Notre Dame routs Stanford 58-7 as freshman Walton sets Irish rushing record

Stanford had no answer for No. 3 Notre Dame on Saturday. The Irish scored eight touchdowns, gained 600 yards and beat the Cardinal 58-7 in a game that was settled well before halftime, according to NDNation's game report.

Freshman tailback Jonaz Walton led the way with 181 rushing yards, which NDNation reports is a Notre Dame record for a freshman. His total helped the Irish finish with 361 rushing yards, their best of the season by a wide margin. Notre Dame had 26 first downs to Stanford's nine and kept the ball for 37 minutes to the Cardinal's 23.

For Stanford, the game got away in a hurry. Already down 20-0, quarterback Warren tried to get something going, but Irish defender Boubacar Traore dropped into coverage on third down and picked off a pass over the middle. His return set up a Spencer Porath field goal. A 37-yard punt return by Jordan Faison then led to a 31-yard touchdown run by James. After another Stanford three-and-out, CJ Carr hit Aneyas Williams on a wheel route for a 70-yard score, and Notre Dame went to the locker room ahead 37-0.

Carr opened the third quarter with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Burress and then came out of the game. Stanford got its only score on the next drive. Warren found Caden High for a 52-yard gain and then threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Benji Blackburn, making it 44-7. Notre Dame's reserves added two more touchdowns: a 40-yard run by Walton with Noah Grubbs at quarterback, and a short run by freshman Javian Osborne to finish a 16-play drive. Cornerback Mark Zachary intercepted Stanford backup Charlie Mirer late in the game, and the Irish ran out the clock.

The box score holds little for Stanford to build on. Warren completed 12 of 22 passes for 144 yards, and the one long completion to High made up more than a third of that. The Cardinal finished with 202 yards of offense. The ball security that had been one of the team's strengths also failed: Stanford came into the game with only two turnovers all season and gave the ball away three times on Saturday, two of them to Traore. NDNation noted that Notre Dame seldom blitzed and had only one sack, yet its tight coverage still kept Stanford's offense in check. Without starter Leonard Moore, the Irish secondary allowed one explosive play, with Jayden Sanders filling in.

Notre Dame was efficient everywhere. The Irish scored on all four of their red-zone trips, with three touchdowns and a field goal, and their other five touchdowns came from long range. Twelve players caught at least one pass. NDNation reported that Notre Dame appeared to come through without any significant injuries.

The win was Notre Dame's 16th in a row, and the Irish now travel to BYU in Provo. Stanford has to regroup after losing by 51 points to a playoff contender, and the most pressing work is up front, where an offensive line that has struggled all season could not establish the run or protect consistently.