Chicago Colleges Report

Muench: Stanford-ND was TE bonanza

October, 16, 2012

10/16/12

11:35

PM CT

By Matt Fortuna | ESPNChicago.com

Saturday figured to be a tight end showcase inside Notre Dame Stadium, and the Stanford-Notre Dame game did little to separate three of the nation's best at the position.

The Cardinal's Zach Ertz caught four passes for 55 yards and the Irish's Tyler Eifert caught four for 57, including the game-tying touchdown grab in the fourth quarter. Stanford's Levine Toilolo had no catches but had far tougher blocking assignments than the other two.

Scouts Inc.'s Steve Muench evaluated each through the prism of that game

, and he loves Eifert's ability to snag 50-50 balls, which was never on display more than in his 24-yard score that helped knot the game at 10. The blocking can get better, Muench said, but the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Eifert matches up favorably with recent Irish draft pick Kyle Rudolph.

The story is on Insider, so you'll have to be a member to read it. But right now Ertz grades out the best among the three, with a mark of 83. Eifert is 80 and Toilolo is 79.

Matt Fortuna | email

College Football

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ESPN.com Notre Dame blogger
Joined ESPN.com in 2011
Wrote for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Tags:

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Stanford Cardinal, Tyler Eifert, Levine Toilolo, Zach Ertz

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Scott Powers

Powers is an award-winning journalist and has been reporting on preps, colleges and pros for publications throughout the Midwest since 1997. He joined ESPNChicago in May 2009 and lives in Chicago.

Adam Rittenberg

Rittenberg joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four years at the Daily Herald, where he covered sports at Notre Dame, Northwestern, DePaul and several other colleges. He lives in Chicago and writes for the Big Ten blog.

Brian Bennett

Bennett joined ESPN.com in August 2008 after nine years at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., where he covered college sports and the University of Louisville beat. He lives in Louisville and writes for the Big Ten blog.

Matt Fortuna

Fortuna joined ESPN.com in 2011 after working for MLB.com and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, where he covered college sports. He grew up in New York and is a Penn State graduate. Fortuna's Notre Dame blog is here.

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