Notre Dame's stand at goal line in overtime stops Stanford

• Notre Dame trailed for the first time this season.
• Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees came off the bench to lead the game-tying drive.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The rain was falling sideways now and darkness was coming, and after so many lost years and heartbreaking afternoons in this historic stadium, the question was whether the young men on the field were going to believe in the metaphors or their football team.

Stanford was pushing toward the end zone one last time, threatening to send Notre Dame into a second overtime and perhaps a catastrophe. It has gone that way here for so long, the script almost seemed predetermined; the rug pulled from under them just as hope was beginning to build.

BOX SCORE:Notre Dame 20, Stanford 13

But here came Manti Te'o, Stephon Tuitt, Louis Nix and the rest of Notre Dame's defense, their feet backed up to the goal line, their ultimate examination right in front of them. Stanford had two plays and one yard to go, and there was absolutely no mystery about how they planned to get it.

"We knew who their go-to guy was," Te'o said. "Everybody knew their job."

CONTROVERSY:Questionable call goes Notre Dame's way

And they stopped Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor not once, but twice, winning 20-13 -- but also not without controversy.

Taylor was first met in the backfield by cornerback Bennett Jackson, then seemingly driven back by linebacker Carlo Calabrese. But Taylor, believing he wasn't down by contact, surged into the end zone as Notre Dame players started celebrating. An instant replay was the next order of business.

Officials eventually ruled that Taylor's progress had been stopped, but it was difficult to tell whether his knee or elbow had actually touched the ground.

"Stepfan swore to me that he got in and that he put the ball over the goal line on second effort," Stanford coach David Shaw said. "Officials looked at it, and they said he didn't get in, so we didn't get in."

It was the kind of physical battle up front the Cardinal had brutalized Notre Dame with in recent years. But not this time.

There's no telling how far No. 7 Notre Dame can keep winning games like this, how high it can rise in the national rankings, how long it can go without allowing a touchdown.

But for now, in the afterglow of a season-defining goal-line stand against the No. 17 Cardinal, this is starting to look like something special. Notre Dame is 6-0, and each time it shows something a little different, adding some mystique to a defense that has already proven it is one of the nation's best.

PHOTO GALLERY:Images from Week 7 in college football

"When you're talking to your team all week about a heavyweight match," Irish coach Brian Kelly said, "you can't keep taking body blows. You have to stand in there, and sooner or later, you've got to be the one that delivers."

The final play wasn't the only call that seemed to make Shaw unhappy, though.

On Stanford's final drive of regulation, which ended with a field goal that gave the Cardinal a 13-10 lead, officials made a mistake spotting the ball 3 yards behind the true line of scrimmage after an incomplete pass.

Shaw also claimed that Stanford's players heard a whistle from the stands and stopped playing on a third-and-2 run by Taylor, which safety Matthias Farley sniffed out for a 7-yard loss. So instead of scoring a touchdown, Stanford broke the tie on a 27-yard field goal with 6:12 remaining.

"That one hurt," Shaw said. "I don't know what can be done about it, but I've heard from many people it has happened here a few times."

Shaw's protests, however, were left to vanish as Notre Dame celebrated a victory brimming with subplots.

There was starting quarterback Everett Golson, who handed Stanford its only touchdown in the first half by fumbling in his own end zone. There was Notre Dame falling behind for the first time all season and leaving at least two scores on the field with a botched field goal snap and Golson's fumble at the Stanford 16-yard line with the Irish down 10-3 and trying to tie it up in the third quarter.

There was Golson leaving the game after a helmet-to-helmet hit on the final drive --he wasn't medically cleared to return -- and backup Tommy Rees getting Notre Dame into range for a tying field goal, then completing three consecutive overtime passes for a touchdown.

"Coach told us one of these days we were going to get behind and we have to bounce back and respond when adversity hits, and that's what we did," Nix said. "We had a lot of turnovers, a lot of mess-ups, but we kept fighting."

But mostly, like the entire Notre Dame season so far, this was about its defense.

Now halfway through the season, nobody has scored a rushing touchdown against this group. For four games in a row, three against ranked teams, the Irish defense hasn't given up any kind of touchdown period.

Because of Golson's inconsistency and almost frightening decision-making at times, Notre Dame might very well have a ceiling on this season. (Oct. 27 at Oklahoma could tell that tale.) But when its offense was struggling to get any kind of momentum, the Irish held Stanford to 19 yards and no first downs in the third quarter. When Stanford got within sniffing distance of the end zone, Notre Dame forced field goals (one blocked by Tuitt in the second quarter).

And then, when it came time for strength-on-strength in overtime, Notre Dame refused to concede even an inch. For years, the Irish have been the ones questioning the controversial finishes here, reliving the misery of those missed opportunities in big games. This time, the unbeaten season moves forward and the belief grows.

"It was incredible. It showed how much trust we had in each other," Tuitt said. "Anything bad, we kept going. Another obstacle thrown in our face to overcome, we did. People challenge our physical nature, and we're one of the most physical defenses in the country. We're legit. We believe we are great."