On Saturday at Stanford Stadium, Stanford football had their final game as a Pac-12 school, falling to #17 Notre Dame by a final score of 56-23. Notre Dame junior running back Audric Estimé went bananas with 238 yards for four touchdowns on 25 carries while senior quarterback Sam Hartman went 8-14 for 140 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Stanford redshirt freshman wide receiver Elic Ayomanor had seven receptions for 58 yards, eclipsing 1000 yards on the season while redshirt junior running back E.J. Smith had seven receptions of his own for 116 yards. Notre Dame improves to 9-3 on the season while Stanford falls to 3-9.

BOX SCORE: Notre Dame at Stanford-Saturday, November 25th

VIDEO: Stanford Postgame Press Conference | Notre Dame

What’s rather fitting about all this is that Notre Dame is in the ACC (for every sport but football) and the ACC is where Stanford will be playing next season along with Bay Area rival Cal. Was this the end of the Pac-12 era for Stanford or the beginning of the ACC era? In way it was both. It was the end of the Pac-12 era in that for the final time, Stanford took the field as a member of the Pac-12. It was the beginning of the ACC era in that Notre Dame is a member of the ACC in every sport but football, where they remain independent.

This is just one of those things you can’t make up. Truth truly is stranger than fiction. When Stanford’s 2023 schedule was first revealed, nobody would have thought that the Stanford-Notre Dame game would end the Pac-12 era for Stanford while also in a weird way begin an era in the ACC. Like, huh?

Yet here we are. Stanford alongside Cal will be playing in a conference called the “Atlantic Coast Conference” as two schools who are closer to the Pacific Ocean than any other school in the soon-to-be-defunct Pac-12. Someone get me a map! And lots of Diet Coke (which Stanford head coach Troy Taylor likes to drink after every game). This is going to take some getting used to.

“Yeah, excited about the ACC,” Taylor said. “I think there were some dark days obviously with the Pac-12 and trying to find out where we were going, but our leadership was incredible. I'm so excited about joining the ACC. I think it's an incredible conference, great teams, institutions.

“So we're excited. Players are excited. Our university is excited. It's going to be a fun ride.”

“Yeah, I hope it'll be a little bit colder. I do enjoy these cold games being from Canada,” Ayomanor added. “I haven't really been keeping up with any of the teams in the ACC, but like I said, the off-season starts right now, so I'm looking forward to just seeing what those teams bring to the table and how they'll challenge us and how we'll be able to attack them.”

As for the game itself, Stanford played Notre Dame well in the first half. They actually led 13-7 at the end of the 1st quarter before Notre Dame outscored them 21-3 in the 2nd quarter to lead 28-16 at halftime. I guess in truth it’s more accurate to say Stanford played Notre Dame well in the 1st quarter.

“Yeah, knew we were coming and playing a great opponent, very well coached, talented. You know, we hung with them for a little bit; just didn't make enough plays,” Taylor said after the game. “That's a credit to them. They created those things. So proud of how our guys fought. Not satisfied with the outcome obviously, but just for this team in general, since I've been here they've continued to compete and give everything they've got.”

“Very proud of that. That's something to build on. Can't wait to get started tomorrow on getting ready for next season.”

Stanford got the ball to start the game and scored on their opening drive thanks to a 34 yard field goal by Josh Karty. That field goal was set up by a 49 yard run by quarterback Justin Lamson. 3-0 lead for the Cardinal with 10:59 to go in the 1st quarter.

Notre Dame’s opening drive ended with Stanford cornerback Jshawn Frausto-Ramos forcing and recovering a fumble as Sam Hartman was running for 25 yards. That gave Stanford the ball back on their own 36 yard line with 9:52 to go in the quarter.

Stanford’s next drive ended in a 36 yard punt by Aidan Flintoft to the Notre Dame 22 yard line. Notre Dame quickly responded. On the third play of the drive, Audric Estimé had a 39 yard touchdown run. 7-3 lead for Notre Dame with 5:37 to go in the 1st quarter.

Similar to their first scoring drive, Stanford scored on the next drive thanks to another chip shot by Karty, this time from 23 yards out. That chip shot was set up by a 53 yard reception by E.J. Smith. It was now a 7-6 game with 2:23 to go in the quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Stanford linebacker Ese Dubre forced a fumble, which was recovered by Stanford defensive back Terian Williams at the Notre Dame 30 yard line. Ashton Daniels found Elic Ayomanor for a 16 yard completion before Tiger Bachmeier had a 14 yard rushing touchdown. Stanford led 13-7 with 1:31 to go in the 1st quarter.

Notre Dame’s next drive carried over into the 2nd quarter. The Irish would steadily march the ball down the field and on 1st and 10 from the Stanford 15 yard line, Hartman found Jaden Greathouse for a touchdown. It was now a 14-13 lead for the Irish with 11:56 to go until halftime.

Stanford’s next drive ended in a punt, which gave Notre Dame the chance to gain even further separation. However, Notre Dame committed yet another turnover instead. On 2nd and 12 from the Notre Dame 24 yard line, Hartman was picked off by Ché Ojarikre, giving the Cardinal the ball back on the Notre Dame 38 yard line. Stanford was unable to move the ball beyond the 38 yard line, setting up a 56 yard field goal by Karty, which he drilled. 16-14 lead for Stanford with 8:57 to go until halftime.

From that point on, it was all Notre Dame. The Irish found the end zone on their next drive as Estimé had a six yard rushing touchdown to cap off a 10 play, 75 yard drive. 21-16 lead for Notre Dame with 3:53 to go until the break.

Stanford’s next drive ended in a turnover as Daniels was intercepted by Jack Kiser at the Notre Dame 29 yard line, who returned it 49 yards to the Stanford 22 yard line. What especially stung about that for the Cardinal was Notre Dame committed a roughing the passer penalty as well as a pass interference penalty. To not capitalize on those penalties was a bummer.

Notre Dame would then score a touchdown on their next drive. Gi’Bran Payne found the end zone on a three yard touchdown with 19 seconds to go until halftime. What was crazy though is Payne was originally called for a fumble that was recovered by Stanford in the end zone. However, upon official review, it was concluded that Payne got the ball across the goal line before he lost control of it. Hence the touchdown. Notre Dame was now up 28-16 following the extra point.

Stanford then took a knee following the kickoff. The Irish were up by 12 at halftime, weathering quite a storm of turnovers.

“Yeah, they're a very good and very talented team and very disciplined team,” Ayomanor said of the Irish. “They play a lot of man coverage and they blitz a lot, which sometimes at times can be hard to pick up. They're very good man coverage DBs, so they live and die by that and obviously tonight they lived by it.

“But I think when we get the opportunity to face them again we will capitalize on those matchups and we will have this loss in the back of our minds for a long time.”

While the first half was close, the second half was all Notre Dame. In the 3rd quarter, Estimé had a five yard rushing touchdown and a 25 yard rushing touchdown while Jordan Faison had a 45 yard touchdown reception.

In the 4th quarter, Notre Dame scored a touchdown off a blocked field goal that was scooped up and returned for 60 yards. Jason Onye blocked the kick while Javontae Jean-Baptiste scored the touchdown off the recovery. As for Stanford, they did find the end zone one more time as Lamson scored a rushing touchdown from four yards out with 7:16 to go. In the end, Notre Dame would win 56-23.

For Stanford, this is not the way they wanted their final Pac-12 era game to go, but given how good Notre Dame is, they can’t be all that surprised. They battled hard, but Notre Dame showed why they are a top-20 team. That said, it was cool for them to have Ayomanor surpass 1000 yards on the season. Plus, they donned some new-look uniforms with red helmets that had “Stanford” written in a cursive script. So, the night wasn’t a total loss.

“Found out it was possible about, you know, six weeks ago, that it was possibility, and then Mr. Muir said it was possible and they were going to be able to finance it,” Taylor said of the new uniforms. “Our guys were excited. We did not share it with them until I guess a week ago. Showed them the helmets and they were excited. So they're appreciative of being able to have a red helmet. I thought it looked really good.”

“Yeah, I wouldn't say it means a lot,” Ayomanor humbly said of the 1000 yard mark. “Like I mentioned earlier, I need to be a lot a lot better for this team to have continued success. I think maybe people on the outside might think that's a significant thing, but when I watch back the tape -- there are moments that I'm proud of, and overall I need to be a lot better, and like I said earlier, I will be a lot better because those weaknesses will certainly not continue to persist.”

Up next for Stanford is the offseason. The next game they play will be their first game as an ACC team. If you are curious to know who they will first play in 2024, they’ll welcome the TCU Horned Frogs of the Big XII to The Farm on Saturday, August 31st. For a full list of all their opponents with times and dates TBA, click here.

“We have or banquet tomorrow, so have a team meeting and talk about moving forward in the future,” Taylor said. “Got some exciting things coming. $3 million facelift to our weight room that will start immediately, which is incredible. Great support from our university and leadership.

“Our guys will get a little bit of time off and then we will continue to recruit. Got an unbelievable recruiting class that we're excited about that we're going to sign on December 20th. We will get bigger, stronger, faster, and we'll improve as a coaching staff, and really excited about the future.”

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