Takeaways from a 17-14 loss to Notre Dame in South Bend...

Offensive struggles continue: Stanford's last defensive play call of the game will understandably grab some of the postgame focus, but the Cardinal offense struggled again on Saturday. Stanford managed only 205 yards of total offense. They averaged 3.0 yards per play. Perhaps most disturbingly, they were held to 47 rushing yards - an average of 1.5 per carry.

The 47 rushing yards was Stanford's lowest output since the 2007 season

The passing game wasn't much better. Granted, the conditions were poor. Both teams were plagued by drops, and each quarterback had a number of errant throws, several of which might be attributable to the weather.

Ultimately, though, Kevin Hogan completed only 18 of 36 passes for 158 yards and no touchdowns. He threw two interceptions.

Hogan's 75.7 passer rating was the worst of his career as a starter. (It was his second straight mediocre performance throwing the ball - he completed 17 of 26 passes for 178 yards (1 TD/1 INT) against Washington last week.)

On the day, Stanford's offense went three-and-out on eight drives. The Cardinal gained 40 or more yards on only one of 15 offensive possessions.

Stanford gained an average of 3.0 yards per play, its lowest since the 2006 season.

"I think all the fault lies with our offense," Stanford running back Remound Wright said. "We didn't execute. We had chances to make plays, and a couple inches here, a couple inches there. We didn't really do that great a job. We stopped ourselves."

There was not much positive for Stanford's offense to take away from its trip to South Bend, but the Cardinal did execute well in the red zone; Stanford scored touchdowns on both of its red zone opportunities on well-designed plays. In the first half, Hogan scored on a 10-yard quarterback run. In the fourth quarter, the Cardinal dialed up a run on 3rd and long when the Irish defense was expecting pass, and Remound Wright scored from 11 yards out.

Devon Cajuste had a solid game (five catches for 68 yards) and Christian McCaffrey and Patrick Skov took advantage of limited opportunities, but disappointment largely ruled the day for the Cardinal offense.

Ground game uncertainty: In his two games prior to Saturday, Remound Wright led Stanford in carries; he rushed a combined 25 times against USC and Washington, and averaged 4.9 yards a pop. He dominated the carries against Washington in particular (he had 14; the second most active running back had five), and seemed on his way towards staking a more solid role atop the Cardinal's running back committee.

But on Saturday, the Cardinal reverted to a more traditional committee approach. Wright led the team with eight carries, Kelsey Young had seven, Barry Sanders three and Ricky Seale one.

None of the backs was particularly effective. Sanders had the best yards per carry average (4.7). Wright averaged 3.6, Young 2.6.

What explains Stanford's struggles on the ground? Notre Dame's defensive front is one of the best in the nation, Stanford's young offensive line is still finding its rhythm, and the Cardinal running backs have not proven to be a dynamic unit this season.

The good news for Stanford is that Notre Dame might have the best front they see the rest of the year. The bad news is that the Cardinal's personnel at running back isn't changing (though it would not surprise if Christian McCaffrey is increasingly involved as the year progresses). Whatever the outcome, the roles of Stanford's running backs remain uncertain moving forward.

Sloppy play: In fairness, the conditions were tailor-made for a sloppy game. A frigid early-October afternoon, swirling winds and constant rain proved challenging for both teams. Yet, Stanford's sloppy play was par for the course in 2014.

The Cardinal had two more turnovers (they have committed at least two in four of five games this season), were plagued by drops, and were again heavily penalized: the Cardinal has been tagged with at least 68 penalty yards in each of its games against Power 5 opponents this year.

In contrast, the Cardinal was flagged for an average of 44.3 yards per game in 2013.

"We have to play our game and whenever we give them extra yards, it's a huge deal," linebacker Kevin Anderson said. "A couple of those drives were able to keep going because we had stupid penalties, so we have to limit the mistakes and mental errors like that."

Given the margin for error with which Stanford has operated since the departure of Andrew Luck - 19 of Stanford's 28 games in the last two-plus seasons have been decided by a touchdown or less - Stanford cannot afford too many mistakes.

Another strong defensive effort, but...: Given its sloppy play and the fact that it was outgained by more than 160 yards, Stanford was fortunate to be up by four points in the game's final minutes. On the heels of a defense that had surrendered only two scores on the game's first 13 drives and an opportunistic red zone offense, the Cardinal was in position to steal a victory with a final defensive stop.

But Jordan Williamson's kickoff sailed out of bounds, and the Irish managed to drive into Stanford territory. With a little over a minute left from the Cardinal 23-yard-line, Notre Dame was forced to go on 4th and 11.

On the play, Stanford rushed three and dropped eight. However, there was a bust in coverage. Neither Wayne Lyons nor Kevin Anderson - the defenders on that side of the field - tracked Irish tight end Ben Koyack, who sprinted to the back corner of the endzone and stood there without a defender within 15 yards. Everett Golson spotted Koyack just in time, and the Irish converted.

David Shaw declined to specifically say what went wrong on the play, but it's clear someone missed an assignment.

"There was no coverage on Notre Dame a touchdown pass," Shaw said. "That sounds sarcastic but he was wide open but there was nobody on him."

The blown coverage will likely haunt Stanford for some time. For all that went wrong for Stanford on Saturday, they just needed one more stop. Yet, clearly, the defense should not shoulder the blame for the loss. They still rank first nationally in points allowed per game. They're No. 2 in total defense. They're easily the best unit in the Pac-12.

But if they could take that one play back, they would.

The larger picture: This was a bloody Saturday for top-25 teams - Stanford was hardly the exception. For only the second time in the 78-year history of the AP Top-25 poll, 11 ranked teams lost.

AP Top 25 (final results)

#2-L

#3-L

#4-L

#6-L

#8-L

#14-L

#15-L

#16-L

#17-L

#18-L

The Cardinal dropped to No. 25 in the AP rankings, but clearly, the rankings are incredibly fluid at this juncture in the season.

Stanford still controls its own destiny within the Pac-12 North. And it still has an outside shot at earning a spot in the four-team college football playoff, though the odds of that happening were greatly diminished with yesterday's result.

And in a vacuum, Stanford's 3-2 start is not reason for significant concern. Notre Dame is a legitimate top-10 squad, and winning in South Bend is never an easy task. The home loss to USC looks worse now than it did then considering the Trojans' losses to Boston College and Arizona State, but much of that defeat came down to red zone execution. Stanford was clearly the better team that day. And USC has talented players and future pros on both sides of the ball.

However, Stanford's offensive struggles haven't just been limited to two games. They have been held below 30 points in nine of its last 11 games against opponents from the Power 5 conferences. The Cardinal hasn't scored more than 20 in its last three against Power 5 opponents.

Stanford hasn't scored more than 21 points in a loss since the Andrew Luck era.

The Cardinal averaged 32.3 points per game last year, up from 27.9 in 2012. So far this season, they're averaging 24.8 per game.

The offense has its share of talented players and has been successful at times. And it's hard to pinpoint the offensive struggles on any single factor. But both the running game and the passing game have been flawed so far this year.

Next week will be a prime opportunity for the unit to find a rhythm. While Notre Dame has one of the nation's top defenses, Washington State... does not. The Cougars gave up 60 points to Cal in a loss last night. Kevin Hogan could use an efficient outing to boost his confidence, and the running game has yet to establish an identity. The Cougars' defense could be the medicine Stanford needs for some of its issues.

In the meantime, the Cardinal will go back to the drawing board, trying to recover from its third loss emotionally draining and gut wrenching loss in its last six games, dating back to the 2014 Rose Bowl.