Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 29, 2025 35 GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD BY ERIC HANSEN STANFORD RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE To put into perspective how abjectly abysmal the Stanford running game has been this season, and especially of late, here are two history lessons — one recent and one for the ages. In its three games preceding its big annual rivalry game with Cal Nov. 22, the Cardinal had rushed for 81 yards combined in those games — on 89 car- ries, good for 0.9 yards a carry. And when the Bears and Cardinal renewed their grudge match in Palo Alto, the Stanford band might as well have been on the field during the game, as it was for the final seconds of Cal's miracle comeback over Stanford in 1982, thinking the game was over. The 2025 Cal-Stanford game matched the No. 132 rushing offense out of 134 FBS teams versus No. 133, respectively. So dodging a random trombone player might not make a difference. Stanford does have two capable young backs, though, in 6-foot, 220-pound sophomore Micah Ford (493 yards on 116 carries with 3 touchdowns heading into the Cal game) and 5-8, 200-pound redshirt freshman Cole Tabb (411 yards on 99 carries with 3 touchdowns), with one-time Notre Dame verbal commit junior Sedrick Irvin (89 yards on 31 carries with 1 score) largely an afterthought. Sack yardage has taken away what Ford and Tabb have done statistically as well as limiting how much they get used because of how often the Cardinal is behind the chains. And now here comes the best Notre Dame run defense since 2012 into Stanford Stadium. The Irish ranked 13th nationally in that statisti- cal category heading into last their Senior Day matchup with Syracuse Nov. 22, which featured the nation's No. 113 rushing offense. Notre Dame's five best run-stoppers, per Pro Football Focus' film grades, have combined for one missed tackle in the run game over the entire sea- son, that by backup defensive tackle Elijah Hughes. The five highest-graded Notre Dame players against the run are linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu- Asa (93.2), safety Tae Johnson (79.3), safety Jalen Stroman (78.6), Hughes (78.3) and defensive tackle Jared Dawson (77.4). A mismatch in the making. Advantage: Notre Dame STANFORD PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE The Irish were on a trajectory to face an old familiar face at quarterback in sixth-year senior Ben Gulbranson until Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich demoted the Oregon State transfer a couple of games ago. Gulbranson started for the Beavers in Notre Dame's 40-8 beatdown of Oregon State in the 2023 Sun Bowl. Redshirt freshman Elijah Brown got his first start of the season for Stanford on the road at North Carolina Nov. 8 and was impressive in amassing 284 passing yards with 1 touchdown and 1 inter- ception in a 20-15 Cardinal loss. The biggest problem for Brown was the same problem that Gulbranson had in Stanford's first nine games. The Tar Heels sacked Brown nine times for 73 yards in losses. For the season, the Cardinal ranked tied for 131st nationally in sacks allowed, ahead of only Auburn — where former Stanford starter Ashton Daniels had transferred to — and Troy, where former Irish offensive coordina- tor Gerad Parker is the head coach. When Stanford protects its quarterbacks, there are some pretty good targets to throw to, led by wide receiver CJ Williams, a one-time Notre Dame commitment who bailed late in the 2022 recruit- ing cycle about a week after Marcus Freeman was introduced as Brian Kelly's replacement as Notre Dame's head coach. Williams played a year at Southern Cal (2022), then two more relatively quiet seasons at Wis- consin, before breaking out this season with a team-leading 53 receptions for 659 yards and 5 touchdowns heading into the Cal game. That's more receptions than he had in his first three col- lege seasons combined (35). Fellow senior Sam Roush (43 receptions for 458 yards and 2 touchdowns) might be the ACC's best tight end, while South Carolina State transfer Ca- den High, who had a 10-catch game against North Carolina, had 32 receptions for 380 yards and 1 score going into last weekend. The Irish held Ashton Daniels and the Cardinal to just 87 passing yards in a 49-7 rout at Notre Dame Stadium last October, and this Irish pass defense is surging big time. Since sitting at No. 103 nationally in pass ef- ficiency defense following Game 3 against Purdue Sept. 20, the Irish had risen to No. 14 going into the Syracuse game. And their No. 15 standing in sacks per game nationally is one spot behind North Carolina for the most relentless pass rush Stanford will have faced this season. Notre Dame's defense is loaded with players with elite coverage grades, led by cornerback and Na- gurski Trophy finalist Leonard Moore (88.8), safety Tae Johnson (84.0), defensive end Boubacar Traore (83.7), safety Luke Talich (80.7) and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (80.2). Advantage: Notre Dame On PaPer Through 10 games, senior tight end Sam Roush was second on the team in receptions (43), receiving yards (458) and receiving touchdowns (2). PHOTO COURTESY STANFORD ATHLETICS