What they’re saying about Notre Dame’s 49-7 rivalry game win against Stanford
Notre Dame made it five wins in a row when it blew out Stanford to hold on to the Legends Trophy on Saturday. The Cardinal jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but that was the last time they would score. The Irish scored 49 unanswered points.
In this article, we’ll take a look around at what the media is saying about the Fighting Irish’s triumph against the Cardinal, including Blue & Gold’s Mike Singer and Tim Hyde giving their instant reaction to the game in a YouTube live show. You can watch the replay of the show in the video player below.
Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold: Why internal Irish belief builds with each Notre Dame football victory
It only took a baker’s dozen worth of words, plus one, for Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman to provide the most passionate answer of his postgame press conference following the Fighting Irish’s 49-7 victory over Stanford.
A reporter prefaced his question with the assertion that Freeman said Notre Dame’s mission for the 2024 season was to fulfill its potential. Indeed, that’s what Freeman said when asked about the end goal this year just over 48 hours before kickoff of the Stanford game.
The reporter circled back with this — “how do you balance that mission with the ultimate goal of winning it all?”
Fourteen words. Enough for Freeman to get fiery, in a good way.
“You don’t control the journey,” he said. “You’ve got to trust the journey. That’s what I tell these guys.
“There’s one guarantee; the future is uncertain. Why spend time daydreaming about it? Why sit here and think about what’s going to happen in the future when it’s uncertain? Why don’t you spend time focusing on the things that you have to do that gives you a chance to get that desired result?”
For Notre Dame in Week 7, it was beating up on a rival and keeping a piece of hardware in South Bend. That was more than the Irish were able to do against the Cardinal in 2022. Much more.
Jack Soble, Blue & Gold: Five thoughts—This was the defensive tackle duo Notre Dame knew it had
Stanford moved the ball well until it ran into a wrecking ball named Howard Cross III.
The graduate student Notre Dame defensive tackle brought Stanford junior quarterback Ashton Daniels down for an 8-yard sack on first-and-10 from the Irish 46-yard line. He made another tackle on the very next play, halting junior tight end Sam Roush for a gain of 8.
Stanford wound up with fourth-and-5, and head coach Troy Taylor kept his offense on the field. Daniels took the snap and looked for something quick. Nothing there. He went to his second read, but all he saw was a blue and gold jersey with No. 56 on it.
Cross drove Daniels back and threw him to the ground, hitting his signature “take a bow” celebration to the Notre Dame Stadium crowd’s delight. He was a game-wrecker on Saturday. Mills wasn’t far behind, with a sack of his own in the third quarter.
“I challenged those two seniors, Rylie and Howard, to be great, because they’re great football players,” Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. “ They dominated the game. We needed them to be dominant, and they played dominant.”
Mills and Cross went through slow starts to the 2024 season. They know that better than anyone. But they caused consistent havoc in Week 7.
“I hold myself to a higher standard, and I felt like I needed to do a lot better,” Cross said. “I feel like lately, I’m starting to be the guy I want to be.”
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Here are four more thoughts on Notre Dame’s win over Stanford.
John Kennedy, Notre Dame on SI: Notre Dame Unlocked A New Mentality Against Stanford
Winning is great. Everyone loves winning. But there are many different kinds of wins. Wins of the blowout variety hit differently. They signify something different. That your team is capable of completely destroying the opposition.
There’s a different mentality that comes with proving and knowing you as a team are capable of destroying your opponent throughout a ballgame and even with some backups, second-stringers, and younger players being heavily involved in the rotation.
Program confidence grows. Expectations shift higher. You command more respect nationally as a program. People start to notice that you have a killer instinct. Even if it isn’t against top-notch competition, blowouts matter.
Notre Dame is a nice place. With nice people. Sometimes it feels like the football program is actually too nice. I think its great to see Notre Dame lay the wood on another team to start what is certain to be a wild second half to the season.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman
Opening statement from postgame press conference:
“It’s a rivalry game, so you have to prepare for your opponent’s best. You have to be at your best when you want to win a rivalry game. It’s so important.
“Our guys were prepared. Coaches did a great job getting them prepared, and they went out there, and they executed. I was really proud of the way we responded after that first series. Terrible first series on all three phases.
“To come out and have a holding where — we’re moving the ball. We have a holding penalty, a bad punt, and they go down and score. I said, ‘Okay, let’s see how this group responds.’
“From the second series on, man, they played lights-out. Really did a great job taking care of the ball. Defensively really stepping up and making good plays in the pass game, the run game, and special teams-wise. Obviously wasn’t many opportunities special times-wise, but they capitalized off the opportunities we had.
“So really proud of this group. Enjoy tonight. Enjoy earning that Legends Trophy, which is a reflection, as I told them, of team glory. That’s what that trophy represents — is a bunch of people committing to something bigger than themselves. Proud of them for that.
“We’ll get back to work on Sunday and start preparing for our next opponent. With that, I’ll open it up to questions.”
