Notre Dame Rolls Past Stanford, But Cardinal Seniors Leave With Pride and Promise
From the opening kickoff, it was clear Notre Dame came to make a statement. A fluky bounce off a helmet turned into prime field position, and the No.
9 Fighting Irish wasted no time turning that gift into points-and momentum. In a game that quickly tilted one way, Stanford (4-8, 3-5 ACC) was overwhelmed early and never fully recovered, falling 49-20 to a Notre Dame (10-2) squad firing on all cylinders.
Notre Dame’s opening drive was a showcase for junior running back Jeremiyah Love, who looked every bit the Heisman contender he’s been hyped to be. Love accounted for 54 of the 66 yards on the Irish’s first possession, capping it with his 21st touchdown of the season. That score didn’t just get Notre Dame on the board-it etched Love’s name into the program’s record books, breaking NFL Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis’ single-season touchdown record of 20.
Love’s night was cut short after a rib injury on the next drive, but Notre Dame didn’t miss a beat. Even without their star back at full strength, the Irish rattled off 28 unanswered points, including a gutsy special teams touchdown on a fake punt that caught Stanford completely off guard.
Stanford managed to stop the bleeding late in the second quarter with a 39-yard field goal, but the damage was already done. On the very next drive, redshirt freshman quarterback Elijah Brown threw a costly interception deep in Stanford territory. Notre Dame capitalized again, punching in another score to take a commanding 35-3 lead into halftime.
After the game, interim head coach and incoming senior advisor Frank Reich didn’t mince words about the challenge his team faced.
“[Notre Dame] is a good football team,” Reich said. “They are very well coached, and I have a lot of respect for coach [Marcus] Freeman.”
To Stanford’s credit, they came out of the locker room with more fight, adjusting on both sides of the ball and showing flashes of the potential that’s been building throughout the season. But the hole was too deep, and Notre Dame’s lead too comfortable. The final score-49-20-was a tough pill to swallow, but it didn’t tell the whole story for a group of Stanford seniors who gave everything they had in their final game.
Senior tight end Sam Roush led the Cardinal in receiving with four catches for 73 yards, a strong finish to a career that’s seen more grit than glory.
“I wasn’t able to experience a ton of success this year or a ton of success in my career at Stanford,” Roush said. “But this year is the first step forward since I’ve been here. I’m really excited for the future of Stanford football.”
Roush wasn’t the only senior to leave a mark. In the final possession of the game, redshirt junior Charlie Mirer made his collegiate debut at quarterback. On that drive, he connected with Roush for his first career completion and later found redshirt freshman Marcus Brown for a touchdown-both players celebrating career firsts in a moment that felt bigger than the scoreboard.
Mirer’s appearance was especially meaningful given his lineage-his father, Rick Mirer, is a Notre Dame legend who led the Irish to three bowl games in the early ’90s. On this night, though, it was Charlie carving out his own moment, even if it came in a Cardinal jersey against his dad’s alma mater.
After the game, Roush shared what it meant to close the season with this group of seniors, even in defeat.
“[Frank Reich] said in the locker room he’s not just doing this for coach [Andrew] Luck, but he’s doing it for us and the 25 seniors that walked today,” Roush said. “And we really appreciate being able to get the Axe back.”
That last line says a lot. Despite the lopsided loss, Stanford’s seniors walk away with their heads high, having helped right a program that’s been stuck in neutral for too long.
This season may not have ended in a bowl game or a winning record, but it did mark progress. For the first time in four years, Stanford broke out of the 3-9 rut and reclaimed the Axe in the Big Game rivalry.
There’s still plenty of work to do, but for a program trying to rebuild from the ground up, this year was a step in the right direction. And for the seniors who stuck it out through the tough times, that step forward means everything.