Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 29, 2025 37 GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. STANFORD PASS DEFENSE The biggest step up in proficiency that redshirt freshman CJ Carr and the Irish will face, should they make the College Football Playoff, is the pass defenses they'll see at that level. Eight of the top 11 teams, including Notre Dame, in the most re- cent CFP Top 25 ranking Nov. 18 were ranked in the top 25 nationally in pass efficiency defense. The worst among those 11 teams was Georgia at No. 49. Stanford represents the seventh opponent Notre Dame has matched up with this season with a pass efficiency defense ranked worse than 105th nationally. The Cardinal was 116th going into its matchup with Cal. For Notre Dame, meanwhile, junior wide re- ceiver Jaden Greathouse is finally healthy from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since late September. Head coach Marcus Freeman said Nov. 17 that he planned to redshirt Greathouse, then use him next in the playoff unless an emer- gency situation pressed the receiver into action before that. Without Greathouse for much of the season, CJ Carr has put up historic efficiency numbers in the passing game anyway, ranking third nationally in that category and still on a trajectory to shatter the single-season school record shared by Bob Wil- liams (1949) and Jimmy Clausen (2009). Going into its game with Cal, Stanford had picked off just three passes all season, two of them against Pitt freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel Nov. 1. Only four FBS teams had fewer. Wide receivers Jordan Faison, Will Pauling and Malachi Fields and tight end Eli Raridon figure to do most of the damage for Notre Dame against Stanford's pass defense. But this could be a game where some of the younger wide receivers get some extended playing time as well. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Stanford has two pretty solid kicking specialists. Placekicker Emmet Kenney was 13 of 16 on field goals going into the Cal game and was perfect on 15 point-after tries. And punter Aidan Flintoft had an impressive 43.7-yard average on 45 punts. But beyond those two, the Cardinal's special teams play was well below average. Stanford ranked worse than 90th nationally in both kick and punt returns, kickoff and punt return coverage, and net punting. The Irish do just about everything well on special teams except for kicking field goals. Freshman Erik Schmidt looked to gain some traction on that front last Saturday against Syracuse after entering that game 0 of 3. He had been good on his extra points, though, and outstanding on kickoffs. And there's a chance Notre Dame's original No. 1 placekicker, Noah Bur- nette, could be back in play should the Irish make the College Football Playoff. Burnette was recovering from a chronic injury that affected his hip and groin in his kicking leg. The Irish, though, have a Ray Guy Award semi- finalist at punter in James Rendell, the nation's No. 1 kickoff returner in Jadarian Price (37.5 yards per return) and a strong punt returner in Jordan Faison, who ranked 22nd (10.4) heading into Week 13 games. And the Irish still have plenty of fakes and trick plays yet to unleash, though likely not in this game. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING Given the mass departures and defections after Troy Taylor was fired as head coach in March, in- terim coach Frank Reich has done an admirable job of picking up the pieces since being named as the temporary solution March 31. And general manager Andrew Luck, who played quarterback for Reich when Reich was the India- napolis Colts head coach, has done a good job of adding pieces. The 17 incoming transfers by the Cardinal this offseason were more than ev- ery other offseason transfer cycle combined for Stanford. Perhaps Reich's best coaching moment this sea- son was taking down a Florida State team, 20-13, that upset CFP hopeful Alabama in the season opener before the Seminoles' season went flat. Luck's expertise and clout as GM is Stanford's biggest and best hope for a revival for a program that hasn't won more than four games in a season since 2018, which also happens to be the last of 10 straight winning seasons the Cardinal concocted under Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and Reich first crossed paths in February 2010, when Reich was an assistant coach with the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts had signed Freeman as a free OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. QB 2 Elijah Brown 6-2 210 R-Fr. 10 Dylan Rizk 6-2 225 R-So. RB 20 Micah Ford 6-0 220 So. or 33 Cole Tabb 5-8 200 R-Fr. WR 3 CJ Williams 6-1 205 Sr. 4 Jordan Onovughe 6-2 210 R-So. WR 0 Caden High 5-10 165 Jr. 25 Marcus Brown 5-10 170 R-Fr. WR 11 Bryce Farrell 5-10 175 6th 18 Myles Libman 6-0 190 R-So. TE 86 Sam Roush 6-5 260 Sr. 88 Benji Blackburn 6-6 260 So. LT 66 Niki Prongos 6-7 315 R-Jr. 73 Charlie Symonds 6-8 310 R-So. LG 62 Josh Williams 6-4 300 Fr. or 68 Zak Yamauchi 6-4 325 Fr. C 74 Fisher Anderson 6-7 315 R-Jr. 63 Carson Caplan 6-3 305 R-Fr. RG 71 Emeka Ugorji 6-5 300 Fr. or 51 Ziron Brown 6-3 310 R-Fr. RT 58 Kahlil House 6-5 305 So. 62 Josh Williams 6-4 300 Fr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. EDGE 11 Tevarua Tafiti 6-2 240 R-Jr. 30 Ese Dubre 6-2 260 5th DT 91 Clay Patterson 6-3 280 Gr. 98 Zach Buckey 6-3 270 5th DT 97 Zach Rowell 6-3 285 R-Jr. or 75 Braden Marceau-Olayinka 6-3 300 R-So. DT 94 Anthony Franklin 6-3 285 5th 45 Omar Staples 6-3 270 R-So. EDGE 14 Wilfredo Aybar 6-2 270 5th 44 Ernest Cooper 6-4 250 R-Jr. LB 35 Matt Rose 6-2 230 R-Jr. 51 Sam Mattingly 6-2 240 So. LB 0 Jahsiah Galvan 6-2 230 R-Jr. 23 Hunter Barth 6-2 230 R-Sr. CB 22 Ché Ojarikre 6-2 205 R-So. 31 Aaron Morris 5-11 195 Jr. S 5 Jay Green 6-3 215 R-Jr. or 21 Scotty Edwards 6-1 205 R-Jr. S 32 Mitch Leigber 6-1 200 5th 29 Darrius Davis 6-0 200 So. CB 6 Collin Wright 6-0 195 R-Jr. or 9 Brandon Nicholson 6-0 190 So. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. K 13 Emmet Kenney 6-2 220 5th 19 London Bironas 5-10 205 Fr. P 37 Aidan Flintoft 6-2 210 Jr. 19 London Bironas 5-10 205 Fr. H 37 Aidan Flintoft 6-2 210 Jr. 18 Myles Libman 6-0 190 R-So. LS 93 Peyton Warford 6-3 225 R-Jr. 47 Alejandro Chavez 6-2 225 R-Jr. KR 0 Caden High 5-10 165 Jr. 26 Sedrick Irvin 5-10 205 Jr. PR 13 Liam Thorpe 6-0 195 Fr. 11 Bryce Farrell 5-10 175 6th STANFORD CARDINAL TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART