Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1409378
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 18, 2021 21 fense "hasn't turned the corner" under first-year defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman. For much of the day, though, the Notre Dame defense stood tall. The Irish forced three Toledo field goals af- ter the Rockets entered the red zone. Touchdowns on those drives might have meant Notre Dame would have needed a miracle after all. Freshman quarterback Tyler Buch- ner made the most of his blue and gold debut. Kelly called him the "shot in the arm" Notre Dame needed to get going offensively. It was a struggle for Notre Dame to run the ball until Buchner came in and engineered a five-play, 96-yard touchdown drive early in the second quarter. Buchner had 37 of the Irish's 80 rushing yards on the drive. In the end, though, it was Coan (21 of 33 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and one interception) who made Mayer the man of the moment. "We just like Jack's experience," Kelly said. "He's been there before. Not that Tyler couldn't have done it. If you're looking for in the moment, trying to win the game, it just made more sense to go with a guy that's been there with that experience." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 7, TOLEDO 6 Top Moment: Coan connected with Mayer on a four-yard touchdown just 2:15 into the game. It marked the second consecutive game in which Notre Dame opened with a touchdown pass from Coan to Mayer. Feature Performer: Mayer. He had three catches for 40 yards on Notre Dame's first possession. His 28-yard snag on the second play of the game came despite Toledo being offside. Stats: Toledo had 109 yards of total offense while Notre Dame had 87. The Irish lost a yard on the ground but ac- cumulated 88 passing yards. Toledo had 93 passing yards. Items: After being held without a catch in the season opener, senior wide receiver Avery Davis recorded his first reception of the year with a 14-yarder on the first play of the game … Ju- nior safety Kyle Hamilton nearly had his third interception of the year on Toledo's first drive, but the play was ruled incomplete after review … Toledo settled for a field goal two plays later to make it 7-3 Notre Dame with 10:06 left in the first quarter … Coan and the Notre Dame offense worked the ball into Toledo territory again, but a sack and fumble derailed the drive … Toledo kicked another field goal on its ensuing drive with 4:14 remaining in the quar- ter … Notre Dame went three-and-out on its last two drives of the quarter as the offense struggled to get any sort of ground game going. SECOND QUARTER TOLEDO 16, NOTRE DAME 14 Top Moment: Buchner's debut. It seemingly came out of nowhere. There was no sign Coan would relinquish his duties as the team's quarterback at any point, but Buchner came calmly trotting out onto the field for Notre Dame's first drive of the quarter and led the Irish all the way to the end zone. Feature Performer: Buchner. The first play of his career was a 26-yard run, and the second was an 11-yard run. He also completed a 15-yard pass to senior wide receiver Braden Lenzy on second-and-nine. Stats: Notre Dame turned it on to out- gain Toledo 129-42. The Rockets lost a total of two rushing yards in the frame. Items: Junior vyper Isaiah Foskey re- corded his team-high third sack of the season … Notre Dame senior running back Kyren Williams, taking advantage of Buchner's presence in the read-op- tion, scored on a 43-yard touchdown to push Notre Dame's lead to 14-6 with 9:21 left until halftime … Senior defen- sive end Justin Ademilola recorded his first full sack of the season … Freshman wide receivers Deion Colzie and Lo- renzo Styles Jr. caught their first career passes on back-to-back plays … Toledo kicked a field goal with 1:04 left in the half to cut Notre Dame's lead to 14-9 … Toledo took a 16-14 lead on a Coan interception returned for a touchdown with 46 seconds left. THIRD QUARTER TOLEDO 16, NOTRE DAME 14 Top Moment: On third-and-14 from the Notre Dame 36, Coan completed a short pass to Williams who made enough moves and broke enough tackles to get across the line to gain for one of the biggest first downs of the day. Feature Performer: Notre Dame ju- nior linebacker JD Bertrand made three of his team-high 11 tackles in the third quarter. He stopped a ball carrier for no gain, sacked the Toledo quarterback for a loss of nine yards and stopped a ball carrier for a gain of one. Sophomore tight end Michael Mayer reeled in seven receptions for 81 yards and a career-high two touchdowns, including the game-winner with just 1:09 remaining. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER