Jonaz Walton’s Record Performance Reshapes Notre Dame’s Backfield Picture

Notre Dame freshman running back Jonaz Walton ran for 181 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, including a 97-yard score, in Notre Dame’s 58-7 win over Stanford on Saturday. It was the most rushing yards a Notre Dame freshman has ever put up in a single game. The record had belonged to Josh Adams, who ran for 168 yards at Stanford in 2015. The long run will get the attention, but the bigger change has been his workload.

Walton had eight carries against Rice, one against Michigan State, and seven at Purdue. Over the last two weeks, he has taken 23 carries at North Carolina and 13 against Stanford. He is at 409 rushing yards on 52 carries for the season, and both of his touchdowns came Saturday.

How Walton Earned the Bigger Role

Asked what he had seen from his freshman, Marcus Freeman credited Walton’s practice habits.

“He has a lot of ability, but what you’re seeing now is that he’s being consistent in practice, consistent in his reads, consistent in who he is every single day,” Freeman said. “That’s giving him more opportunities to go out there and play on the field.”

“I mean, he’s got some speed on him and once he broke, I didn’t think he was going to get caught, but he’s learning how to practice and prepare consistently every day,” Freeman said. “And if he continues to do that, man, he’s got a bright future.”

Walton on the Record and the Reps

Walton was asked about seeing the record on the big screen afterward.

“It’s really cool. I didn’t know that was going to happen, but I really can’t take all the credit,” Walton said. “I give it to everybody, to the O-line, to the tight ends, to the coaches.”

He traced Saturday back to the rain at North Carolina, where he carried 23 times for 120 yards in a 37-26 win.

“Just my coaches’ confidence in putting me into that situation, especially in a difficult game like that when it’s raining and coaches giving me the ball and then just getting more used to playing at this level,” he said. “The more reps I get, the more comfortable I get and I think I just showed up a little bit today.”

What It Means for the Rotation at BYU

Notre Dame goes to BYU on Saturday with three backs who all produced against Stanford. Nolan James Jr. ran 10 times for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Aneyas Williams had seven carries for 28 yards and caught a pass for 70 yards and a score. For the season, Williams has 67 carries, James has 65, and Walton has 52.

Walton did not start Saturday, and he said watching first helped him.

“Absolutely. Yeah, it helps. It helps me see how the defense is playing, the running backs,” Walton said. “It doesn’t matter who starts. It matters just what you do when you get into the game, and I love learning from those guys and how they play and how I can play when I get into the game.”

“I learned a lot. I learned how to really practice at this level. Those are two really impressive running backs that I continuously want to learn from, the way they read, the way they work, the way they train,” Walton said of Williams and James. “So, I’m just continuously looking up to those guys to just kind of be like them.”

How the carries split at BYU is still open, and Freeman has already said what will decide Walton’s share: how he practices during the week. Regardless of who officially gets the start or sits atop the depth chart next week, one thing has been abundantly clear: Jonaz Walton is by far Notre Dame’s most explosive back, and good things happen on offense when he gets the ball.

He’s already got the single-game freshman rushing record. The single-season freshman mark of Adams’, 835 yards, should only be a matter of time as long as the staff continues getting him the ball.