Early in August, a handful of links are emailed to Notre Dame beat writers to request credentials to away games. Nearly four months ago, it seemed a no-brainer to be sure to go to Stanford for the Irish season finale. Now, that certainty seems so dubious, months of emails needed to be scoured to confirm that request was ever made, let alone approved.
It was and it was, but the Cardinal’s fall to 4-7 has still been precipitous and unexpected. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Steve Kroner explains what has gone wrong, and if there is reason to doubt Stanford moving forward …
DF: What strikes me each week as I try to keep up with the Cardinal — and, to be clear, as it has stumbled to 4-7, I have watched less and less actual action — is how few names I recognize anymore.