Out of Luck

On October 10, Stanford traveled to South Bend as a 38-point underdog. Coached (and managed) by former QBs Tavitha Pritchard and Andrew Luck, the Cardinal hoped for a memorable upset of the #3 ranked Irish. That hope, bright as the California sunshine, was dashed on the first play from scrimmaged, as Traore forced a fumble from Stanford QB Davis Warren.  Notre Dame's Nolan James scored a TD four plays later.

The rest of the first half followed a similar script.  A TD pass to Jaden Greathouse was the last blue-collar TD of the half. Jonaz Walton had a TD run of 97 yards (and another of 40 yards in the second half), Aneyas Williams caught a 70-yard TD, and Nolan James has a 31-yard TD run.  Spencer Porath added a FG in the first half, making the score at halftime 37-0.

The Irish defense again showed why it is one of the best in the country, forcing a fumble and two INTs.  Boubacar Traore had a sack, forced fumble, and an INT, and was a 1-man wrecking crew against Stanford's offense.  Stanford managed just 65 rushing yards, and 144 passes yards on a day when four Irish defensive starters did not play (Leonard Moore, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Jason Onye, Brauntae Johnson).

Stanford drops to 2-4, and will take on Elon next week.  The Irish improve to 6-0 and travel to Provo in a top-10 matchup against the Cougars of BYU.