Notre Dame Decimates Stanford, Remains Perfect Ahead of Top-10 Matchup in Provo

10 minutes ago

3 min read

The Fighting Irish set the tone for what would be an extremely dominant performance on the first play of the game, as Boubacar Traore came unblocked for the strip-sack on Davis Warren, which led to a score less than two minutes into the contest. They would never look back.

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The Irish defense imposed its will early in the game, holding Stanford to just 86 total yards of offense in the first half. Traore would punctuate his incredible performance with an acrobatic interception later in the half, which would only slant the field further in the direction of the Fighting Irish. Jayden Sanders, filling in for the injured Leonard Moore, also looked the part throughout much of the game, as he broke up a few key Stanford passes, limiting the Cardinal through the air for much of the day.

The emerging story once again became the rushing attack. After looking rather pedestrian to start the day, the Irish stayed patient and were able to find their explosive plays on the ground. Aneyas Williams saw a bulk of the carries in the first quarter, alongside Nolan James, who was able to find the end zone on the first offensive drive. Williams, despite carrying the ball 7 times in the first half, managed a total of 28 yards. Williams would make his mark through the air, as he hauled in a beautiful deep ball from CJ Carr for a staggering 70-yard touchdown. After James found the end zone to start the day, he would break off another chunk-play touchdown of 31 yards in the second quarter, finishing the half with a healthy 7.8 yards per carry. But once again, it was the freshman Jonaz Walton who brought the most juice. Pinned back deep on their own three, Walton exploded through a hole and took it 97 yards to the house, tied for the second-longest run in Notre Dame history. He would add a second long touchdown run of 40 yards later in the second half, and would finish the day with 13 carries for 181 yards and two scores; a Notre Dame freshman single-game record, and his second consecutive game with over 100 yards on the ground.

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CJ Carr was once again efficient after some early hiccups. On their second drive of the game, Carr went 0-for-3 and narrowly avoided a disastrous pick-6. He would pick himself up and find Greathouse in the red zone for his first touchdown pass of the day, before finding Williams down the field in the second quarter. Not too much was asked of the star quarterback in this game, and for his part, he made the correct reads and was efficient. He later found Elijah Burress for a 30-yard score, and would round out his day 14-20 for 181 yards and three touchdowns.

Notre Dame finished the day in cruise control and would roll out the backups near the end of the third quarter. The Irish would go on to win the game 58-7, and now turn their focus to a top-10 matchup next weekend in Provo.

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