Stanford Football Falls to Notre Dame in Final Game of Frank Reich Era

Stanford finishes 2025 with a 4-8 record

Nov 29, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal safety Charlie Eckhardt (39) attempts to tackle Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Jack Larsen (85) during the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Just like that, Stanford football's 2025 season is over. Taking the field for the final time in the Frank Reich era, the Cardinal (4-8, 3-5 ACC) hosted No. 9 Notre Dame (10-2) in a rivalry renewed but were unable to pull off the upset victory, losing 49-20 in what was a contest completely controlled by Notre Dame.

Facing a Fighting Irish program that was playing to cement their spot in the College Football Playoff, the Cardinal knew that they would be in for a tough test, but still could not contain Notre Dame's lethal rushing attack no matter how prepared they were.

Falling behind 14-0 by the end of the first quarter, Stanford allowed both Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price to score a rushing touchdown. But overall in the game, the Cardinal kept them from completely going off with Love finishing with 14 carries for 66 yards and one touchdown and Price finishing with six carries for 15 yards and a touchdown, adding three catches for 40 yards and a touchdown.

But the second quarter is where things really went sideways for the Cardinal, as they got outscored 21-3 by Notre Dame. Starting with an 84 yard touchdown pass from Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr to Luke Talich to make it 21-0, Notre Dame's Aneyas Williams scored on a two yard run with 7:26 left in the first half to make it 28-0 Notre Dame after the converted extra point.

Stanford got on the board with around 2:30 minutes left in the half via an Emmet Kenney 39-yard field goal to make it 28-3, but Notre Dame quickly added on even more the next drive when Price scored on a 12 yard touchdown pass, making it 35-3 Notre Dame.

Coming out to start the second half, Notre Dame received the kickoff and scored on the opening possession, with Jordan Faison catching a six yard touchdown from Carr, extending the Irish lead to 42-3.

The third quarter proved to be a good battle overall though, with the only other points coming via a 44 yard field goal from Kenney to give Stanford three more points and cutting Notre Dame's lead to 42-6.

In the fourth quarter, Stanford scored two touchdowns. The first with 12:15 left when Bryce Farrell caught a nine yard pass from Elijah Brown, and the second with four minutes left in the game when wide receiver Marcus Brown caught a three yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback, senior Charlie Mirer.

This was Mirer's first game action in his time at Stanford, and he led the Cardinal down the field for a touchdown on senior day against his dad's alma mater. It also led to this fun stat.

Every Charlie Mirer drive in four years at Stanford has ended in a touchdown. Legendary.

— Stanford on SI (@StanfordonSI) November 30, 2025

But Notre Dame scored one with around nine minutes left in the game, when Williams scored on a big 51 yard run.

While the Cardinal fell big to the Fighting Irish, they were at least much more competitive than last year's game against Notre Dame, when they fell 49-7. Despite the loss, the Cardinal will enter the offseason confident that they can build off of this season and see some success come as soon as next season. 2026 will be their first under recently hired head coach, Tavita Pritchard.