Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 9, 2021 21 BY TYLER HORKA N otre Dame's home winning streak is no more. No. 7 Cincinnati (4-0) went into Notre Dame Stadium and dictated the day in 24-13 victory over the No. 9 Fighting Irish (4-1). Notre Dame had not lost at home in 26 tries dating back to Sept. 9, 2017 against Georgia. It might not have felt much like home for Notre Dame anyway. There were plenty of Bearcats fans in enemy territory to see their team beat a ranked Power Five opponent for the first time since Brian Kelly's last season at Cincinnati in 2009. Red-and-black faithful engulfed the southeast cor- ner of Notre Dame Stadium in a sea of red. They chanted "Let's go Bearcats!" throughout the cloudy afternoon, turn- ing the Irish's usually friendly confines into Queen City north. Kelly directed attention away from that and onto his team, though. "We didn't coach very well today, and we didn't play very well," Kelly said. "That's the long and that's the short of it, and Cincinnati was the better foot- ball team today." Cincinnati fifth-year senior quarter- back Desmond Ridder completed 19 of 32 passes for 297 yards with two touch- downs. He added a rushing score that put the Bearcats ahead 24-13 with 5:08 left. Notre Dame limited Cincinnati to 89 rushing yards, but the Irish only had 84 to show for themselves as the offensive line continued to struggle. Junior run- ning back Kyren Williams ran for a gain of 16 on his first carry of the game but finished with 13 attempts for only 45 yards and a touchdown. Notre Dame sophomore quarterback Drew Pyne replaced graduate student Jack Coan in the second half, after Coan completed 14 of 22 throws for 114 yards with an interception in the first half. Freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner also threw a second-quarter intercep- tion that led to Cincinnati's first touch- down of the game. Notre Dame turned the ball over three times in the first half; Coan and Buch- ner's picks and a fumbled kickoff return attempt from sophomore running back Chris Tyree, who was last week's hero in the win over Wisconsin. His 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown set the Irish's comeback in motion against the Badgers. There was no such magic for Notre Dame on Saturday. Pyne pulled Notre Dame to within 17-13 with 8:20 left, but Ridder's rushing score a few minutes later put the game out of reach. Pyne finished 9-of-22 passing for 143 yards with a touchdown, which came on a 32- yard toss to senior wide receiver Braden Lenzy. Notre Dame was outgained for the third consecutive game. Cincinnati fin- ished the day with 386 total yards, while Notre Dame had 341. "All we needed to do was be efficient at the basics today, and we weren't ef- ficient at the basics," Kelly said. "We turned the football over on offense, spe- cial teams — didn't cover very well." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 0, CINCINNATI 0 Top Moment: On fourth-and-10 from the Cincinnati 36, Coan hit sopho- more tight end Michael Mayer for a gain of 20 yards. The drive ended in a Coan interception, but his connection with Mayer was established early. Feature Performer: Coan started the game 6-of-7 passing for 46 yards before he threw the interception that halted the first drive. Had he not thrown the pick, it could have easily been a dif- ferent story for the Irish offense going forward. Stats: Notre Dame gained 92 yards, while Cincinnati had 38. The Irish pos- sessed the ball for 10:08 compared to the Bearcats' 4:52. Items: The Notre Dame defense forced Cincinnati to punt on its only two drives of the quarter … Freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner made his first appearance since injuring his ham- string two weeks prior against Purdue … Buchner's only drive of the quarter ended in a three-and-out due in large part to a holding penalty on graduate student right tackle Josh Lugg on what would have been a nine-yard rush for Williams. SECOND QUARTER CINCINNATI 17, NOTRE DAME 0 Top Moment: Buchner was inter- cepted on third-and-seven from the Notre Dame 25. He was hit by UC defen- sive end Myjai Sanders, and linebacker Deshawn Pace came away with the pick and returned it to the Irish 8-yard line. Cincinnati scored a touchdown three plays later to take a 7-0 lead. Feature Performer: Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder threw both of his touchdown passes in the second quarter. The first was an easy one-yard toss on third-and-goal. The second was a 27-yard throw over the top of Notre Dame junior safety Kyle Hamilton to wide receiver Tre Tucker. Stats: Cincinnati outgained Notre Dame 112-52. The Irish had minus- three rushing yards in the quarter. The Bearcats averaged 6.2 yards per play while the Irish averaged 2.7. Items: Coan started the second quar- ter 4-of-4 passing for 27 yards but went 2-of-7 for 23 from there … Coan did not see the field at all in the second half … STREAK STOPPERS No. 7 Cincinnati notches a convincing 24-13 road victory over No. 9 Notre Dame, snapping the Irish's 26-game home winning streak Senior defensive end Myjai Sanders and the Bearcats defense bullied the Irish offense all afternoon, forcing three turnovers, notching two sacks and seven tackles for loss, and limiting them to just 4.6 yards per play. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER