Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2025 19 game was about more than the facilita- tion of individual awards, even if each South Bend media member was met with "A Love Letter To Football," printed words hyping Love's national profile crafted on study paper in the shape of his heart hands touchdown celebration. He did score one of those one touch- downs, by the way, to set the all-time single-season Notre Dame record previ- ously held by Jerome Bettis. "The Bus" had 20 in 1991. Love has 21 and counting in 2025. He finished the game with 14 carries for 66 yards, 1 catch for 6 yards and one bill of decent enough health to try to add to those numbers in the third quarter, without much success. Notre Dame redshirt freshman quar- terback CJ Carr completed 17 of 27 passes for 205 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, meanwhile. One of those touchdowns went to redshirt junior run- ning back Jadarian Price, who also had a rushing score. When Love briefly went out of the game, Price went in and didn't miss a beat — status quo for the duo's spectacular season. Third-stringer An- eyas Williams got a first-half series with Love sidelined and paid it off with 48 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown on six total touches on that drive alone. He added a 51-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter for good measure. Intertwined in all of that Irish domi- nance, the Stanford offense was no match for a Notre Dame defense that continued clicking in California. At halftime, the Cardinal hardly had more total yards (90) than Notre Dame gained on a fake punt touchdown pass from defensive end Joshua Burnham to safety Luke Talich. That was an 84-yarder out of nowhere that made it 21-0 early in the second quarter. Sophomore corner Leonard Moore collected his team-leading fifth inter- ception. Junior linebacker Drayk Bowen went on a tackling rampage, finishing the game with 7 stops. It was simply another clinical effort for Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash's unit, which held Stanford to 312 late-game- aided total yards and 4.5 yards per play. Who wants to play against a defense like that December, with a presumably healthy Love, who will have had three weeks to rest up for another playoff run, on the other side of the ball, leading the way for an Irish offense that went for 524 total yards and 7.1 yards per play? No team in its right mind. FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 14, STANFORD 0 Top Moment: Junior running back Jeremiyah Love gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead with a 2-yard touchdown run. Love gained sole possession of the pro- gram's single-season touchdown record with his 21st touchdown of the season, eclipsing running back Jerome Bettis, who scored 20 touchdowns in 1991. Feature Performer: Love rushed 9 times for 58 yards and 1 touchdown in the quarter before exiting the game with an apparent injury to his midsection. He made his way to the locker room before the first quarter concluded. Stats: Notre Dame totaled 82 rushing yards in the first quarter. Stanford al- lowed just 113.1 rushing yards per game in its first 11 games … Stanford quarter- back Elijah Brown went 1-of-4 passing in the quarter. Items: Redshirt junior running back Jadarian Price filled in for Love with 6 carries for 15 yards and 1 touchdown and 2 catches for 28 yards … Stanford's lone first down gained came from a 14- yard pass from Brown to tight end Sam Roush to start Stanford's second drive. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 35, STANFORD 3 Top Moment: Stanford appeared to force Notre Dame into a three-and-out on the third Irish drive of the game, but Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and special teams coordinator Marty Biagi di- aled up a fake punt. Redshirt junior defen- sive end Joshua Burnham, a former high school quarterback, threw a short pass to junior safety Luke Talich, and the wide open Talich did the rest on an 84-yard touchdown to give the Irish a 21-0 lead. Feature Performer: An intercep- tion by sophomore cornerback Leon- ard Moore allowed Notre Dame to score one more time in the final minute of the first half. Moore blanketed wide receiver Myles Libman in coverage and picked off a Brown pass near the sideline with 1:26 left in the second quarter. Moore also broke up two passes earlier in the quarter, including a fourth-and-7 pass intended for wide receiver CJ Williams. Stats: Thanks in large part to the fake punt, Notre Dame managed to throw for 161 yards in the second quarter compared to just 40 by Stanford … The Irish aver- aged 8.3 yards per play in the quarter. Items: Third-string running back Aneyas Williams, a sophomore, pitched in for Notre Dame with Love sidelined and tallied 5 carries for 23 yards and 1 touchdown and a 25-yard reception on one drive in the quarter … Price caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr with 17 seconds left in the first half. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 42, STANFORD 6 Top Moment: Notre Dame's offense continued to be aggressive to start the second half. Carr threw a deep pass to junior wide receiver Jordan Faison for a 54-yard reception on the first play of the third quarter for the Irish. Faison made the leaping catch with safety Ché Ojarikre pinned behind him. Love suffered an injury in the first quarter that limited his playing time, but he still ran 14 times for 66 yards and 1 touch- down against the Cardinal. PHOTO BY CHUCK ARAGON