NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Former Notre Dame kicker Nate Whitaker is sticking it to his former team.

Whitaker has three field goals and Stanford has a 10-point lead heading to the locker room at halftime.

–          John Goodman becomes part of the Notre Dame offense for the first time this season. He makes his first two catches of the season.

–          Notre Dame closes the gap to 10-6 with 13:22 to play on Ruffer’s second field goal of the game and his seventh of the season. Ruffer is 7-of-7 on the year with a season long of 46.

–          The Irish are having no luck getting to Luck who has a lot of time in the backfield to survey the field. They are however, doing a better job in the second quarter of stopping the run.

–          Despite a 10-7 lead on the scoreboard, Stanford held just a 10-yard advantage in total offense. The Cardinal had 88 yards compared to 78 for the Irish.

–          Andrew Luck was 5-of-7 for 57 yards and Dayne Crist was 8-of-11 for 65 yards.

–          On the ground, Notre Dame held a 68-57 advantage with Armando Allen leading the way with 22 yards.

–          Theo Riddick had four first quarter receptions for 32 yards and Michael Floyd three for 28.

–          Coby Fleener and Konrad Reuland, both tight ends, led Stanford with three receptions for 50 yards.

–          With Stanford apparently heading for another score, the Irish defense rises up again and holds the Cardinal to a 41-yard field goal by Nate Whitaker. The former Irish kicker is now 2-for-2.

–          The Stanford pressure continues to disrupt the Notre Dame offense. After being hit several times, Crist appears to be developing happy feet in the pocket.

–          Once again, despite giving up large chunks of yardage, the Notre Dame defense comes up big and keeps it a one-score game with a deflected interception Jamoris Slaughter.

–          Whitaker is living the dream as he drills his third straight field goal against his former team to give Stanford a 16-6 halftime lead.