Notre Dame builds 44-0 lead and routs Stanford, dropping the Cardinal to 2-4

Stanford had no answer for No. 3 Notre Dame on Saturday. The Fighting Irish scored the first 44 points before the Cardinal reached the end zone, and Stanford's only touchdown came with a few minutes left in the third quarter, after the outcome was long settled. The loss drops Stanford to 2-4. Notre Dame is 6-0.

In its day-after review, Fighting Irish Wire called it one of Notre Dame's most complete games of the year. Writer Michael Chen said the Irish played like a College Football Playoff champion for as long as their starters were on the field. The outlet's recap did not give a final score.

Freshman running back Jonaz Walton did the most damage. He took his first carry 95 yards for a touchdown and finished with 181 yards on 13 carries. Both of his touchdowns were the first of his Notre Dame career. Nolan James Jr. added 73 yards on 10 carries, which put him past 250 yards for the season. According to Fighting Irish Wire, Walton and James have both played better than Aneyas Williams, who came into the year as the expected successor to Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. The outlet thinks Williams will be used mainly in specific situations from here on.

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr went 14-of-20 for 181 yards and three touchdowns. Chen still called it an off day by Carr's standards, pointing to a few throws that weren't like him, one of which was almost intercepted. He suggested the outing may have cost Carr a little in the Heisman Trophy race.

The Notre Dame defense also made trouble for Stanford's offense. Edge rusher Boubacar Traore had a sack that forced a fumble and also intercepted a pass. Chen wrote that Traore "should surpass the 6.5 sacks he had last year," and described him as a player who now looks like a first-round pick. The Cardinal kept wide receiver Micah Gilbert quiet, holding him to one catch for 10 yards. Over Notre Dame's last two games, Gilbert has four catches for 44 yards.

For Stanford, the result was another lopsided loss against a team at the top of the national rankings, and a 2-4 record leaves little room for error in the second half of the season. Coming back from 44 points down was never realistic. The bigger worry is how quickly the Cardinal fell behind against a team Fighting Irish Wire expects to be in the playoff.

Other ACC results in Week 6 also helped Notre Dame. Fighting Irish Wire noted that North Carolina, a week after losing to the Irish, beat ranked Pittsburgh, which makes Notre Dame's win over the Tar Heels look better. Elsewhere, Georgia held off Alabama late and Texas lost to Oklahoma. Chen expects Georgia to move up to No. 1 instead of Notre Dame. Even so, he wrote that the Irish look more secure for a playoff spot than before, even if they lose a game later in the season.