The Stanford Cardinal's had to switch to their defense scoring points as they recovered a fumble for a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Brett Gardner sacked Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson who fumbled the ball. Chase Thomas recovered the ball and ran it the 12 yards for the touchdown to make it 7-3 Stanford. It is the first time Notre Dame has trailed an opponent all season.

After committing a pair of turnovers in the first quarter, Stanford quarterback Josh Nunes settled down and took care of the ball, but still didn't get many results. On the first drive of the quarter, the Cardinal made it all the way to the Notre Dame 9-yard line only to watch the offense stall out. Jordan Williamson then a 25-yard field goal wide left and the Cardinal remained scoreless until the fumble recovery.

The Cardinal's defense has been giving Notre Dame fits in the second quarter. The Fighting Irish's first two drives went for a total combined three yards. After the fumble, Golson and the rest of the Fighting Irish woke up a bit. He ran for 23-yards (his longest of the season) and completed a 20-yard pass to T.J. Jones to move the Fighting Irish into scoring position. But the Fighting Irish fumbled the ball away for a second consecutive drive.

Williamson made up for his earlier miscue by booting a 48-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half to make it 10-3 Stanford.