Riley Leonard completed 16 of 22 passes for a season-high 229 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another score, and No. 11 Notre Dame cruised to a 49-7 win over Stanford on Saturday in South Bend, Ind.
Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price and Aneyas Williams rushed for one touchdown apiece for Notre Dame (5-1), which won its fourth straight game. Kris Mitchell, Jayden Thomas and Eli Raridon each caught one touchdown pass from Leonard.
Ashton Daniels completed 8 of 13 passes for 74 yards and carried the ball 14 times for 42 yards for Stanford (2-4). Justin Lamson scored the team’s lone touchdown.
The game was delayed for more than an hour because of inclement weather in the area. Players headed to their locker rooms and fans cleared the stands between the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter because of nearby lightning.
Mother Nature was about the only thing that could pause the Notre Dame offense. Stanford opened the scoring with Lamson’s 1-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter before the Fighting Irish reeled off 49 points in a row.
Leonard helped Notre Dame establish a 21-7 lead at the half. He scored on a 6-yard run, connected with Thomas on a 15-yard touchdown and hit Mitchell for a 5-yard score.
The Fighting Irish added three more touchdowns in the third quarter to pull ahead 42-7. Price scored on a 16-yard run, Love broke open a 39-yard touchdown run, and Leonard notched his third touchdown pass of the game with a 5-yard strike to Raridon.
After play resumed, Notre Dame increased its lead to 49-7 with 9:17 remaining. Williams scored on a 19-yard run to finish an 11-play, 60-yard drive.
Fighting Irish backup quarterback Steve Angeli took over for Leonard with the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. Angeli completed 2 of 5 passes for 19 yards.
Likewise, Stanford turned to Lamson at quarterback after the delay. He went 2-of-4 for 13 yards.
–Field Level Media