Stanford football falls to No. 11 Notre Dame in weather delayed game

A storied rivarly was renewed on Saturday, and despite the valiant effort from the Cardinal, they were unable to combat a strong Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame running back Devyn Ford (22) celebrates getting a first down during a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Stanford at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The mission for the Stanford Cardinal to take home the upset did not go as planned. Heading into South Bend for a battle with No. 11 Notre Dame (5-1), Stanford (2-4, 1-2 ACC) were determined to snap a two-game skid, but were ultimately unsuccessful, falling 49-7 to the Irish on the road on Saturday afternoon.

Despite Stanford getting on the board first thanks to a one yard touchdown down run from Justin Lamson with 6:49 left in the first quarter, the Irish soon settled in, shutting out the Cardinal the rest of the game while also taking control themselves and taking home the lopsided win.

“They outplayed us in all three phases,” head coach Troy Taylor said. “Offensively, we didn’t sustain blocks, their block destruction was impressive. But yeah, they beat us in all three phases. They were a better football team than us, it showed. We’ll lick our wounds and we’ll be ready to play next week.”

All game long, the Irish moved the ball well, with quarterback Riley Leonard scoring the team’s first touchdown of the game when he carried the ball into the endzone on a six yard run with 1:27 left in the opening quarter and after the PAT, the game was tied at seven. Wide receiver Jayden Thomas then helped make it 14-7 when he caught a 15 yard ball from Leonard. Scoring one more time before the end of the half, the Irish got a touchdown from wide receiver Kris Mitchell, who caught a five yard pass from Leonard to tack on another six points. The converted PAT from Zac Yoakam made it 21-7 Irish going into halftime.

The third quarter is when the Irish really did their damage, as they managed to score 21 unanswered points, starting the half off with running back Jadarian Price scoring on a 16-yard run with 12:12 left in the quarter. Running back Jeremiyah Love scored the second touchdown of the half, breaking away on a 39 yard carry that found the end zone and resulted in the score becoming 35-7 Irish. A five yard touchdown catch from Eli Raridon with 1:29 left in the third quarter resulted in the Notre Dame lead increasing to 42-7.

Freshman Aneyas Williams capped things off when he scored on a 19 yard carry with 9:17 left in the fourth quarter, resulting in the Irish making it 49-7 and extending their win streak to four. The loss is also the second straight game in which Stanford has only managed to score seven points and give up over 30, with the team ready to get back to work and make the necessary changes to improve next week.

“It's demoralizing for sure when you’re a competitor, and you’re gonna feel that way probably for another 24 hours,” Taylor said. “And then as a competitor, you focus your attention on the next opponent. So that’s just the way it works. If you lose, you gotta be able to move on. And so we got a long season ahead of us, lots of opportunities. This one hurts obviously, but we’ll be able to bounce back up and be ready to play next weekend.”

Since beating Syracuse in week three, the Cardinal have now dropped three straight. Returning home next week to play SMU, the team will surely look to be locked in so they can bounce back and keep their chances of making a bowl game alive. Kickoff for that game is slated for 5:00 p.m. (PT) and will air live on the ACC Network.