Stanford concluded its football season with a 49-20 loss to No. 9 Notre Dame on Saturday night at Stanford Stadium. The defeat marked the end of the Cardinal’s season, while Notre Dame extended its winning streak to ten games.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman commented on his team’s performance and playoff hopes after the game. “We have improved as much as anybody in the country, been playing as well as anybody in the country and we have, in my opinion, the best player in the country,” Freeman said. “That’s what you want. You want the best teams in the country now. Who’s the best teams for the playoffs right now? I truly believe we’re one.”
A notable moment occurred when star running back Jeremiyah Love was injured during a run in the first quarter. Love left for evaluation but returned in the second half, finishing with 66 yards and scoring his 21st touchdown of the season—a new school record for total touchdowns that also tied Audrice Estime’s single-season rushing touchdown record.
“I went into the tent, like I was good immediately,” Love said. “But they wanted to make sure I was good. Everything came out right. Just a bruise.”
Notre Dame backups Jadarian Price and Aneyas Williams contributed significantly, combining for 178 total yards and four touchdowns.
CJ Carr led Notre Dame’s passing attack with 205 yards and two touchdowns as Notre Dame retained possession of the Legends Trophy.
For Stanford, quarterback Elijah Brown passed for 204 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Emmett Kenney added two field goals.
Stanford interim coach Frank Reich reflected on his team’s progress despite not achieving their desired win total: “The culture that the players set, the way we did things … we didn’t get as many wins as we want but we made progress there, too,” Reich said. “There’s a lot more wins coming to this program, trust me on that.”
One highlight play included Luke Talich scoring an 84-yard touchdown on a fake punt from Joshua Burnham in a planned play by Notre Dame’s special teams unit.
“Something we’ve been working on for a couple of weeks, and we knew if we got a certain look, we would check to it,” Freeman said about Talich’s score. “Then we got the look that we wanted, we checked to it, and we executed.”
Notre Dame scored touchdowns on each of its first four drives and led by 25 points at halftime before maintaining control throughout.
With this result, all ten of Notre Dame’s victories this season were secured by double-digit margins.
Looking ahead for Stanford football next season is Tavita Pritchard who will take over head coaching duties following Frank Reich’s tenure as interim coach.
