No. 9 Notre Dame rolls over Stanford 49-20 on its way to College Football Playoff

STANFORD — Stanford was powerless to stop a Notre Dame team that needed to impress the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The ninth-ranked Fighting Irish scored the first 28 points and beat the Cardinal 49-20 Saturday night at Stanford Stadium.

It was the 10th straight win for Notre Dame (10-2), which scored an 84-yard touchdown on a fake punt and was still throwing in the final minute in a bid to strengthen its CFP resume.

Heisman Trophy candidate Jeremiah Love, who was in the top 3 in the FBS in rushing yards and touchdowns, was injured in the first half and finished with 66 yards and a TD on 14 carries.

Stanford finished 4-8 in interim coach Frank Reich’s first and only season leading a college program. The school announced on Friday that former Cardinal QB Tavita Pritchard will be the program’s next head coach.

Pritchard, the current quarterbacks coach for the Washington Commanders, will start in the role immediately after Washington’s game Sunday night against Denver.

The Cardinal finished 4-2 at home but were non-competitive against teams ranked in the College Football Playoff (BYU, Virginia, SMU, Miami, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame), losing those six games by 24, 28, 24, 35, 15, and 29 points.

Micah Ford, who ran for 150 yards in Stanford’s Big Game win over Cal last week, did not play after injuring his hand this week in practice. Redshirt freshman quarterback Elijah Brown, making his third start of the season, completed 18 of 37 passes for 204 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Charlie Mirer, playing at Stanford for the final time, threw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter against the alma mater of his father, former NFL quarterback Rick Mirer.