No. 25 Notre Dame enters its toughest test of the season down two more defensive contributors.
The Irish will face No. 8 Stanford without safeties Elijah Shumate and Eilar Hardy, who did not travel because of a violation of team rules, coach Brian Kelly said Friday night in a statement.
One of the players who will travel in place of the two is senior walk-on cornerback Joe Romano, the team's walk-ons' Twitter account posted.
HUGE S/O to Walk on senior Joe Romano who made the travel team for the Stanford game. One of the hardest workers and best guys on the team.
— Notre Dame Walk Ons (@WOPUnation) November 29, 2013
Shumate, a sophomore who has been bothered by a hamstring injury late this season, has started four of eight games and tallied 23 total tackles, including one for loss, to go with one pass break-up and one pass defended
Hardy has seen his playing time increase in recent weeks, starting two of nine games and tallying 25 total tackles, including one for loss. This is the second road trip he has had to sit out, as the redshirt sophomore was kept home from the Sept. 14 game at Purdue for a violation of team rules.
