Live blog and reaction to the rivalry game

Notre Dame will face Stanford on Saturday, October 12, with the prospect of the College Football Playoff still very much alive.

Stanford is just 2-3 on the year, while Notre Dame comes into the game at 4-1, fresh off a week off and looking to reach the halfway point of the season in grand fashion.

Stay tuned here, Notre Dame at Sports Illustrated, for your thoughts during the game.

7:46 remaining in 2Q: Notre Dame 14, Stanford 7

Notre Dame takes its first lead of the game on a touchdown pass from Leonard to Jayden Thomas on an RPO from the Stanford 15. Nice throw from Leonard, but Leonard's feet tell the story of the drive as he escapes the insane pressure for a first down to score a third and a seven, and then for the big winning run to set up the touchdown.

Leonard's “money” passes aren't as valuable as many other quarterbacks, but his ability with his feet is more than a real threat, as shown on this drive.

11:33 left in 2nd quarter – Notre Dame 7, Stanford 7

Stanford moves the ball a bit and converts a fourth down near midfield. Notre Dame gets two big sacks from Howard Cross III in the next two games. I'd venture to say that Cross may finally be getting healthy again after struggling a bit in fall camp and not looking like he did last year at the start of the season.

1:27 left in 1st quarter – Notre Dame 7, Stanford 7

Penalties are always a killer, but especially when you're not a major threat in the downfield passing game. A slow offensive start coupled with undisciplined defense on Stanford's first possession proved costly.

The good news is that despite missed throws, Notre Dame was able to respond with dominance on the ground en route to Riley Leonard's game-winning touchdown run. I'll really look for the defense to knock down the action and keep Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels in check as he was a thorn in the side of the Irish defense on the first possession.