SOUTH BEND, Ind. \u2013 Freshman Jonaz Walton scored on a 97-yard run \u2014 the third longest offensive play in Notre Dame Stadium history \u2014 and finished with 181 yards as the No. 3 Fighting Irish routed Stanford 58-7 on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Walton\u2019s 181 yards are the most by a Notre Dame running back this season, and it’s a program record for most rushing yards in a game by a true freshman. Walton also scored on a 40-yard run against Stanford.<\/p>\n
The only longer offensive plays at Notre Dame Stadium besides Walton’s 97-yard run belong to Josh Adams (2015 vs. Wake Forest) and Jeremiyah Love (2024 vs. Indiana). Each had 98-yard scoring runs.<\/p>\n
Notre Dame (6-0) extended its overall winning streak to 16 games \u2014 all by double-digits. The Fighting Irish edged closer to the record of 21 consecutive double-digit victory margins set by Army (1944-46). Miami is second with 17 consecutive double-digit victories from 2000 to 2001.<\/p>\n
Five of Notre Dame\u2019s touchdowns were of 30-or-more yards, led by Walton’s stunning 97-yard run.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know he\u2019s gifted,\u201d Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said of Walton. \u201cHe has a lot of ability. But what you\u2019re seeing now is that he\u2019s being consistent in practice, consistent in his reads, consistent in what he is every single day that\u2019s giving him more opportunities to go out there and play on the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re consistent in your everyday play and everyday expectations, now you\u2019ll get more opportunities and then you can make one pop like that. I mean, that was a great play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walton isn\u2019t a starter, but he\u2019s getting more and more time on the field. He credited his offensive line, the coaches and, in particular, fellow running backs Aneyas Williams and Nolan James Jr.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve learned how to practice at this level,\u201d Walton said of how Williams and James have helped him progress. \u201cThose are two really impressive running backs, the way they read, the way they work, the way they train. I\u2019m continuously looking up to those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
C.J. Carr finished with 14-of-20 passing for 181 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed five times for 41 yards.<\/p>\n
Williams rushed seven times for 28 yards, but scored on a 70-yard pass from Carr. James carried the ball 10 times for 73 yards and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Notre Dame\u2019s defense set a tone in the first 12 seconds. Boubacar Traore sacked Stanford quarterback Davis Warren and forced a fumble recovered by Jaiden Ausberry. Two plays later, James scored from the 3 at the 14:07 mark of the first quarter.<\/p>\n
Traore also had an interception and a tackle for loss.<\/p>\n
Stanford (2-4) scored in the third quarter. A 52-yard rocket from Warren to Caden High set up a three-yard TD strike from Warren to Benji Blackburn.<\/p>\n
Warren was 12-of-22 for 144 yards and the one touchdown.<\/p>\n
The Cardinal road losing streak is now 14 games \u2014 the longest road losing streak in the nation, tied with Ball State. Stanford has been outscored 115-10 in its last two games.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a disappointing effort,\u201d Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard said. \u201cI take full responsibility for that. We were not ready to play. We didn\u2019t play well enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cNotre Dame is sound at all levels of their defense,\u201d Pritchard said. \u201cThey\u2019re good up front. They\u2019re good at the second level. I know they had some guys out at the second level and defensive backfield, but they challenge you, they mix up looks, they\u2019re not afraid to play man. They really make you go beat them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defensive dominance<\/p>\n
Notre Dame entered the game ranked No. 1 in total defense, allowing only 216.4 yards of total offense a game. The Irish only allowed 202 yards of total offense against Stanford.<\/p>\n
Stanford\u2019s third-quarter touchdown prevented the Fighting Irish from posting their second shutout of the season.<\/p>\n
Notre Dame, which shut out Rice 52-0 in the second game, hasn\u2019t had two shutouts in one season since 2002, when the Fighting Irish beat Maryland 22-0 and Rutgers 42-0.<\/p>\n
Mirer plays at Notre Dame Stadium<\/p>\n
Stanford back-up quarterback Charlie Mirer got in some time in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame Stadium, where his father, Rick, carved out a prolific career with the Fighting Irish. Rick Mirer, who had a 12-year career in the NFL, helped Notre Dame reach three major bowl games and set what was then a Notre Dame record with 18 touchdown passes in 1991.<\/p>\n
The takeaway<\/p>\n
Notre Dame put in a dominant performance against Stanford that showcased offensive explosiveness and defensive playmakers. A truer test of Notre Dame\u2019s standing as a national championship contender will take place next Saturday when the Irish play at No. 8 BYU in a top 10 clash.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Notre Dame plays at No. 8 BYU on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Stanford hosts Elon on Saturday.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here<\/a>, visit the Top 25 here<\/a> and see AP\u2019s full college football coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SOUTH BEND, Ind. \u2013 Freshman Jonaz Walton scored on a 97-yard run \u2014 the third longest offensive play…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":878029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,338211,43128,369285,3,99,452,453],"class_list":["post-878028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-jaiden-ausberry","tag-jeremiyah-love","tag-josh-adams","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/878029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}