Notre Dame got off to a blistering start Saturday night in Palo Alto, as rival Stanford saw its season finale slip away before it was ever really within reach. The Irish started on a 28-point run that included some special teams trickery along with the defensive dominance that has become a hallmark over the back half of the season. But, in a game that saw junior defensive lineman Josh Burnham throw as many touchdown passes as freshman quarterback CJ Carr, the Irish found themselves on their heels for the second 30 minutes. In a surprising turn of events, Stanford outscored Notre Dame 17-14 in the second half.
Nevertheless, the Irish persevered en route to a 49-20 win that capped off a 10-2 regular season and a 10-game winning streak, which is tied for the third-longest in the FBS. Now, with postseason play on the horizon, here’s where things stand.
Stock up: Aneyas Williams
Sophomore running back Aneyas Williams has seen his usage limited to garbage time this season. That hasn’t stopped him from giving up, though. In four of his five appearances this season, he’s scored a touchdown. This past weekend, with junior running back Jeremiyah Love injured early in the game, Williams returned to a feature back position alongside junior Jadarian Price and took advantage of the opportunity. He finished the night as Notre Dame’s leading rusher, tallying 83 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while averaging a staggering 8.3 yards per carry.
Williams has proven himself to be both an explosive and powerful back during his young Notre Dame career, and his 51-yard burst for a touchdown at Stanford continued to prove that. Next year, with Love gone to the NFL, Williams should step into an elevated role, one he has proven ready to fill.
Stock up: Notre Dame’s special teams
Early in the season, Notre Dame’s special teams were one of the biggest question marks of the team. The botched PAT that cost them the Texas A&M game began a downward spiral worsened by the injury to senior kicker Noah Burnette. The kicking disaster against Boston College solidified a major problem that desperately needed solving soon.
But, since that game, the Irish special teams have been trending in the right direction. Erik Schmidt hasn’t missed a PAT since Boston College and went 7-for-7 against the Cardinal. The freshman kicker has proven to be far more reliable than many initially believed. In addition to the kicking improvements, special teams coordinator Marty Biagi showcased his creativity, dialing up a fake punt that saw Burnham hit junior safety Luke Talich for an 84-yard touchdown, extending an early three-score advantage. Senior punter James Rendell has also proven that, when needed, he can flip the field on a dime with his 44.6 average yards per punt. He dropped two inside the 20-yard line on Saturday. Despite their early-season struggles, the special teams units have come back stronger than ever and appear primed to assist in a potential College Football Playoff run down the road.
Stock up: Jeremiyah Love’s impact on the history books
It was a quieter-than-usual night for Jeremiyah Love against Stanford, as an early knee to the ribs saw him sidelined for the majority of the game. However, that didn’t stop him from further etching his name into the Notre Dame history books. His only touchdown of the night brought him to 21 total touchdowns on the season, breaking Jerome Bettis’s record for the most by a Notre Dame player in a single season. His trip to the end zone also saw him tie Audric Estime’s record of 18 rushing touchdowns in a single season.
A lesser-known but still significant record to keep track of the rest of the season for Love is Notre Dame’s single-season rushing record. He now sits at 1,372 rushing yards in 2025, good for the fourth most in a single season at Notre Dame. With another 66 yards, exactly what he had against Stanford, he would surpass Vagas Ferguson’s mark of 1,437 rushing yards and hold the single-season rushing title for the Irish.
Stock down: Notre Dame’s CFP chances
Notre Dame currently sits at -520 odds to make the College Football Playoff, according to FanDuel. Each passing day, however, those chances appear worse and worse outside of Vegas. Since their 0-2 start, the Irish have done all they possibly can to stake their claim for a playoff spot. As of now, the rankings reflect that, with Notre Dame retaining possession of an at-large bid from the first set of rankings to now. But with conference championship weekend looming, the chances seem to be dwindling.
In the SEC, Alabama and Georgia face off for the second time this season, a matchup the Crimson Tide emerged victorious from the first time around. It seems that both teams are locked into the Playoff regardless of the result. Alabama sits at No. 9 as of now, and it is far-fetched to think that they would be eliminated with a loss in a conference championship game, especially considering SMU’s fate in 2024 after a loss to Clemson in the ACC title game.
In the Big 12, BYU would be eliminated from contention with a loss, which could be good and bad for Notre Dame. With a Cougars loss, the discussion could come down to Notre Dame and Miami. If there is still the buffer of Alabama and/or BYU between them, then the Irish should be in. But if they find themselves right next to Miami, the committee may be forced to respect the week one head-to-head result and award the Hurricanes with Notre Dame’s spot. A BYU win eliminates the Irish instantly, as Texas Tech will retain a spot regardless of Saturday’s result, and BYU would earn an automatic bid with the conference title. Either way, things don’t seem to be trending in the right direction for Notre Dame, even if the Vegas odds say otherwise.
Stock down: finishing the football game
All season, Notre Dame has been a second-half team. During the first half of the regular season, the Irish were characterized by their slow starts, especially against teams like NC State, Purdue and Boise State. Despite this, the defense was always able to stand tall in the second half, with the offense tending to follow suit. As the season progressed, the first half got slightly better, albeit still slow at times, while the second half remained Notre Dame’s most dominant phase, one that frequently saw backup units getting run in blowout results.
Against Stanford, however, something seemed to shift in the second half. Notre Dame’s first-half avalanche saw them leading 35-3 at the break, but the Cardinal had no quit in them. They won the second half 17-14, becoming the first team to outscore the Irish in a half since the first 30 against Texas A&M, when they surrendered 28 points. The 17 points let up in the second half against Stanford were more than they had given up in an entire game since USC scored 24 back in mid-October.
Since the first two weeks of the season, Notre Dame’s defense has come into its own under defensive coordinator Chris Ash. The offense has found similar success, with Carr adjusting to his role, surrounded by a talented collection of playmakers. While backups came in during the second half, previous games proved that those backups could more than hold their own. In a game the Irish were expected to utterly dominate, even with a second unit on the field, their second-half performance was uncharacteristic, to say the least.
