Battle for The Legends TrophyBattle for The Legends Trophy
Karen Ambrose Hickey/Stanford Athletics
Football

Battle for The Legends Trophy

    Stanford (1-4) hits the road for the third time in four weeks for a showdown at Notre Dame (3-2). The Fighting Irish have won three straight, and are coming off a 28-20 win over BYU in Las Vegas on Saturday night. 

    As is tradition, the two programs will play for The Legends Trophy Saturday night. The Trophy was created by the Notre Dame Club of the San Francisco Bay Area and is made, appropriately, from Northern California redwood with an Irish crystal bowl. The Trophy is named in honor of the 1925 Rose Bowl meeting, which was said by sportswriters to contain more legends on one field than had ever played the game.

    Stanford and Notre Dame meet for the 36th time in history, with the Fighting Irish holding a 22-13 edge. Saturday’s game will be Stanford’s 17th all-time trip to South Bend, but its first game at Notre Dame Stadium since 2018.

    Prior to the 2020 pandemic-affected season in which Stanford played a conference-only schedule, the Cardinal and Fighting Irish had met every year since 1988, with the exception of the 1995 and 1996 seasons.

    Fifth-year WR Michael Wilson has a reception in 22 consecutive games dating back to the 2019 season. Senior WR Elijah Higgins has a reception in 17 straight games, junior TE Benjamin Yurosek 15 straight and fifth-year WR Brycen Tremayne 12.

    Fifth-year wide receiver Brycen Tremayne had a career night Saturday against Oregon State, on the same field just 53 weeks after suffering a gruesome injury vs. Oregon in 2021. Tremayne caught six passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns. The receptions were a career high, and it was his first career two-TD game.

    Early enrollee and true freshman David Bailey has started at EDGE in the first five games for Stanford. He became the first true freshman to record an official start in a season opener at Stanford since Owen Marecic (fullback) in 2007 and the first defensive player dating back to at least 2000.

    Stanford was one of seven schools to return all five offensive line starters from the 2021 season. Expected starter at RG, Branson Bragg, announced his retirement from football on Sept. 12, right tackle Myles Hinton has missed the last two games, and the Cardinal has started three different OL combinations through five weeks. Stanford’s OL has combined to make 113 career starts: OT Walter Rouse (34), OG Barrett Mills (28), OG Jake Hornibrook (17), C Drake Nugent (17), OT Myles Hinton (11), OG Levi Rogers (5) and OT Jack Leyrer (1). 

    After no field goal attempts the first three games, junior Joshua Karty is 4-for-4 the last two games, with makes from 53, 47, 46 and 23 yards. He is 17-for-17 on the season on PATs and now 4-for 4 on FG attempts. For his career, he is 44-for-44 on PATs and 14-for-19 on field goals. His five misses have come from 49, 51, 54, 55 and 58 yards.