The University of Notre Dame football team (9-3) ran past Stanford (3-9) for a 56-23 victory on a clear and cool night in Palo Alto, California. The story of the game was a career day for junior running back Audric Estimé who rumbled for a career-high 238 yards, posting the 17th 200-yard rushing performance in school history, along with four rushing touchdowns. Estimé’s career-best four rushing scores allowed him to set a new Notre Dame single-season record with 18 total in 2023.
The game started a bit uneven for the Irish, who fumbled twice and threw an interception in the first half. Once Notre Dame settled into the game flow, however, they posted 21 points in both the second and third quarter to firmly take control of the contest.
Sam Hartman finished the game eight-for-14 passing for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Jordan Faison led the receivers with three catches for 66 yards which included a 45-yard touchdown.
Defensively, the Irish gave up more yards than they are accustomed to this season, but two big fourth-down stops in the third quarter, an interception by Jack Kiser and a blocked field goal return for a touchdown by Javontae Jean-Baptiste provided the defense plenty of highlights. JD Bertrand led the Irish with six tackles, while Marist Liufau was all over the field with five tackles and a career-best 2.5 tackles for loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Stanford struck first with a 32-yard field goal. The Cardinal broke off a 51-yard run on third-and-short, but Marist Liufau stopped the drive at that point almost single handedly with a tackle-for-loss and sack on back-to-back plays.
Notre Dame’s first drive looked promising by earning a first down after two plays. Hartman then scrambled out of the pocket for a gain of 25 yards but was stripped of the ball at the end of the tun to give Stanford the ball at its own 36-yard line.
The Irish defense quickly put the ball back in the offense’s hands, however. Liufau registered another behind the line tackle and Rylie Mills recorded a third-down sack to force a punt.
It took just four plays for Notre Dame to claim the lead when Estimé burst up the middle for 39 yards and a touchdown.
Stanford broke off another 50-yard play to get into scoring position on its next drive. Jack Kiser broke up a third-down pass at the five-yard line to force a 23-yard field goal which cut the Irish lead to 7-6.
The Irish miscues continued on the kick return. Jadarian Price took the ball out to the 30-yard line, but fumbled on the tackle to give the ball right back to Stanford. The Cardinal scored two plays later on a fake reverse to surge into the lead 13-7.
Notre Dame answered back behind Estimé and Hartman. On a 10-play drive, Estimé gained 35 rushing yards then Hartman connected with Chris Tyree for a key third-down conversion and Jaden Greathouse for a 15-yard touchdown to regain the lead 14-13.
The defense posted a three-and-out but the Notre Dame errors continued on the offensive end when Hartman threw off his back foot and the ball was intercepted at the Notre Dame 38-yard line. The pass defense stepped up to force three straight incompletions which led to Stanford’s 56-yard field goal to regain the lead at 16-14.
The answer from Notre Dame came on the ground in a 10-play, 75-yard drive that consumed over five minutes. Estimé did much of the damage with five carries on the drive for 44 yards which included a 10-yard run around the left side of the line on fourth down and one. He capped the drive with his second touchdown of the game from six yards out.
Stanford tried to answer and drove to the Notre Dame 32-yard line. The defense then forced its first turnover of the game when Jack Kiser stepped in front of a pass at the 29-yard line and returned it all the way to the Stanford 22. A penalty on the return pushed the Irish back to the 44-yard line with 1:25 left in the half.
Hartman put the Irish in scoring position with a clutch third-down conversion for 16 yards to Tobias Merriweather. Gi’Bran Payne then rushed for the last 24 yards on three straight plays including a three-yard run for a touchdown.
Notre Dame took a 28-16 lead into the halftime break.
Estimé continued his dominance on the first drive of the second half for Notre Dame. Pounding out 58 more rushing yards Estimé led the Irish down the field to earn his third rushing touchdown of the game with a five-yard plunge.
The second fourth-down stop of the second half for the Notre Dame defense gave the Irish the ball back yet again. The Estimé show continued as he broke off a 25-yard run for his fourth touchdown run of the game.
The Irish were now up 49-16 and Stanford inched into field goal range on its next drive. Attempting a 55-yard boot, Jason Onye blocked his second field goal of the season and it was picked up by Javontae Jean-Baptiste who outraced the Stanford special teams for a 60-yard return.
Stanford would tack on a touchdown against the Notre Dame third string defense to make the final 56-23.