Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547079
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 17, 2026 23 3rd Time in school history that Notre Dame has produced a rushing and receiving touchdown of at least 70 yards in the same game, with freshman running back Jonaz Walton's 97- yard scoring run and junior running back Aneyas Williams' 70-yard scoring reception from junior quarterback CJ Carr in the 58-7 win over Stanford. The last time it happened before this year was when running back Randy Kinder had a 70-yard touchdown run and wide receiver Lake Dawson had a 74-yard scoring connection with quarterback Kevin McDougal in a 58-27 victory over Navy at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia on Oct. 30, 1993. It also happened in the Irish's 42-7 win over Northwestern on Sept. 5, 1992, when running back Reggie Brooks had a 72-yard touchdown run and wide receiver Mike Miller caught a 70-yard scoring pass from quarterback Rick Mirer. 5 True freshmen since 1972 have recorded back- to-back games with 100 or more rushing yards for the Irish: Jerome Heavens in 1975, at North Caro- lina (109) and at Air Force (138); Allen Pinkett in 1982, versus Navy (129) and at Pittsburgh (112); Autry Denson in 1995, against Navy (115) and at Air Force (109); Josh Adams in 2015, at Pittsburgh (147) and versus Wake Forest (141); and Jonaz Walton in 2026, at North Carolina (120) and against Stanford (181). 49 Or more points for the Fighting Irish against the Cardinal in four consecutive games, setting a program record for the most con- secutive games reaching that mark against a single opponent. After losing to Stanford 16-14 in 2022, Notre Dame has beaten the Cardinal 56-23 in 2023, 49-7 in 2024, 49-20 in 2025 and 58-7 in 2026. 70 Yards on junior running back Aneyas Wil- liams' touchdown connection with junior quarterback CJ Carr. The reception marked the longest of Williams' career and the longest touch- down catch by an Irish running back since Logan Diggs' 75-yard score against South Carolina in the 2022 Gator Bowl. 97 Yards on running back Jonaz Walton's first touchdown run. It marked the first rushing touchdown of 95 or more yards by an Irish fresh- man since running back Josh Adams' 98-yarder in a 28-7 win over Wake Forest on Nov. 14, 2015. There have been five Irish touchdown runs of 90 or more yards at Notre Dame Stadium since 2015: Adams 98 in 2015, Chris Tyree 94 versus Syracuse in 2020, Kyren Williams 91 against North Carolina in 2021, Jeremiyah Love 98 versus Indiana in the College Football Playoff in 2024 and Walton 97 in 2026. 181 Yards and 2 touchdowns on 13 car- ries for freshman running back Jonaz Walton versus the Cardinal, which is a new Notre Dame single-game true freshman rushing record. The previous record holder was Josh Adams, who racked up 168 yards in a 38-36 loss at Stanford on Nov. 28, 2015. 268 of Notre Dame's 598 total yards came on five of its eight touchdowns, while Stanford managed just 58 rushing and 202 total yards for the entire game. The Irish finished the game with five scoring plays of 30 or more yards: 97-yard run by fresh- man running back Jonaz Walton, 70-yard reception by running back Aneyas Williams, 31-yard run by sophomore running back Nolan James Jr., 40-yard run by Walton and 30-yard reception by sopho- more Elijah Burress. BY THE NUMBERS BY STEVE DOWNEY 1 Fighting Irish player since at least 1998, per Notre Dame media relations, has re- corded both a strip sack and an interception in the same game: senior defen- sive end Boubacar Traore, who notched his strip sack on Stanford's first play from scrimmage and then added his second career intercep- tion in the second quarter. The Cardinal entered the game with just 2 turnovers committed in its first five games of the season, but had 3 against the Irish. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER