Stanford’s Shayne Skov knocks the ball out of Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist’s hand in the second half Saturday afternoon. The Cardinal improved to 4-0 on the year with a 37-14 victory over the Fighting Irish, who dip to 1-3. (The Daily News/Amelio Rodriguez)

By SCOTT NOVAK
Dowagiac Daily News
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Five Nate Whitaker field goals against his former team helped the No. 16 Stanford Cardinal defeat Notre Dame 37-14 Saturday afternoon.
Whitaker tied a school record with field goals of 24, 41, 36, 33 and 29 yards.
“Nate Whitaker tying a Stanford school record was huge,” Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. “ I was pleased with the play of our special teams and the way our defense played. Thought that was an outstanding performance by our defense.”
Stanford (4-0) got touchdowns from Coby Fleener on a 16-yard pass from Andrew Luck and a 1-yard run by Owen Marecic.
Marecic, who is a two-way player for the Cardinal, also picked off a pass and returned it 20 yards.
“Gave a game ball to Owen Marecic,” Harbaugh said. “Tremendous job by him. Scored a touchdown, and defensively got one on the interception. Then all the plays you don’t see. The way he blocked I thought it was just a great, great game by him.
“Gave away some other game balls too. Gave away a lot of game balls, probably about five this game. I told the team if I was at USD and I gave away that many game balls, we wouldn’t be able to play the next week. ”
Stanford rolled up 404 yards in total offense against the Fighting Irish, who finished with 351 yards.
The Cardinal ran for 166 yards and threw for 238 yards as Luck completed 19-of-32 with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Stepfan Taylor led the ground game with 108 yards on 28 carries.
Notre Dame got off to a quick start as after punting on its first possession, Stanford muffed the punt and set the Irish up at the Cardinal’s 21-yard line.
Six plays and 16 yards later, the Fighting Irish had to settle for a 22-yard David Ruffer field goal.
Stanford responded with a 10-play, 79-yard drive that was capped with the Fleener touchdown reception with 3:37 left in the first quarter.
But the Cardinal were not done yet.
Following a fumble recovery at the Notre Dame 15-yard line, Stanford increased its advantage to 10-3 on Whitaker’s first field goal of the afternoon.
Notre Dame (1-3) cut the lead to 10-6 with 13:22 to play in the first half on a 40-yard Ruffer field goal.
However, Stanford answered with a pair of Whitaker field goals to take a 16-6 lead at halftime.
Whitaker added a 33-yard field goal for the only points of the third quarter.
Leading 19-6 heading into the final quarter, Stanford finally got into the end zone twice, including once on defense.
Marecic’s first score was a 1-yard run with 7:58 left on the clock, and on the first play from scrimmage following the kickoff, he picked off Dayne Crist’s pass and raced 20 yards untouched into the end zone.
Notre Dame finally got into the end zone with 6:01 to play as Crist hit Theo Riddick with a 3-yard touchdown pass. Armando Allen out of the ‘Wildcat’ scored the 2-point conversion.
The Irish tried the on-side kick, but the ball never traveled 10 yards and was recovered by the Cardinal.
Stanford ran seven plays, gained 21 yards and finished the drive with Whitaker’s final field goal.
Notre Dame managed just 44 yards on the ground, while Crist was 25-of-44 for 304 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Allen led the Notre Dame rushing attack with 49 yards on 15 carries.
Michael Floyd grabbed eight passes for 110 yards, while Riddick finished with seven receptions for 71 yards.
Manti Te’o recorded a career-high 21 tackles, including eight solo stops and a pass break-up.
Harrison Smith finished with 11 tackles. Jamoris Slaughter and Darrin Walls each had an interception.
“Begin by tipping my hat to Stanford, coach Harbaugh,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “Well-coached football team. They were well-prepared. It’s a fine football team. They deserved to win today.
“As it relates to our kids, you know, as I told them after the game, if you break it down, it’s 19-6, fourth down and foot and a half from midfield and we can’t convert. Then third-and-eight we have a missed assignment where they pick up a first down. Really, you know, in a hard-fought game, those are the key plays that turned the game eventually to where it finished.
“I think I would point out our defense battled. We had two interceptions. Not making any excuses for our kids, but we played three, four really good football teams, physical teams, and our kids have battled each and every week. We came up short this week. But they’re not going anywhere. They’re going to be back next week and they’re going to strap it back up and they’re going to fight and play as hard as they can. We’re going to build this program to where it needs to be.”

Stanford 10 6 3 18 – 37
Notre Dame 3 3 0 8 – 14
ND – David Ruffer 22 field goal
S – Coby Fleener 16 pass from Andrew Luck (Nate Whitaker kick)
S – Whitaker 24 field goal
ND – Ruffer 40 field goal
S – Whitaker 41 field goal
S – Whitaker 36 field goal
S – Whitaker 33 field goal
S – Owen Marecic 1 run (Zach Ertz pass from Luck)
S – Marecis 20 interception (Whitaker kick)
ND – Riddick 3 pass from Dayne Crist (Armando Allen run)
S – Whitaker 29 field goal