Notre Dame football shifts into playoff mode with rout of Cardinal
The Notre Dame football team dominated in its Week 7 matchup with the Stanford Cardinal, 49-7, to pick up its fourth-straight win.
The Irish scored 49 unanswered points after Stanford’s first drive, which resulted in the Cardinal’s only points.
This was an important game for the Irish. After the loss to NIU in Week 2, Notre Dame strung three-straight wins together to regain some momentum. The most recent: a hard-fought battle against No. 15 Louisville, giving head coach Marcus Freeman his second opportunity this season to coach his squad after a big win.
This time, the Irish were ready.
Quarterback Riley Leonard continued to struggle in the pass game out of the gate. Freeman tried to get his senior signal-caller going early, but ultimately was forced to punt it away on the opening drive. Stanford answered with a 63-yard touchdown drive, capped off with Cardinal quarterback Justin Lamson punching it in from the 1-yard line.
The Notre Dame offense woke up on the ensuing drive, as did Leonard. The Fighting Irish drove 75 yards down the field on Leonard’s arm, as he threw for 46 yards before running it in for his eighth rushing touchdown of the year. Leonard would finish with 229 yards on 73 percent passing to go along with four total touchdowns, three of which in the air.
But it was the Notre Dame defense that set the tone. The Irish forced two turnovers on the next three drives, all while giving up just 33 yards of offense. Stanford had just one more possession in the first half, a 42-yard drive that resulted in time expiring after the Cardinal took too long on a spike to stop the clock.
Leonard responded by airing it out for two touchdowns during that span: A 15-yard pass to Jayden Thomas on the first and a 5-yard pass to Kris Mitchell for the second.
Notre Dame football dominates against Stanford
Going into halftime, Leonard was 13-of-18 for 146 yards and three total touchdowns going into halftime, and Notre Dame led 21-7.
Notre Dame’s third quarter was nearly perfect. The Irish defense forced a Stanford fumble on the opening drive, leading to a two-play, 40-second touchdown drive to put Irish ahead by three scores.
Stanford punted the ball twice more in the quarter, leading to two more Irish touchdowns. Both touchdown drives featured explosive plays: Price broke out for 39 yards after a beautiful cut for his first score, and Leonard unloaded a 53-yard pass to Beaux Collins on the second drive to set up Notre Dame’s sixth touchdown of the afternoon.
That 53-yard pass is Leonard’s longest pass as Notre Dame quarterback, a great sign for Irish fans as the team heads into the second half of the season.
After a nearly 90-minute lightning delay, Freeman called off the dogs and sent out the second string for the fourth quarter. Irish backup quarterback Steve Angeli had other plans, leading the charge for a 60-yard Irish touchdown drive to continue the rout. On this drive, Angeli threw one of the prettiest balls of the season: a 35-yard endzone shot to hit freshman Micah Gilbert in stride, only for the ball to slip through his fingers. While it goes down as an incomplete, Angeli reassured fans that the quarterback room in South Bend is a strong one.
Freshman runningback Aneyas Williams assumed backfield duties following the delay and showed out in his lone drive. He ran for 28 yards, highlighted by a 19-yard touchdown to put a lid on the contest.
This was the most complete game of Notre Dame’s season to date, but the defense really shined. The Irish front forced four turnovers, three of them on downs. Stanford could only muster up 200 yards of total offense, the Cardinal’s lowest mark of the year. Stanford crossed over the ND 40-yard line just twice: The opening touchdown and the final drive of the first half.
The Notre Dame defense finished with four sacks and eight TFLs.
Notre Dame football will ride this four-game win streak into a Week 8 tilt with a physical Georgia Tech team. The Irish need to win out for their best shot at the College Football Playoff, but a showing like this is a great sign for what is yet to come.