Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 3, 2026 41 GAME PREVIEW: STANFORD general manager — and still the only GM in the country with power over the head coach — Luck believes he has the Cardinal on the right track. It was not easy, however, to get to that point. One of Luck's first moves as general manager after his hiring in November 2024 was to fire then-head coach Troy Taylor in March 2025. Two investiga- tions found that Taylor had mistreated female staff members, with one calling his behavior "inappropriate, discrimi- natory on the basis of sex." Because Taylor's firing came several months after the typical hiring cycle, Luck opted to name his former head coach with the Indianapolis Colts, Frank Reich, interim head coach for the 2025 season. Reich went 4-8, but as Luck pointed out to The San Francisco Stan- dard, it was the first year since 2015 in which Stanford won more games than the previous season. "We took so many steps into legiti- mizing us as a serious football place," Luck said about the 2025 season in Au- gust. "And part of what Jim Harbaugh did when he got here was he was serious about stinkin' football. And that's part of what my mission is: Make every dimen- sion of our program a serious program." If the early part of 2026 is any indica- tion, the Cardinal still has a long way to go. That's unlikely to change when Stanford visits Notre Dame at 3:30 p.m. ET Oct. 10 in South Bend. LEARNING AND GROWING Two days before Week 1 against Wis- consin, Notre Dame got a chance to see Stanford face comparable competition. It did not go well for the Cardinal. OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 4 Jordan Onovughe 6-2 210 Sr. 2 Zion Robinson 6-2 195 Fr. WR 11 JonAnthony Hall 6-1 190 So. 23 Nico Brown 6-0 190 Sr. LT 66 Niki Prongos 6-7 310 5th 58 Kahlil House 6-5 300 Jr. LG 51 Ziron Brown 6-3 310 Jr. 62 Josh Williams 6-4 315 So. C 59 Charlie Hoitink 6-4 310 Jr. 74 Fisher Anderson 6-7 320 5th RG 55 Simione Pale 6-4 330 Sr. 62 Josh Williams 6-4 315 So. RT 58 Kahlil House 6-5 300 Jr. 74 Fisher Anderson 6-7 320 5th TE 88 Benji Blackburn 6-6 265 Jr. 87 Aiden Black 6-4 245 Jr. or 84 Chico Holt 6-5 255 Sr. WR 0 Caden High 5-10 175 Sr. 13 Liam Thorpe 6-0 195 So. QB 8 Davis Warren 6-2 200 6th 9 Michael Mitchell Jr. 5-11 180 Fr. or 17 Charlie Mirer 6-6 220 5th or 10 Dylan Rizk 6-2 195 Sr. RB 20 Micah Ford 6-0 225 Jr. 26 Sedrick Irvin 5-10 205 Sr. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. K 13 Emmet Kenney 6-2 220 6th 19 London Bironas 5-10 195 So. P 37 Aidan Flintoft 6-2 215 Sr. 19 London Bironas 5-10 195 So. H 37 Aidan Flintoft 6-2 215 Sr. 13 Liam Thorpe 6-0 195 So. SNAP 93 Peyton Warford 6-3 225 5th 47 Alejandro Chavez 6-2 230 5th KR 5 Chris Davis Jr. 5-10 195 Jr. 80 Jacob Butler 5-9 165 Fr. PR 13 Liam Thorpe 6-0 195 So. 80 Jacob Butler 5-9 165 Fr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. SAM 11 Tevarua Tafiti 6-2 240 5th or 36 Tre Williams 6-2 240 Sr. or 40 Mickey Vaccarello 6-2 225 So. EDGE 44 Ernest Cooper 6-4 260 5th or 95 Adam Shovlin 6-4 270 So. or 48 Drew Cunningham 6-3 255 Jr. DT 97 Zach Rowell 6-3 275 5th or 96 Connor Bachhuber 6-5 285 Jr. or 99 Benedict Umeh 6-5 285 Jr. DT 75 B. Marceau-Olayinka 6-3 310 Sr. or 57 Kole Briehler 6-2 285 So. or 42 Jacobi Murray 6-1 330 Jr. EDGE 45 Omar Staples 6-3 265 Sr. or 49 Gabe Kaminski 6-3 255 So. or 55 Joe Asiain 6-3 280 Jr. MIKE 35 Matt Rose 6-2 230 5th or 10 Sam Mattingly 6-2 240 Jr. or 25 Bo Tate 6-0 220 Jr. WILL 0 Jahsiah Galvan 6-2 230 5th or 38 Zach Johnson 6-3 225 Sr. or 23 Wassie Lugolobi 6-1 235 Fr. CB 9 Brandon Nicholson 6-0 190 Jr. or 14 Dre Pollard 6-1 180 Fr. or 28 Sam Neely III 5-11 185 Jr. S 5 Jay Green 6-3 215 5th or 21 Scotty Edwards 6-1 210 5th or 3 Jaylen'Dai Sumlin 6-2 205 Jr. S 6 Darrius Davis 6-0 200 Jr. or 39 Charlie Eckhardt 6-2 205 Jr. or 17 Omari Gaines 6-2 200 So. CB 8 Cam Richardson 6-2 185 Jr. or 28 Sam Neely III 5-11 185 Jr. or 20 Xavier Harmon 6-0 190 Fr. NICK 4 Leroy Bryant 6-0 185 Sr. or 24 Lonnie McAllister III 5-11 180 So. or 33 Lasiah Jackson 6-3 185 Fr. STANFORD CARDINAL DEPTH CHART 2026 STANFORD SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Aug. 29 Hawai'i W, 37-27 Sept. 4 Miami (Fla.) L, 45-6 Sept. 19 at Duke L, 35-7 Sept. 26 Georgia Tech W, 34-27 Oct. 3 at Wake Forest (ACCN) 12 p.m. Oct. 10 at Notre Dame (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 17 Elon (ACCN+) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 NC State (ESPN) 10:30 p.m. Oct. 31 at Louisville TBA Nov. 14 at Virginia Tech TBA Nov. 21 at Cal TBA Nov. 28 SMU TBA Facts & Figures: STANFORD AT NOTRE DAME Date: Oct. 10, 2026 Site: Notre Dame Stadium (77,622) Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET Television: NBC Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame IMG affiliates. Series Facts: Notre Dame leads the all-time series 25-14, including a win in 2012 that was vacated. The Irish have won six of the last seven matchups, winning by an average of 29.5 points in those six victories. Head coaches: Stanford — Tavita Pritchard (2-2, 1st season); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (47-12, 5th season). Noting Stanford: Quarterback Davis Warren earned a well-above-average 79.6 PFF passing grade his first three games, despite pedestrian numbers … His last action before 2026 came at Michigan in 2024, when he tore his ACL in the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl after starting nine games for the Wolverines … Top returners include running back Micah Ford (47 carries for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns through three games) and linebacker Matt Rose (27 total tackles through three games, the next-highest total is 14) … The Cardinal returns three starters on their offensive line and four at linebacker, including Rose … Stanford's last road win was at Syracuse on Sept. 28, 2024.