Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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38 NOV. 29, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD agent linebacker, but during a physical exam, an enlarged heart condition was discovered, ending Freeman's playing career. Freeman soon transitioned into coaching, and he is the reigning Munger National Coach of the Year. He was recently named a semifinalist for that award for 2025. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Stanford is the only team in the FBS that has played in five different time zones this season, and the 10:30 p.m. ET start translates to 7:30 p.m. local time anyway. Additionally, the Cardinal has been a markedly better team at home this season than on the road. The 20-15 loss to North Carolina Nov. 8 completed an 0-6 season on the road for Stanford, but the Cardinal was 3-1 at home going into the Cal game. And the home/road statistical splits aren't sub- tle. Stanford was averaging twice as many points at home as on the road (25.0 to 12.5) and 110 more yards in total offense (374.8 to 264.2) in Palo Alto. The last time the Irish had a later Eastern Time start, meanwhile, was in 1991, and it happened twice that season — 11 p.m. ET at Stanford and 11 p.m. ET at Hawai'i. And the Irish won them both, without the hard lean into sports science as they do now. More significantly, Notre Dame has so much more to play for in this one, hoping to punch its ticket to the College Football Playoff with an im- pressive win. Advantage: Notre Dame Predictions Todd D. Burlage: Notre Dame 42, Stanford 7 Once a proud rivalry between elite academic schools, this has become a matchup of two programs heading in different directions. This will mark the seventh straight season that the Cardinal will fail to reach six wins. About the only highlight during its down stretch was a 16-14 upset of Notre Dame in 2022. Mean- while, the Irish look to win at least 10 games in a season for the eighth time in the last nine years. All Notre Dame, start to finish. Steve Downey: Notre Dame 48, Stanford 17 No school has seen a reversal of fortunes quite like the one Stanford has undergone. The Cardinal compiled a 94-27 overall record (.777 winning percentage) from 2010-18, but has failed to win more than four games in any of the past six seasons and was just 23-53 since 2019 entering Week 13 of the 2025 campaign. That .303 winning percentage is the worst among all Power Four schools, well below Vanderbilt (27-53, .338), Kansas (30-51, .370), Purdue (30-50, .375) and Northwestern (31-49, .388). So, Stanford brought back former star quarterback Andrew Luck to try to turn things around. It has looked a little better this season, but it's clear Luck has his work cut out for him in the current landscape of college football. Since losing three straight to the Cardinal from 2015-17, the Fighting Irish have dominated with five wins by an average score of 47-17 in six meetings since 2018. Notre Dame wins big again to clinch a spot in this year's College Football Playoff. Eric Hansen: Notre Dame 45, Stanford 10 For a team that changed head coaches in March — and to an interim one at that — and whose prized quarterback recruit (Bear Bachmeier) transferred in May and is starting for BYU, the Cardinal hasn't been the abject disaster it could have been. One of the reasons is the late blooming of wide receiver CJ Williams, who in his fourth year in college and third school has finally put forth the production that aligns with his lofty recruiting ranking in the 2022 class, as a late-cycle Notre Dame decommitment. Beyond that, well, Stanford has a pretty good run defense (32nd), and that's about it. In the 24 major offensive, defensive and special teams categories, the Cardinal ranks 80th or lower nationally (out of 134) in 20 of them. The late start (10:30 ET) won't be enough to make the Irish sleepwalk, as they punch their ticket for the College Football Playoff with a convincing win. Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 50, Stanford 10 When's the last time the Irish had any issue whatsoever out on The Farm? It's been eight years. The last three times Notre Dame has played at Stanford, the Irish have won by an average margin of 28.3 points. Head coach Marcus Freeman's team won by 33 the last time Notre Dame was out there, and with style points mattering at least a little for College Football Playoff purposes this year, I'm upping that by a touchdown and a successful extra point. A 40-point victory for the much better team to round out the regular season in just that — style. Tyler James: Notre Dame 42, Stanford 20 Stanford only wins games at home this season. But that might be the only reason the Cardinal have hope in trying to take down Notre Dame. Stanford has become feistier than the laughingstock it ap- peared to be to open the season, but its roster doesn't have a lot of redeeming qualities. The lone strength of Stanford is its rush defense, but that might be a product of how poorly it defends the pass. Stanford might find some spoiler magic early in the game, but Notre Dame will pull away with its superior talent. Kyle Kelly: Notre Dame 52, Stanford 10 After the Cardinal upset head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish, 16-14, in his first game against them in 2022, the Irish have responded with a vengeance. In the three games since then, Notre Dame has outscored Stanford 105-30. The Cardinal aren't bowl eligible, while the Irish are looking to make one strong final impression on the College Football Playoff committee. I think this one results in a big Irish win. Jack Soble: Notre Dame 42, Stanford 7 Stanford is inept offensively, which is why this prediction assumes Notre Dame scores a defensive touchdown at some point in its final regular-season game. The Irish know what's at stake as they travel to Northern California on Thanksgiving weekend for possibly the last time in a while. Notre Dame has one more chance to show the CFP Selection Committee that it belongs, no matter what happens on Championship Weekend and no matter how well Miami plays down the stretch. Redshirt junior cornerback Collin Wright had notched 28 tackles, 2 passes broken up and 1 interception — which was a huge pick six in a win over Boston College — through 10 contests. PHOTO COURTESY STANFORD ATHLETICS