The Legends Trophy will be on the line again this Saturday afternoon when Notre Dame hosts the Stanford Cardinal. The Irish own a 22-14 all-time lead versus the Cardinal, including a 56-23 beatdown last year at Stanford thanks to 238 yards and four touchdowns from former Irish running back Audric Estime.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
Stanford is led by second-year Head Coach Troy Taylor. The former Cal and NFL quarterback is looking to improve upon his 3-9 record from last season. Before accepting the Cardinal job, Taylor went 30-8 during his three-year tenure with FCS Sacramento State. Ironically, Taylor and the Cardinal lost to his former school last season, in an embarrassing 30-23 defeat.
The good news for Coach Taylor and Cardinal fans is they are on pace for more than three wins this year. This program has not won more than four games in five years. Here is how Stanford (2-3) has fared so far this season:
TCU (L, 34-27)
Cal Poly (W, 41-7)
At Syracuse (W, 26-24)
At Clemson (L, 40-14)
Virginia Tech (L, 31-7)
Offense, like last year, has been a struggle. Stanford is averaging 338.6 yards per game (107th-most among FBS teams) and 23 points per game (104th-most among FBS teams). They also have struggled in the red zone, only converting 71.4% of the time, a bottom-15 percentage.
Stanford’s passing offense has not been able to get going this season. Their 181.6 passing yards per game is bottom-30 in the country. It appears the issue is just a lack of talent almost everywhere.
Starting quarterback Ashton Daniels is an athletic passer who is capable of beating opponents with his arm or feet. The junior signal-caller did not play last week due to injury but should be back for the trip to South Bend. Before missing last week, Daniels was struggling completing 68/115 attempts for five touchdowns while throwing six interceptions. Daniels is averaging 158.25 passing yards per game this season, compared to Riley Leonard’s 150. Like Leonard, Daniels can move his feet. Daniels is Stanford’s leading rusher with 250 rush yards on 50 carries. His five yards per carry is impressively 70th-most among FBS rushers. Despite this ground prowess, Daniels is yet to find the endzone with his feet this season.
Last week’s quarterback for Stanford was fellow junior Justin Lamson. The former Syracuse transfer is utilized more as a rusher than a passer. Lamson rushed for 334 yards and five touchdowns last season. He finished last week’s start 13/24 for 103 yards and an interception with no touchdowns as he ran for 36 yards. Lamson has recorded Stanford’s only two rushing touchdowns this year.
During last year’s season-ending finish with the Irish, Stanford had four different quarterbacks attempt a pass during the game. Daniels finished 15/25 for 152 yards and an interception during the blowout loss. A bright spot was Lamson’s rushing ability, recording 82 rush yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
There is no question that the star of this Stanford squad is redshirt sophomore wide receiver Elic Ayomanor. The potential 2025 first-round pick is capable of dominating games by himself. After missing his entire freshman year due to a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus, Ayomanor exploded last season for 1,013 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 62 catches. He first caught the attention of fans during last season’s 46-43 overtime thriller at Colorado when he recorded a Stanford-record 294 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 13 catches. Seven of those catches, including two of the touchdowns, occurred while being defended by future first-round pick Travis Hunter. During last year’s meeting with the Irish, Ayomanor recorded seven receptions for 58 yards.
This season, Ayomanor has had a solid start to his campaign, totaling 24 catches and three touchdowns for 317 yards. His 4.8 receptions and 63.4 yards per game are both top-100 among FBS receivers.
Behind Ayomanor there has been a lack of production from Stanford’s receiving threats, specifically sophomore wideout Tiger Bachmeier who only has three catches for eight yards this season. Last year as a freshman, Bachmeier recorded 36 receptions for 409 yards. Against the Irish last season, Bachmeier was shut down as a receiver but did record a 14-yard touchdown run.
Stanford’s second-leading receiver this season has been redshirt freshman Ismael Cisse. He has recorded 22 receptions for 186 yards and two touchdowns this year. Shutting down Cisse could be a key to victory for the Irish secondary as Stanford is 0-3 when he has under 25 receiving yards. He also recorded eight receptions in both Cardinal wins.
Another receiver to watch this week is true freshman Emmett Mosley V. The Stanford receiver has multiple connections to Notre Dame. His father, also Emmett, played running back and receiver for the Irish from 1993-96. Mosley’s mother, Cindy, played soccer at Notre Dame where she won the Hermann Trophy (awarded to the top collegiate soccer player) in 1996. Coming out of high school, Mosley V was heavily recruited by former Notre Dame Wide Receiver Coach Chansi Stuckey but decided to stay closer to home in California at Stanford University. Mosley missed the first three weeks of this season with a leg injury but he has found some success early in his Stanford career. In his two games played, Mosley recorded 11 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. He posted seven catches for 48 yards and a touchdown at Clemson. The former three-star recruit has been a nice addition to this struggling offense.
The final true receiving threat on this Stanford offense is junior tight end Sam Roush. The 6’5 242-pound weapon has been somewhat productive in his first season as the clear starter after former Cardinal Benjamin Yurosek transferred to Georgia this offseason. Roush has recorded 12 receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown this season, including three straight games with at least three catches and 25 yards.
This Stanford offense finds their most success in the run game, as can be expected when the quarterback is also the leading rusher. Overall, the Cardinal rush attack ranks middle of the pack with 157 rushing yards per game (tied-71st among FBS teams). However, given this efficiency, backup quarterback Lamson holds the only two rushing touchdowns this season.
Stanford’s lead back is true freshman Micah Ford. The former three-star recruit has 47 rushes for 230 yards and 10 receptions for 59 yards this season. Ford was very efficient against a stout Clemson defense when he totaled 122 rushing yards on just 15 carries. Ford did leave last week’s contest early with an injury and will be a game-time decision this Saturday
If Ford is unable to play this week, expect to see a lot from fellow freshman running back Chris Davis Jr. Coming out of high school, Davis was more sought after than Ford as he was rated a four-star recruit by ESPN and Rivals. Davis has recorded 188 yards on 25 carries this season, with no production as a receiver to note.
Perhaps the largest reason that Stanford has been unable to sustain success, at least this year and last, is due to poor offensive line play. This unit was bad last season, however there was reason for optimism this fall as they returned all five starters from a year ago. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, they remain unimpressive. So far this season, this group is bottom 15 among FBS teams. They are allowing three sacks per game and nine tackles for loss per game (second-worst among FBS teams). To make matters worse, starting center Levi Rogers exited last week’s Virginia Tech contest early due to injury and was later seen in a walking boot. This will be another injury to watch as the week unfolds.
A positive so far this season has been Stanford’s team discipline. They rarely cost themselves chances with penalties. As a team, Stanford averages 4.8 penalties per game for 38.2 yards per game. Both of these numbers are top-25 amongst FBS teams.
It will be interesting to see how Coach Taylor and this Stanford offense plan to execute on Saturday against a top-20 Irish defense. It could be expected that the Notre Dame defense has a field day against this struggling Cardinal offense.
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