Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547079
26 OCT. 17, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED DOWN ARGUABLY ITS TWO BEST PLAYERS, DEFENSE BOUNCES BACK In Marcus Freeman's mind, everything Boubacar Traore does on the field is a re- flection of what he does in practice. Sometimes, quite literally. When Traore intercepted Stanford quarterback Davis Warren during Notre Dame's 58-7 win, it was on a play he re- calls running for an interception in spring practice. He dropped into coverage while the Irish brought pressure up the middle, and as Warren scrambled to his right, he never saw Traore. "I had a drop to the re- ceiver," Traore said. "Kind of just sliding and gliding." Traore took his intercep- tion to the house back in the spring. We know this because Notre Dame actually posted the clip on social media back on April 22. He had no such luck against the Cardinal, but the Irish will certainly take what they got from No. 5. Traore's interception was his third forced turnover in the past two games, counting his hit on North Carolina quarterback Billy Ed- wards Jr. that led to a Kyngstonn Viliamu- Asa interception in Week 5. His strip sack earlier in the game — in fact, on Stanford's first play from scrimmage — was a pretty clear indicator of how the game would go. The senior defensive end set the tone for a defense that was not pleased with itself for its substandard performance in a 37-26 win over UNC. If Freeman felt like it was necessary, he would have challenged that group to be better. He didn't. STANFORD VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Stanford 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 5:21 10:04 3:50 3:35 15:25 7:25 22:50 Third-Down Conversions 0-3 0-4 1-2 1-2 0-7 2-4 2-11 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position STAN-20 STAN-22 STAN-18 STAN-25 STAN-21 STAN-21 STAN-21 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 9:39 4:56 11:10 11:25 14:35 22:35 37:10 Third-Down Conversions 2-3 1-3 2-3 3-4 3-6 5-7 8-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position ND-39 ND-47 ND-26 ND-18 ND-43 ND-23 ND-35 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards STAN ND Nega ve 2 6 0-5 31 38 6-9 4 15 10-19 5 10 20-29 1 0 30-39 0 2 40-49 0 1 50 or more 1 2 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Stanford 1 1 0 0 Notre Dame 4 3 1 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 2-8 ND3 Walton rush for 97 yards and a touchdown • 3-2 STAN31 James rush for 31 yards and a touchdown • 2-10 ND30 Carr pass to Williams for 70 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 STAN30 Carr pass to Burress for 30 yards and a touchdown • 2-20 STAN40 Walton rush for 40 yards and a touchdown Stanford • 1-10 STAN42 Warren pass to High for 52 yards to ND6 Sophomore cornerback Mark Zackery IV recorded his first career interception in the win over Stanford, while helping fill in for injured star Leonard Moore. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER PARTICIPATION CHART OFFENSE QB: CJ CARR, Noah Grubbs, Teddy Jarrard RB: NOLAN JAMES JR., Aneyas Williams, Jonaz Walton, Kedren Young, Javian Osborne, Matt Wil - liams, Kurt Smith WR (X): MICAH GILBERT, Jerome Bettis Jr., Elijah Burress, Devin Fitzgerald WR (Z): JORDAN FAISON, Matt Jeffery, Logan Saldate, Dylan Faison WR (Y): Jaden Greathouse, Mylan Graham, Bubba Frazier, Kaydon Finley TE: COOPER FLANAGAN, JAMES FLANIGAN, Jack Larsen, Ian Premer LT: WILL BLACK, Styles Prescod, Grayson McKeogh LG: ANTHONIE KNAPP, Cam Herron, Devan Houstan C: ASHTON CRAIG, Joe Otting RG: SULLIVAN ABSHER, Matty Augustine, Peter Jones RT: GUERBY LAMBERT, Owen Strebig, Charlie Thom DEFENSE LDE: BOUBACAR TRAORE, Loghan Thomas, Eb - enezer Ewetade, Dominik Hulak DT: ARMEL MUKAM, Elijah Hughes, Cole Mullins, Gordy Sulfsted, Elijah Golden NT: FRANCIS BREWU, Tionne Gray, Sean Sevillano Jr., Davion Dixon RDE: BRYCE YOUNG, Keon Keeley, Rodney Dun - ham, Joe Reiff WILL: JAIDEN AUSBERRY, JAYLEN SNEED, Teddy Rezac, Ko'o Kia, Ja'Kobe Clapper MIKE: DRAYK BOWEN, Madden Faraimo, Kahanu Kia NICKEL: Christian Gray, Dallas Golden, Nick Red - dish BCB: JAYDEN SANDERS, Mark Zackery IV BS: ADON SHULER, Ethan Long, Chase Young FS: LUKE TALICH, Joey O'Brien, Brandon Logan FCB: DJ MCKINNEY, Ayden Pouncey, Khary Adams SPECIAL TEAMS Kick return: Madden Faraimo, Loghan Thomas, Teddy Rezac, Ja'Kobe Clapper, Matt Jeffery, Kah - anu Kia, Ian Premer, James Flanigan, Cole Mullins Kickoff coverage: Ethan Long, Kahanu Kia, Loghan Thomas, Ebenezer Ewetade, Joey O'Brien, Ko'o Kia, Teddy Rezac, Thomas Davis Jr., Ja'Kobe Clap - per, Matt Jeffery, Mark Zackery IV Punt return: Joey O'Brien, Bryce Young, Teddy Rezac, Ja'Kobe Clapper, Rodney Dunham, Drayk Bowen, Ko'o Kia, Christian Gray, Matt Jeffery, Adon Shuler, Loghan Thomas, Kahanu Kia, Mark Zackery IV Punt coverage: Cooper Flanagan, James Flanigan, Bubba Frazier, Drayk Bowen, Loghan Thomas, Ethan Long, Matt Jeffery, Mylan Graham, Mark Zackery IV Long snapper: Joseph Vinci Holder: Jasper Scaife Kick returners: Jonaz Walton, Kedren Young Punt returners: Jordan Faison, Dallas Golden Placekicker: Spencer Porath, Micah Drescher Kickoff: Micah Drescher, Erik Schmidt Punter: Jasper Scaife