but came up short.
The Cardinal threw two Hail Mary passes as Notre Dame was off sides on the first attempt as time expired.
Since a game cannot end on a defensive penalty, Edwards had another attempt at tying the contest.
That ball too was batted down and the Irish had a victory to cap off its three-game homestand.
The final statistics were nearly as close as the final score.
Stanford finished with 334 yards in total offense compared to 322 for Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish rushed for 149 yards, led by Darius Walker's 82 yards on 20 carries. Grant finished with 67 yards on 19 carries.
Quinn, who may have suffered a concussion at the end of the game, threw for 173 yards on 11-of-24 attempts.
Edwards finished with 267 yards passing on 17-of-38 completions.
Both teams did a good job protecting the football as there was only one turnover in the contest.
Both team also made the most of their red-zone opportunities.
Notre Dame was 3-for-3 in the red zone and Stanford, 4-for-4.
Irish notes
Former Notre Dame coach Jerry Faust was in attendance Saturday.
Faust made his way through the press box shaking hands and chatting with familiar faces.
One did not have to see Faust to know he was in the press box. His trademark voice gave him away.
Former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian and his wife, Katie, participated in the pre-game flag presentation.
This marks the 40th year since Parseghian's first season at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish were 95-17-4 during his tenure with National Championships in 1966 and 1973.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the "Word of Life," which is better known as "Touchdown Jesus." The 134-foot high mosaic on the south side of Hesburgh Library shows Christ the Teacher amid images of prophets and other historical figures.
The mosaic was designed by Millard Sheets and is composed of 6,700 individual pieces of granite that form 324 panels. The mosaic was unveiled in May 1964.