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College Recap: Gerhart leads Stanford to victory over Irish
By The Associated Press
Monday, November 30, 2009 | No comments posted.
STANFORD, Calif. — Toby Gerhart turned what could be Charlie Weis’ final game as Notre Dame coach into his own Heisman Trophy infomercial.
Gerhart ran for 205 yards and three scores, threw an 18-yard touchdown pass and scored the game-winning touchdown with 59 seconds left to help Stanford hand Weis and the Fighting Irish a fourth straight loss to end the regular season, 45-38 Saturday night.
“There’s a bunch of 22, 23-year-old young men right there finishing out their career losing the last four games,” Weis said in a postgame radio interview. “They feel miserable and I feel miserable for them.”
Weis only conducted a radio interview after the game, declining to take part in the postgame news conference. He did not address his job status, but that should come to a resolution soon.
Weis was set to go back to Indiana with the team instead of going on a recruiting trip as originally planned and will meet soon with athletic director Jack Swarbrick.
Weis, who has six years left on his contract, has a 35-27 record in five years. His .565 winning percentage is worse than the .583 marks that got his two predecessors, Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie, fired.
While Weis’ future may have already been decided, this signature performance by Gerhart may have been enough to earn him a trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist in two weeks.
“He’s made that statement the entire year,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “He was incredible to watch. He said it all by the way he’s played. He’s been about it and not talked about it. He just kept going at it week after week.”
He threw his touchdown pass to Ryan Whalen on fourth-and-4 to help the Cardinal tie the game early in the fourth quarter. After Stanford (8-4) stopped Robert Hughes on third-and-2 from the Irish 35 with less than 6 minutes left, Gerhart carried seven times for 54 yards on the winning drive, bowling over would-be tacklers before scoring his 26th rushing touchdown of the season.
The fans chanted “To-by! To-by!” throughout the drive that was capped by a 4-yard run that the Irish (6-6) allowed him to score on in order to have time for a possible game-tying drive.
Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate helped move Notre Dame down to the 24 before Chase Thomas sacked Clausen for a 7-yard loss. On the final play, Clausen’s desperation heave into the end zone was batted down by Michael Thomas, giving Stanford its first win against Notre Dame since 2001.
All six losses by the Irish have been by seven points or fewer, with Notre Dame also winning four games by similar margins.
Clausen matched a career high with five touchdown passes, completing 23 of 30 for 340 yards.
No. 24 USC 28, UCLA 7: Malcolm Smith returned one of Southern California’s three interceptions 62 yards for an early touchdown, and the Trojans (8-3, 5-3 Pac-10) regained their defensive pride while maintaining their city dominance over UCLA(6-6, 3-6).
Arizona 20, Arizona State 17: Alex Zendejas kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona (7-4, 5-3) defeated Arizona State (4-8, 2-7) on Saturday to retain the Territorial Cup.
Arizona won after ASU’s Kyle Williams — who had caught the tying TD pass minutes earlier — muffed a punt to give the Wildcats the ball at the Sun Devils 22-yard line.
Washington 30, Washington State 0: Jake Locker threw for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for another 94 yards and a score, and Washington posted its first shutout of rival Washington State in 45 years with a 30-0 Apple Cup victory over the Cougars.
Washington stopped a two-game losing streak to the Cougars and beat Washington State at home for the first time since 2003.
DivisionIIIPlayoffs
Linfield 53, Mary Hardin-Baylor 21:Aaron Boehme passed for three touchdowns and ran for another in Linfield’s victory over visiting Mary Hardin-Baylor in the NCAA Division III playoffs on Saturday.
Linfield (11-0) will host St. Thomas (10-1) in the quarterfinals this Saturday.
Defensive end Eric Hedin forced three fumbles and returned one for a touchdown for the Wildcats, who fell behind 14-3 early.
Boehme completed 20 of 32 passes for 260 yards. Prev Patterson had 11 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown.
Quincy Daniels ran for 117 yards and a score for the Crusaders of Belton, Texas, who ended their season 10-2.
The last time the two teams met was the 2004 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl where the Wildcats claimed the Div. III championship with a 28-21 victory.
Gerhart ran for 205 yards and three scores, threw an 18-yard touchdown pass and scored the game-winning touchdown with 59 seconds left to help Stanford hand Weis and the Fighting Irish a fourth straight loss to end the regular season, 45-38 Saturday night.
“There’s a bunch of 22, 23-year-old young men right there finishing out their career losing the last four games,” Weis said in a postgame radio interview. “They feel miserable and I feel miserable for them.”
Weis only conducted a radio interview after the game, declining to take part in the postgame news conference. He did not address his job status, but that should come to a resolution soon.
Weis was set to go back to Indiana with the team instead of going on a recruiting trip as originally planned and will meet soon with athletic director Jack Swarbrick.
Weis, who has six years left on his contract, has a 35-27 record in five years. His .565 winning percentage is worse than the .583 marks that got his two predecessors, Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie, fired.
While Weis’ future may have already been decided, this signature performance by Gerhart may have been enough to earn him a trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist in two weeks.
“He’s made that statement the entire year,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “He was incredible to watch. He said it all by the way he’s played. He’s been about it and not talked about it. He just kept going at it week after week.”
He threw his touchdown pass to Ryan Whalen on fourth-and-4 to help the Cardinal tie the game early in the fourth quarter. After Stanford (8-4) stopped Robert Hughes on third-and-2 from the Irish 35 with less than 6 minutes left, Gerhart carried seven times for 54 yards on the winning drive, bowling over would-be tacklers before scoring his 26th rushing touchdown of the season.
The fans chanted “To-by! To-by!” throughout the drive that was capped by a 4-yard run that the Irish (6-6) allowed him to score on in order to have time for a possible game-tying drive.
Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate helped move Notre Dame down to the 24 before Chase Thomas sacked Clausen for a 7-yard loss. On the final play, Clausen’s desperation heave into the end zone was batted down by Michael Thomas, giving Stanford its first win against Notre Dame since 2001.
All six losses by the Irish have been by seven points or fewer, with Notre Dame also winning four games by similar margins.
Clausen matched a career high with five touchdown passes, completing 23 of 30 for 340 yards.
No. 24 USC 28, UCLA 7: Malcolm Smith returned one of Southern California’s three interceptions 62 yards for an early touchdown, and the Trojans (8-3, 5-3 Pac-10) regained their defensive pride while maintaining their city dominance over UCLA(6-6, 3-6).
Arizona 20, Arizona State 17: Alex Zendejas kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona (7-4, 5-3) defeated Arizona State (4-8, 2-7) on Saturday to retain the Territorial Cup.
Arizona won after ASU’s Kyle Williams — who had caught the tying TD pass minutes earlier — muffed a punt to give the Wildcats the ball at the Sun Devils 22-yard line.
Washington 30, Washington State 0: Jake Locker threw for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for another 94 yards and a score, and Washington posted its first shutout of rival Washington State in 45 years with a 30-0 Apple Cup victory over the Cougars.
Washington stopped a two-game losing streak to the Cougars and beat Washington State at home for the first time since 2003.
DivisionIIIPlayoffs
Linfield 53, Mary Hardin-Baylor 21:Aaron Boehme passed for three touchdowns and ran for another in Linfield’s victory over visiting Mary Hardin-Baylor in the NCAA Division III playoffs on Saturday.
Linfield (11-0) will host St. Thomas (10-1) in the quarterfinals this Saturday.
Defensive end Eric Hedin forced three fumbles and returned one for a touchdown for the Wildcats, who fell behind 14-3 early.
Boehme completed 20 of 32 passes for 260 yards. Prev Patterson had 11 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown.
Quincy Daniels ran for 117 yards and a score for the Crusaders of Belton, Texas, who ended their season 10-2.
The last time the two teams met was the 2004 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl where the Wildcats claimed the Div. III championship with a 28-21 victory.
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