College Football as Futbol: Group E World Cup Results (Stanford, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Oklahoma)

More than halfway through the college football World Cup. Today's Group E pits Stanford, Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Oklahoma in what may very well be the tournament's "Group of Death." Two of the four teams went to BCS bowls in 2013 -- Stanford and Oklahoma -- while Texas A&M landed in a wannabe BCS bowl. You know this is a difficult group when the weakest link is Notre Dame.

To recap, here are the winners from the first four groups:

Group A - Florida State (winner), Clemson (runner up)
Group B - LSU (winner), Arizona State (runner up)
Group C - Alabama (winner), Washington (runner up)
Group D - Wisconsin (winner), Texas (runner up)

Group E

Stanford 48, Texas A&M 34

The Cardinal offense rolls up over 600 yards of total offense, abusing the A&M defense and rolling to a 48-34 victory in the opener. Stanford QB Kevin Hogan wins the battle under center, throwing for 364 yards, 4 TDs and an interception on 22-of-31 passing. 2012 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel throws for 264 yards and accounts for three Aggie touchdowns, but it's not enough as the Cardinal scores 21 of 48 points in the fourth quarter alone.

The 14-point victory puts the Cardinal in a good position to advance out of Group E.

Notre Dame 27, Oklahoma 16

In a rematch of a 2013 season game won by Oklahoma, 35-21, in South Bend, Notre Dame notches a 27-16 victory in the rematch and opening game of Group E play. After opening up a 17-3 lead on the Sooners, Oklahoma kicker Mike Hunnicutt made a 46-yard field to cut the halftime deficit to 17-6. In the third quarter, the Sooners would further cut the lead to 17-13 on a 63-yard Brennan Clay touchdown run, but Notre Dame answered right back with an 11-yard touchdown grab from T.J. Jones.

Stanford and Notre Dame sit atop the group with three points each, with the Cardinal edging the Irish on point differential.

Stanford 27, Notre Dame 16

Another Notre Dame game in group play, another regular season rematch. This time, the regular season winner (Stanford 27-20) emerges victorious once again with a 27-16 victory over the Irish. Stanford jumps out to a quick 14-3 lead in the first quarter on a pair of long Tyler Gaffney TD runs (27 and 59). Notre Dame claws back into it with 10 unanswered in the second frame to take a 1-point deficit to the locker room. After a scoreless third quarter, Stanford and Notre Dame trade field goals, but it's a 60-yard TD strike to WR Ty Montgomery with 3:04 left to play that breaks the game in favor of the Cardinal. Stanford K Jordan Williamson adds a 34-yard field goal for insurance as the Cardinal earns the 27-16 W.

Oklahoma 51, Texas A&M 30

Oklahoma becomes the second straight opponent to take advantage of A&M's porous defense, hanging 51 on the Aggies in a 51-30 victory in Group E. All told, the Sooners roll up 647 yards of total offense; 444 of those on the ground. Oklahoma's running backs run wild on the A&M defense, with both Brennan Clay (244 yards, 3 TDs) and Damien Williams (185 yards, 2 TDs) putting in career days. Down 41-13 going into the fourth quarter, Manziel tried to claw back with a pair of touchdowns (one rushing, one passing) but it wasn't enough as A&M falls to 0-2 in Group E play.

Stanford 47, Oklahoma 24

After losing the opener to Notre Dame, Oklahoma needed a win and some help to get out of the group stage. It wasn't meant to be as Stanford jumped out to a 27-0 lead and never looked back, en route to a 47-24 victory over the Sooners. The Cardinal's balanced attack produced a total of 612 yards of total offense (308 yards rushing, 304 passing) off the legs of RB Tyler Gaffney (256 yards, 3 TDs) and QB Kevin Hogan (304 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT). The Sooners are forced to wait on the result of Notre Dame-A&M to see if they advance out of the group stage, while Stanford (3-0-0) is onto the next round as Group E winners.

Notre Dame 41, Texas A&M 31

Notre Dame, the surprise of Group E, advances to the knockout round after taking out A&M, 41-31. The Aggies would draw within 34-31 with 11:25 left in the fourth quarter, but a 29-yard pitch and catch from Tommy Rees to Ben Koyack seals the victory for the Irish. A relatively sloppy game, with the two teams combining for a total of eight turnovers. The Irish are able to weather a 3 INT performance from QB Tommy Rees to notch the victory.

Final Group Standings

Group E Winner: Stanford is through to the knockout round with a 3-0-0 record, 9 points, and a +48 point differential.

Group E Runner-Up: Notre Dame advances with wins over Oklahoma and A&M. After earning a gift BCS bowl invite, Oklahoma fails to advance to the knockout round while Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel joins ESPN's broadcast team for the remainder of the tournament.