No. 8 Notre Dame Takes Down No. 7 Stanford, 38-17

The luck of the Irish continues.

Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book and senior wide receiver Miles Boykin teamed up to lead the 8th-ranked Irish to a 38-17 home victory over No. 7 Stanford Saturday night.

Taking over the starting role, Book threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns, including an 8-yard TD to Boykin, who had career highs in receptions (11) and yardage (144).

“A great win,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly told reporters after the game. “I like the fact that we finished the game. We started fast but we finished. When you are looking at your team, you see a resolve you’re wanting to see with your team.”

For the game, the Irish (5-0) racked up 550 yards of total offense, including 272 yards on the ground. Senior Dexter Williams, playing in his first game of the season, rushed for a career-high 161 yards on just 21 carries.

Stanford could not get much going on offense as the Irish held the Cardinal to just 229 yards on 51 plays.

Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello threw for just 174 yards and was under pressure all night by Notre Dame’s front four, which had four sacks and two hurries from 6-foot-7, 305-pound senior defensive tackle Jerry Tillery.

Bryce Love, last year’s Heisman Trophy runner-up, scored on a 39-yard touchdown run for Stanford, but finished with just 73 yards on 17 carries before limping to the locker room with an injury with just over 11 minutes remaining.

UP NEXT

Stanford returns home to face Utah on Saturday.

Notre Dame takes its second road trip Saturday to Virginia Tech.

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