Riley Leonard threw three touchdown passes and ran for another to help No. 11 Notre Dame win 49-7 against Stanford on Saturday.
Leonard completed 16 of 22 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran the ball six times for 31 yards and a touchdown.
The game was paused at the end of the third quarter because of lightning, with Notre Dame leading 42-7. After about an hour delay, play started again. Steve Angeli took over as Leonard’s quarterback when the game resumed.
Notre Dame (5-1) effectively shut down Stanford’s offense, recording eight tackles for loss, four sacks, and forcing a fumble. They also stopped Stanford three times on fourth-down attempts.
After allowing a 63-yard scoring drive on Stanford’s first possession, Notre Dame held the Cardinal to just 137 total yards.
“I challenged those two seniors, Rylie (Mills) and Howard (Cross III),” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said after his team’s slow start.
“I wanted them to be great because they’re great football players, and those two specifically stood out to me just on the field. They dominated the game. Those two big guys, we needed them to be dominant, and they played dominant.”
Stanford (2-4), which was making its third trip to the Eastern time zone in four weeks, scored first with a 1-yard run by Justin Lamson.
However, that lead didn’t last long. Leonard and Notre Dame quickly responded with a 75-yard drive, capped by Leonard’s 6-yard run to tie the game.
By halftime, Notre Dame had a 21-7 lead, taking advantage of two failed fourth-down attempts by Stanford. Jayden Thomas caught a 15-yard pass from Leonard for one touchdown, and Kris Mitchell grabbed a 5-yard touchdown pass from Leonard.
Leonard said launching a passing attack was key to their game plan.
“You trust the coaches,” Leonard said. “They wanted to throw the ball around. Obviously, we were getting good looks for that. We kind of knew that all week. So, yeah, it’s a great feeling to hear that, because you’re able to spread the ball to the guys who deserve it the most.”
Leonard added that he was eager to throw the ball after a week off.
“I just began to have this carefree mindset of, I’ve only got one opportunity at this, so we’re going to let the ball fly around and not worry too much,” Leonard said.
Notre Dame’s defense set up the next touchdown, giving the Fighting Irish a strong lead at 28-7. Defensive end Joshua Burnham tipped a pass from Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels and caught it, then ran 15 yards to the Cardinal 17.
Two plays later, Jadarian Price sprinted 16 yards for the touchdown.
“From the second series on, man, they played lights out,” Freeman said about how the Fighting Irish shook off the rust from a bye week. “We really did a great job taking care of the ball. Defensively, they really stepped up and made good plays.”
Ashton Daniels completed 8 of 13 passes for 74 yards and ran 14 times for 42 yards. Lamson was 2 for 4 for 13 yards. Chris David Jr. carried the ball 10 times for 45 yards.
“They outplayed us in all three phases,” Stanford coach Troy Taylor said about Notre Dame. “Offensively, we didn’t sustain blocks. Their block destruction was impressive.”
“We’ve got a long season ahead of us and lots of opportunities,” Taylor said. “This one hurts, obviously. We’ll bounce back and be ready to play next weekend.”
