For the second straight season, Notre Dame has played itself into a potential College Football Playoff berth following a 49-20 drubbing over Stanford in a late night matchup.
The Irish offense was hyper efficient, scoring touchdowns on seven of their first eight drives. They thoroughly outgained the Cardinal by well over 200 yards. CJ Carr finished his day 17/27 for 205 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Notre Dame’s running game was a three-pronged attack with Aneyas Williams receiving an uptick in playing time due to Jeremiyah Love being limited with an injury suffered in the first quarter.
Love’s Hesima campaign finished somewhat unceremoniously with 14 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. The junior went down with a chest injury in the opening quarter, but did return for a handful of snaps.
Williams and Jadarian Price carried the load with Love sidelined. Price finished with 55 yards and two touchdowns, and Williams had two touchdowns of his own.
The Irish kicked off their regular season finale with the Cardinal with a heavy dose of Love. The Heisman candidate appeared to be making his final statement with a stellar opening drive. Love rushed the ball eight times for 54 yards, finishing the drive with a two-yard score.
The touchdown run marked Love’s 21st of the season which set the program record for most in a single season.
While Saturday’s game wasn’t expected to be much of a contest, Notre Dame left no room for the Cardinal to breath. The Irish outgained Stanford 319-90 in the first 30 minutes with four different scorers finding the endzone.
Love did go down on the team’s second drive after appearing to take a shot to his chest area. He would later return but didn’t provide much of an impact as the game was well out of reach.
In his place, Jadarian Price was still too much for the Cardinal to handle. The running back fought through the line for a one-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0.
The offense was held up later in the first quarter for the first time, but Marcus Freeman wasn’t taking any chances. The Irish dialed up a fake punt to perfection as Joshua Burnham received the snap, hitting Luke Talich with a pass, and Talich did the rest. The safety took it the distance for an 84-yard touchdown run.
With Love out, Aneyas Williams also got some noticeable run in the first half. Williams looked strong in the backfield, rushing five times for 23 yards and a second quarter touchdown run to push the lead to 28-0. The running back also hauled in a 25 yard reception on a wheel route from Carr.
Defensively, Notre Dame was too much for Stanford to overcome. Elijah Brown was ineffective as the signal caller, targeting Leonard Moore one too many times. Facing a fourth down, Brown went Moore’s way and was instantly reminded why Moore is the best cover corner in the nation as his pass fell incomplete without much of a chance.
In the closing minutes of the half, Brown once again went Moore’s way and was promptly intercepted by the sophomore.
With just over a minute left, Carr and the offense went to work through the air. The freshman hit four passes for 39 yards, ending the drive with a 12-yard completion to Price, who won a race to the pylon for his second touchdown.
Carr ended the half 12/20 for 120 yards and a touchdown.
Notre Dame clearly wanted to leave no doubt it belonged in the playoff as it came off the halftime break with its foot all the way down on the gas pedal. Carr connected with Jordan Faison on a 54-yard bomb to set the Irish up deep in Cardinal territory. The duo later finished off the drive with a six yard touchdown completion to extend the lead to 42-3.
Notre Dame will now await to see where it will be ranked in the CFP Selection Show on Dec. 7 at 12:00 p.m.
