Marecic scores twice as Card rolls in South Bend

In yet another strong showing, the No. 9 Stanford football team hammered Notre Dame last Saturday, notching a 37-14 win over the Fighting Irish. The win marks the return of the Cardinal (4-0, 1-0 Pac-10) to the upper echelons of college football– it is the Card’s first win in Notre Dame Stadium since 1992 and its first 4-0 start since 1986. In a series that dates back to 1925, it was also the first time that Stanford had defeated Notre Dame in consecutive games.

The star of the game was undoubtedly senior fullback/linebacker Owen Marecic, who had key plays on both offense and defense. One of the few two-way players in major college football, Marecic scored two touchdowns on consecutive plays in the game.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Marecic got the call on second-and-goal on the Irish one-yard line, and he powered his way through a pile of Notre Dame defenders for a rushing touchdown. After a two-point conversion and the ensuing kickoff, Marecic (playing middle linebacker this time) picked off Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist and ran 20 yards untouched into the end zone for his second touchdown of the day.

“He’s the perfect football player,” said Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh of Marecic after the game. “You’ve just got to take your hat off to him and enjoy watching him.”

While the Card eventually came to dominate the game, the beginning of the contest did not look terribly promising, especially after Notre Dame’s initial drive. The Cardinal defense managed to force the Irish into a punt, but senior receiver Doug Baldwin was unable to handle the kick, and Notre Dame recovered deep inside Stanford territory. The defense managed to hold the Irish to a field goal, putting Notre Dame up 3-0 and putting pressure on Stanford’s offense to respond.

The Cardinal came out on its opening drive and did just that, marching 79 yards down the field. The drive culminated in a beautiful 16-yard touchdown pass from redshirt sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck to senior tight end Coby Fleener to put Stanford up, 7-3.

That touchdown marked the last time that Notre Dame could come close to matching Stanford in the game. Luck continued to make plays with methodical efficiency, finishing with 19-32 passing for 238 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions– with both interceptions coming off pass deflections, not poor throws or decisions by the quarterback.

Stanford’s running game also had big contributions, as sophomore running back Stepfan Taylor gashed the Irish for 108 yards on 28 carries. While Harbaugh appears committed to a backfield-by-committee approach, Taylor has emerged as the feature back for the offense in the past couple of weeks, receiving significantly more carries than sophomore Tyler Gaffney and redshirt freshman Usua Amanam.

While Marecic, Luck and Taylor were certainly key components in the Cardinal’s victory, senior kicker Nate Whitaker was also an important player. Whitaker tied a Stanford record by completing five field goals in the game, splitting the uprights on each one. Counting his two extra points, Whitaker had a total of 17 points, or three more than the entire Notre Dame team.

In an interesting twist, Whitaker actually spent his freshman and sophomore years at Notre Dame, before transferring to Stanford in 2008 after losing the starting kicking job for the Irish. Saturday’s game was the first time Whitaker had returned to Notre Dame Stadium since transferring, and he dispelled any doubts that arose after he missed two extra points against Wake Forest last weekend.

Whitaker is just one of two Notre Dame transfers on Stanford’s roster. The second, senior tight end Konrad Reuland, was also a big part of Stanford’s offense. He caught three passes from Luck for 48 yards and was Stanford’s second leading receiver of the game (behind Fleener).

Stanford’s defense, its biggest question mark heading into this season, also proved that it is capable of shutting down a high-scoring offense. Notre Dame punted five times in the game, scored only one touchdown and coughed up two turnovers throughout the course of the game, including Marecic’s game-sealing pick-six in the fourth quarter.

The passing defense, which entered the game ranked No. 1 in the nation, was not particularly impressive, giving up 304 yards on 25-44 passing to Crist. However, its run defense was a stone wall, holding the Irish to just 44 yards on 23 carries.

However, Stanford was able to make stops when it counted– the Fighting Irish were only 4-13 on third down conversions, and the defense came up with a huge stop on fourth-and-one in the fourth quarter to stifle any hope Notre Dame had for a comeback.

Meanwhile, the Stanford offense was incredibly clutch, going 11-16 on third downs. The Card relied neither on the running game nor on Luck’s arm for conversions, a depth that will serve it well as it hits the remainder of its Pac-10 slate.

That schedule gets under way next weekend, as Stanford travels to No. 4 Oregon (4-0, 1-0). The matchup figures to be the biggest game on the Cardinal’s schedule this season, and the winner could very well go on to win the Pac-10.

Stanford will play Oregon in Eugene, Ore. this Saturday. The game will kick off at 5 p.m., and will be nationally televised on ABC.