Highlights: Notre Dame 56, Stanford 23 — Irish stack big plays and bigger numbers in rout on Saturday night

The numbers are the highlights. That was in some part because Stanford was so overmatched against Notre Dame, the Cardinal program in a deeper hole than at any previous point this century and its path back to mediocrity looking like a narrow one that will test all the ingenuity of first-year head coach Troy Taylor.

But it was also in some part because the No. 18 Irish (9-3) have developed their offense into something of note, something that can be counted upon against lesser foes and one that should get a chance to test itself against an SEC opponent in a bowl game.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said Saturday night. “We’re chasing reaching our full potential. We haven’t totally gotten there, but we were pretty close today.

“We have a couple weeks to get ready for this bowl game, whichever one we go to.”

The Irish needed healthy and plenty of receivers, an increasing reality with freshman Jaden Greathouse fully recovered from a lingering hamstring worry and classmate Jordan Faison fully immersed in the offense despite lacrosse season’s soon arrival. Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman connected with each for a touchdown pass, tying former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell (2005-08) for third all-time in career touchdown passes, each with 134.

The numbers are the highlights because on each pass, neither Hartman nor his young target needed to make an outstanding play. The route was open, the throw was accurate, the end zone awaited.

Admittedly, Stanford (3-9) faced a no-win situation on defense. The Cardinal pass defense is arguably the worst in the country, ripe for Hartman’s picking, and thus it could not devote extra defenders to stopping the run as past Notre Dame headaches have, like Duke, Louisville and Clemson.

And that only served to leave Stanford’s defensive front seven open to Audric Estimé’s will.

If the numbers are the highlights, every Estimé number should be included.

He took 25 carries — a career-high for the “tough, physical, special football player,” as Freeman said — for 238 yards, another career-high and the fourth-most rushing yards in a single-game in Irish history. Estimé averaged 9.5 yards per carry as he scored four touchdowns — tying the Notre Dame single-game modern record and reaching 18 on the season, a single-season record.

He finished just 24 yards short of the single-game yardage record, 262 yards last reached by Julius Jones in 2003. Freeman said he was unaware of the proximity of that threshold, while Estimé and running backs coach Deland McCullough did know when Estimé’s day ended early, a touch of mercy for the Cardinal and possibly the curtains on Estimé’s collegiate career.

“If he came up to me and said, ‘Coach, can you leave me in because I’m 24 yards away,’ it would have been a decision I would have had to make,” Freeman said. “There’s two things. I want to do what’s best for Notre Dame, but then do what’s best for Audric. I didn’t know that.

“I knew he was getting close to the single-season touchdown record, and he set that.”

When Estimé set down his helmet at the start of the fourth quarter, the Irish offense had averaged 8.6 yards per play when he didn’t touch the ball. No one in a plain gold helmet struggled after an early spate of turnovers, but Estimé excelled the most.

“I’m not really chasing records, honestly, or stats,” Estimé said. “It’s nice to get it, but at the end of the day, we got the job done.”

Estimé will most likely opt out of Notre Dame’s bowl game, no matter the opponent, in order to begin preparations for the NFL. In his final game, two underclassmen making their second career start impressed more than expected, certainly enough to garner some springtime interest.

Sophomore right guard Billy Schrauth and sophomore center Ashton Craig helped pave Estimé’s path. If the numbers are the highlights, then three other Irish running backs taking 17 carries for 99 yards, an average of 5.8 yards per rush, underscores how well Notre Dame’s offensive line played.

Stanford may have been overmatched, but Wake Forest’s defensive front a week ago was stout, and Schrauth and Craig made their presences known then, too.

“[Offensive line coach Joe] Rudolph has done a great job with that offensive line,” Freeman said. “It’s tough, because you’re such a cohesive unit. When you add two new guys in week 11 to the starting lineup, it’s a challenge, but they put the work in and they performed really well.”

Junior right guard Rocco Spindler is currently expected back for at least some of spring practices, and fifth-year Zeke Correll should be clear of concussion protocols before the bowl game, at which point he will need to ponder if he wants to play a sixth season in South Bend. But Schrauth could now challenge Spindler for a leading role in 2024, and Craig may have assuaged many worries if Correll departs.

PLAY OF THE GAME
A week ago, veteran defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste blocked a Wake Forest field goal attempt, initially confused by many in the press box who thought junior defensive tackle Jason Onye got his mitt on the ball.

At Stanford on Saturday, Onye did block a field goal, but once more, he will be remembered by only a few, Jean-Baptiste again stealing the highlight.

“[Jean-Baptiste] came here for an opportunity, he’s taken full davantage of it,” Freeman said. “He’s truly been a great example of a guy who has improved throughout this season and is playing his highest level of football right now.”

QUOTE OF THE GAME
“238, that’s a lot of yards,” — Freeman.

STAT OF THE GAME
Notre Dame’s offense operated with a sustainable efficiency rarely seen. The general definition of a successful play is one that gains at least half the needed yardage on first down, at least 70 percent of it on second down and all of it on third and fourth downs.

The Irish succeeded on 60 percent of their offensive snaps at Stanford, which is in the 99th percentile of performances of all FBS-FBS games in 2022, per Game on Paper.

NEEDED POSTSCRIPT THIS WEEK
On the bowl game note, because plenty of readers will arrive here today solely for that information, nothing will be set for another week, and a year ago, that decision was in flux well into next Sunday afternoon. An appearance in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on New Year’s Day looks more and more likely, but the ACC and/or Notre Dame could alter that thought. An SEC opponent would await, and facing LSU would garner the most laughs, the greatest intrigue and the highest ratings. But there is also some rationale to expecting at least one of those two teams would rather not deal with those laughs and intrigue.

TRIVIA OF THE WEEK
Forever win bar trivia games by knowing the last football game aired on the Pac-12 Network was this Notre Dame blowout of Stanford.

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