At the end of Saturday's game in Palo Alto between the No. 6 Stanford Cardinal and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, quarterback Andrew Luck had secured his place in the record books and had led his team to another 11-win season.
Luck finished the game 20-for-30 with 233 passing yards, 20 rushing yards, four touchdowns and an interception. It was far from the most impressive game he has had in this 2011 season, but he did end up with several impressive numbers. In addition to becoming just the third quarterback in history to defeat the Irish in three consecutive seasons, his four touchdowns gave him two all-time Stanford passing records. His passes to Levine Toilolo and Ty Montgomery and his two passes to Coby Fleener gave Luck a grand total of 80 TD passes in his collegiate tenure, breaking the old Stanford record of 77, set by John Elway. He also broke his own record of single-season touchdown passes by finishing the game with a 2011 total of 35.
Running back Stepfan Taylor also earned a place in the record books by becoming just the third Stanford running back to rush for over 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. He accomplished this task by picking up 118 yards on 20 carries.
Notre Dame attempted to make the game into a dogfight in the second half, with backup quarterback Andrew Hendrix responsible for both Irish scores, first with a third quarter touchdown pass to Michael Floyd, followed by a short run with less than 0:30 left to play in the game. The Stanford defense was just too much for Notre Dame to overcome, however, as they held the visitors to a scant 57 rushing yards.
To discuss the game with your fellow Cardinal fans, please visit Rule of Tree.