Notre Dame didn’t just beat Stanford on Saturday. The Irish buried the Cardinal under a wave of explosive runs, efficient quarterback play and a defense that set the tone from the opening snap on the way to a 58-7 rout in Notre Dame, Ind.
The headline belonged to the backfield, where Jonaz Walton, Nolan James, Jr. and Aneyas Williams powered a night that produced six rushing touchdowns from Notre Dame’s running backs and 380 total yards from the trio. Walton stole the show with 181 rushing yards, 28 receiving yards and two scores, including a 97-yard touchdown run on his first carry and a 40-yard burst later in the game. In the process, he set the program’s freshman single-game rushing record and averaged 13.9 yards on 15 touches.
James added 73 rushing yards and found the end zone twice, from two yards out and again on a 31-yard run. Williams finished with 98 yards from scrimmage and scored once on a 70-yard catch, his first touchdown reception. Freshman Javion Osborne joined the party late with his first career touchdown, giving the Irish backfield six total touchdowns on the day.
CJ Carr didn’t need to carry the offense, but he kept everything moving with the kind of calm, sharp performance Notre Dame has come to expect. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns, spreading those scores to three different receivers.
Carr also ran five times for a career-high 41 yards. It was his third straight game with at least three touchdown passes, pushing his season total to 16 through six games.
Notre Dame’s defense set the tone immediately. On Stanford’s first play from scrimmage, Boubacar Traore came flying in for a strip sack of Davis Warren, and Jaiden Ausberry recovered at the Cardinal 20. Four plays later, James finished the short field with a two-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.
The Irish defense forced two straight 3-and-outs after that, and the offense kept rolling. On its third drive, Carr hit Jaden Greathouse on a three-yard slant for a touchdown, Greathouse’s second in as many weeks.
Walton’s 97-yard score came on Notre Dame’s first play of the second quarter and stretched the lead to 20-0. Spencer Porath missed the extra point, the first miss of his career, but he quickly answered with a 33-yard field goal after the Irish took over at the Stanford 19 following a Traore interception.
Jordan Faison’s 37-yard punt return set up another short field, and James made Stanford pay again with a 31-yard touchdown run that pushed the margin to 30-0 with 7:05 left in the first half.
Williams then got loose as a receiver, lining up in the slot, taking Carr’s throw down the left sideline and racing 70 yards for his first career touchdown catch. Later, Elijah Burress added his first career touchdown as well, hauling in a 30-yard scoring strike from Carr. That made Burress the ninth different player to catch a Carr pass and the third to catch one of his touchdown throws on the day.
Stanford finally got on the board when Warren found tight end Benji Blackburn from three yards out. That touchdown came after a busted coverage led to a 52-yard pass to Caden High.
Osborne closed the scoring with his first career touchdown run three minutes from the end. Notre Dame finished with more than 600 yards of total offense and held Stanford to 202, sealing the 51-point margin that stands as the largest in the series’ 40 meetings. Mark Zackery IV’s interception with 1:26 remaining helped put the final touch on the defensive effort.
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