I was going down the street in about 3rd gear, heard a noise and motor just died down and wouldn’t start back up. I noticed a little cut in my intake manifold could that cause it not to crank??

 

Damage to the intake manifold can cause poor running condition or even, in extreme case, for an engine not to start but it would not affect its ability to crank/ turn over. Depending on the sound you heard when it quit- it sounds more like an issue of a thrown timing chain or broken valve.