Stanford football was defeated by Notre Dame in a 49-7 loss

In many ways, the sky above reflected the mood on the field for the Stanford football team (2-4, 1-2 ACC). The trip to South Bend began with a bright and sunny outlook, but ended dark and gloomy, both in the sky and in the field.

“They outscored us in all three phases,” head football coach Troy Taylor said.

After the defense forced the Irish to punt early in the game, the Cardinals’ offense marched down the field and found the end zone to give Stanford a 7-0 lead. But that would only take about five minutes.

On the next possession, Notre Dame marched down the field with ease, tied the game and never looked back. Seven of the next eight Notre Dame drives ended in touchdowns, with the Irish scoring 49 unanswered points. The only drive that didn’t end up in the end zone was a strip by second-year cornerback Jshawn Frausto-Ramos that ripped the ball out of Beaux Collins’ arms.

Stanford’s secondary once again looked dull, particularly due to injuries to fifth-year cornerback Zahran Manley and junior safety Jaivion Green. Notre Dame targeted the Cardinal’s young secondary in coverage, and the result was that struggling Irish quarterback Riley Leonard had his best passing game of the season.

Things didn’t go much better on the offensive side of the ball. After the first drive, Stanford was only able to gain more than 30 yards in a drive once. This 49-yard drive came at the end of the first half when Notre Dame left the middle of the field open and Stanford was unable to score before time expired. On its other drives, the Cardinal failed three times on fourth down, fumbled four times and turned it over once.

Ashton Daniels’ return to the field initially seemed to be just the boost the offense needed. He started with a perfect 4-4 passing start and a crucial 26-yard scramble on the first drive ultimately provided the only Cardinal points of the game. However, Daniels and redshirt junior quarterback Justin Lamson combined for a final passing line of 10-18 for 87 yards. Daniels also turned the ball over as his pitch was perfectly understood and intercepted on an option play.

But quarterback play cannot be understood without understanding offensive line play. Stanford’s offensive front allowed four sacks and eight tackles for a loss and appeared to be physically overwhelmed by Notre Dame’s front-seven. Defensive lineman Howard Cross III had two sacks in Saturday’s game.

While Saturday’s game highlighted the lack of depth and talent on Stanford’s current roster, the Cardinal need to regroup quickly. The Cardinal must return home next week to face another challenging opponent in No. 25 SMU (5-1, 2-0 ACC).

“It’s definitely demoralizing when you’re a competitor,” Taylor said of his team’s back-to-back losses. “You’re going to feel like this for another 24 hours. But as a competitor you [then] Focus your attention on the next opponent. That’s how it works.”

Other information

• Fifth-year center Levi Rogers, second-year center Sedrick Irvin and Manley did not travel with the team.
• Despite traveling, freshman running back Micah Ford didn’t see the field against the Fighting Irish.
• Safety Mitch Leighber left the game in the second quarter with an apparent ankle injury and did not return. Linebacker Wilfredo Aybar also left in the second quarter but remained in the pads and could be seen testing his legs on the exercise bike on the sideline. Taylor had no updates on the status of either player.
• Freshman guard Ziron Brown made his varsity debut in Saturday’s game, replacing senior guard Jack Leyrer in the third quarter.
• Junior Ryan Butler had his first three carries of the season after an injury, gaining 10 yards.
• Freshman cornerback Cam Richardson made his first start of his college career, filling in for the injured Manley.
• Freshman cornerback Brandon Nicholson also made his collegiate debut and collected three tackles.