Notre Dame Obliterates Stanford: Instant Takeaways for Title Contenders

As expected, No. 3 Notre Dame had little trouble with Stanford on Saturday, routing the Cardinal yet again.

For Notre Dame, it's now 16 straight wins, all of which have come by 10 or more points, as Stanford now gets a bit more difficult with a trip to No. 8 BYU coming up next.

What went right for Notre Dame in Saturday's drubbing of Stanford?

And what needs to be cleaned up before next weekend's trip to Provo, Utah?

Here are instant takeaways from Notre Dame's obliteration of Stanford on Saturday.

Notre Dame's Perfect Start vs Stanford

You couldn't script a start better than Notre Dame had against Stanford. Boubacar Traore forced a fumble on the first play of the game, as he nailed quarterback Davis Warren on the first play after the opening kickoff.

Warren fumbled, which was recovered by Traore, giving Notre Dame the ball inside the Stanford 20. Nolan James, Jr. capped the short drive moments later, giving the Fighting Irish an early 7-0 lead.

Boubacar Traore Show

The forced fumble wasn't all Traore had in store for Stanford as he intercepted a Warren pass in the second quarter. Props go to Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash for using Traore in a creative way, dropping the athletic edge rusher into coverage to secure the second takeaway of the game.

Explosive Run Game

That's multiple weeks in a row that Notre Dame has had explosions in the run game. Yes, this was lowly Stanford, but it's a positive development over the past few weeks.

Right when Jonaz Walton seemed like he was about to take the majority of carries, Nolan James, Jr. got the start and the majority of first half carries.

97-YARDS TO THE HOUSE FOR JONAZ WALTON! 🤯

📺 Stanford at Notre Dame on NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/TDdfL4U2W5
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 10, 2026

However, it was all three running backs getting in the end zone with long touchdowns before halftime.

Jonaz Walton busted out a 97-yard touchdown run, to make it two straight games with more than 100 yards. He added a 40-yard touchdown dash late in the game as well.

James had a 31-yard touchdown run to extend the first half lead, and Aneyas Williams ran for 28 first half yards while hauling in 70-yard touchdown reception.

Second touchdown of the day for @nolan_james1 #GoIrish☘️

📺: NBC pic.twitter.com/EdBfch4hvU
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) October 10, 2026

Yes, it came against Stanford, but for a team looking to become more explosive, this was another significant step in the right direction. It's almost like just because these big hitters didn't come on the first two possessions, that it didn't mean they wouldn't come at all.

Kicking Game Woes Again?

If there was anything to not be satisfied with for Notre Dame, it was the kicking game. Spencer Porath missed an extra point for the first time in his career and was far from down the middle on a couple of others.

Quick Work of Stanford

For all intents and purposes, this game was over after the first scrimmage play.

Boubacar Traore delivered a massive blow to the game and quickly knocked out any small hope of an upset Stanford had.

Props to the coaching staff and team for coming ready to play in what could be a lookahead spot.

A quick trip home after two weeks away and the biggest game of the year to date next week at BYU could be a spot for a letdown. Instead, Notre Dame came out and dominated Stanford in dominant fashion.

On a related note, why does Andrew Luck get such a pass with everything?

You look at a program like Northwestern and see it making some loud noise in the Big Ten this season, but look at Stanford and see what might be the single worst Power Four program in college football.

The travel of the ACC does Stanford no favors; I get that, and academic standards are incredibly tough, but how is it that places like Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke can find football success and Stanford can be such a joke?

I wrote about how this manufactured rivalry is as good as dead earlier this week, and Saturday's lopsided result only further fuels that fire.

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