(Notre Dame) — Some people believe a deceivingly close final score against Stanford in last year’s season finale may have cost Notre Dame a college football playoff berth.

That won’t be a storyline in 2026.

Notre Dame racked up the largest margin of victory in the 91-year history of the series, completely dominating Stanford, 58-7, before a green-clad crowd at sold-out Notre Dame Stadium.

“They prepared tremendously and the played extremely well on both sides of the ball,” said a matter-of-fact Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman afterwards.

Notre Dame set the tone on the very first play as defensive end Boubacar Traore stripped Stanford quarterback Davis Warren of the ball, and Jaiden Ausberry recovered at the Stanford 18.  Four plays later, Nolan James, Jr. ran two yards for a touchdown and the rout was on.

Traore was a menace all day, as he had a sack, an interception, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry.

Offensively, the Irish showed an offensive explosiveness they had not featured all year, highlighted by freshman running back Jonaz Walton. The Carrollton, Georgia native had touchdown runs of 97 and 40 yards, on the way to a 181-yard rushing day that set an Irish record for most rushing yards by a freshman.

He wasn’t the only running back to sparkle. James had two touchdowns, Aneyas Williams hauled in a 70-yard touchdown pass from CJ Carr, and even freshman Javion Osborne scored his first career touchdown on a three-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Carr threw three touchdown passes — one each to Williams, Jaden Greathouse and Elijah Burress –as Notre Dame racked up 598 yards offense compared to 202 for Stanford.

Notre Dame raises its record to 6-0 heading into its first major test of the season, a road trip to #8 BYU next Saturday night. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm EDT and the game will be televised by ABC.