Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 OCT. 17, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT If the Cardinal wanted any chance at cover- ing a ginormous 38.5-point spread, they had to play a clean football game. That went out the window on the first play from scrimmage. Stanford failed to account for one of the best pass rushers in college football, and start- ing quarterback Davis Warren paid the price. Irish senior defensive end Boubacar Traore exploded out of his stance and ran free toward Warren for a strip sack. Senior linebacker Jaiden Ausberry recov- ered the fumble and gave the Irish offense the ball at the 18-yard line. Notre Dame scored four plays later and unloaded 44 unanswered points. STATS OF THE GAME It was Notre Dame's most complete perfor- mance of the season. On offense, the Irish generated a season-high 598 yards, including a season-high 361 on the ground. Freshman running back Jonaz Wal- ton accounted for 181 yards and showcased the explosiveness the Irish have been miss- ing since Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price departed. Walton had touchdown runs of 97 and 40 yards. In the passing game, junior quarterback CJ Carr and freshman quarterback Noah Grubbs combined for 237 yards, and 12 different play- ers caught a pass. The defense returned to form, too. The Irish limited the Cardinal to 202 yards, including just 86 in the first half. With Traore leading the way, Notre Dame also forced 3 turnovers. Notre Dame showed some necessary im- provement on third down, limiting Stanford to 2 of 11 (18.1), including 0 of 7 in the first half. The Cardinal finished with just 9 first downs. MYLAN GRAHAM GETS BACK IN THE MIX A week after playing no snaps against North Carolina, Notre Dame's coveted transfer por- tal acquisition returned to the lineup. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Ohio State transfer played a season-high 29 snaps and caught 2 passes for 5 yards. With the way Notre Dame ran the ball against Stanford, it did not need Graham to make any spectacular plays. Yet there will come a time this season when the Irish need him to step up and help them win a football game. That time could come sooner rather than later. The Irish have two top-10 teams on the schedule over the next three games, and they need Graham to be locked in for both match- ups. The playing time he saw against Stan- ford was a necessary step toward regaining his stride — or at least finding it. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY KYLE KELLY RB NOLAN JAMES JR. The sophomore ran for 73 yards on 10 carries, the second-highest total of his fledgling career. He had 2 rushing touchdowns in the game, giving him a team-leading 5 for the season. James was the first running back in the game for the Irish on a day when all five scholarship backs saw action. As a team, the Irish rushed for a season-high 361 yards on 47 carries with 5 rushing touchdowns. Notre Dame averaged a season-best 7.7 yards per rush, and James averaged 7.3. For the season, the 5-10, 215-pounder is Notre Dame's second-leading rusher with 335 yards on 65 car- ries (5.2 yards per carry). He doesn't have a single running play for negative yardage this season. DE BOUBACAR TRAORE The 6-5, 253-pound senior set the tone for the Irish defense on the very first offensive play of the game. He sacked Stanford quarterback Davis Warren, jarring the ball loose on the play. Senior linebacker Jaiden Ausberry recovered on the Cardinal 18-yard line. Four plays later, Notre Dame had a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard run by Nolan James Jr. Then early in the second quarter, Traore forced another Stanford turnover, picking off a Warren pass and returning it 18 yards to the Stanford 19. The Cardinal had only committed 2 turnovers in the first five games this season, and Traore matched that by himself a little over a minute into the second quarter. The Irish got a third turnover late, when backup cornerback Mark Zackery IV picked off Stanford reserve quarterback Charlie Mirer. The fifth-year Stanford quarterback is the son of former Notre Dame standout Rick Mirer. Traore finished with 2 tackles on a day where the tackle totals were tamped down by how many defend- ers rotated into the blowout and the fact that Stanford ran only 44 offensive plays to Notre Dame's 74. He was also credited with a quarterback hurry. RB JONAZ WALTON The 5-9, 214-pound freshman broke Josh Adams' Notre Dame single-game true freshman rushing record in the 58-7 Irish rout of Stanford. Walton rushed for 181 yards on 13 carries with touchdown runs of 97 and 40 yards. He was the third running back to enter the game for the Irish. Adams set the old record in 2015, with 168 yards, also against Stanford. Walton's 97-yard run is the third-longest offensive play in Notre Dame Stadium history and Walton's first career touchdown. He also had 2 receptions for 28 yards. It was Walton's second consecutive game of 100 or more yards, the first time a freshman has done that in a Notre Dame uniform since Adams did it in 2015 against Pitt and Wake Forest. Walton heads into the second half of the regular season as Notre Dame's leading rusher, with 409 yards on 52 carries. His average of 7.9 yards per carry is on pace to be the third-best in a single season among players with at least 100 carries in Notre Dame history. GAME BALLS BY ERIC HANSEN Sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. contributed 73 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER