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Writer's pictureNoah Wehby

Familiar Foes: Notre Dame Vs. Stanford Series Breakdown

Notre Dame is coming off a crucial bye week after an exhausting and injury ridden first half of the season. Now, they look to Saturday, as they face off against one of their most storied rivals, the Stanford Cardinal, in the battle for the Legends trophy. This rivalry has been host to some of Notre Dame's most joyous and most devastating moments, as fans can probably attest. Let's take a look at the history of this matchup and its most notable moments.

Photo via Notre Dame Athletics


Although Notre Dame and Stanford have only shared the field 36 times, this series goes all the way back to Knute Rockne in 1925. There, Notre Dame faced off against Pop Warner and the Cardinal in the Rose Bowl, where Notre Dame won 27-10. After that game, the series only saw three other games in 1942, 1963, and 1964, seeing Notre Dame improve their series record to 3-1. It wasn't until 1988 that Notre Dame and Stanford would make this game a staple game in college football's plethora of exciting rivalries. In all, Notre Dame controls the series with a 22-14 record versus Stanford, and they also hold the longest win streak of the series with seven straight. During Brian's Kelly time at Notre Dame, Stanford was the thorn in Notre Dame's side. In that time, Stanford managed to beat Notre Dame six out of ten times during Kelly's tenure. This is also when Stanford had some of college football's best players like Andrew Luck and Christian McCaffrey. Now, on Saturday, Marcus Freeman is looking to go 3-1 in the series. Freeman's only loss in the series came in his first year as heavy favorites, falling to the Cardinal 16-14. This rivalry usually comes with a lot of twist and turns, and Saturday may be no different.


Speaking of twist and turns, here are some of the best moments this series has seen recently.



Notre Dame Beats Stanford 20-13 - (2012)


As many know, this game ended with one of the most iconic moments in recent Notre Dame history. En route to a perfect regular season, Notre Dame played one of their toughest games of the season against No. 17 Stanford at home. The game was a rainy, defensive battle that saw the Fighting Irish needing a fourth quarter comeback to keep the game alive. Notre Dame struck first in overtime and needed a stop to seal the win. Notre Dame's stifling defense, lead by Manti Te'o, proceeded to make four consecutive stops at the goal line and walked out victorious.


Stanford Outlasts Notre Dame 38-36 - (2015)


Like a heavyweight bout, both teams exchanged blows all night in this top-10 ranked matchup of the final week of the season. This game featured some of the schools' most prolific players. Notre Dame's Josh Adams and Will Fuller IV combined for 304 yards and two touchdowns. Stanford saw production from Christian McCaffrey and Austin Hooper behind the impressive play of quarterback, Kevin Hogan. In the end, Stanford answered a 88-yard drive by Notre Dame to take the lead with a drive of their own to set up the game-winning field goal. This loss brought Notre Dame to 10-2, keeping them out of the playoffs. They would go on to play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.


Stanford Shocks Notre Dame at Home 16-14 (2022)


Notre Dame came into this game as a double-digit favorite against Stanford. In Freeman's first year, Notre Dame had gotten off to a really rocky start, losing to Marshall. Stanford, prior to this game, had not beaten an FBS opponent in the 2022 season. Notre Dame's offense struggled all game, and it was a late fumble that just about sealed their fate. Stanford's upset gave them their first win against the Irish in four years. Notre Dame was able to recover from this loss, but it is still one of the worst losses of Freeman's tenure.


Notre Dame Blows out Stanford 56-23 (2023)


A year removed from the Stanford upset, Notre Dame got their revenge on the road to cap off a 9-3 season. The game's start looked like it would be another Stanford upset, but Notre Dame regained their footing and put on a dominant performance. All behind Audric Estime's 238 yards on the ground, Notre Dame outscored Stanford 49-10 after the first quarter. Notre Dame controlled the line of scrimmage all night, running for 381 yards with just eight pass completions. Freeman and the rest of the team got the bad taste of 2022 out of their mouths with this win, as they hope to continue their success with a win on Saturday.


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