Blue and Gold Illustrated

Sept. 24, 2022

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 24, 2022 29 was a different story. The Irish gener- ated much steadier push and kept Cal backfield invaders at a minimal level. "You know, to see those guys come out in the second half and the offensive line really dictate the running game, and to see the D-line get after the quarter- back, that's going to be our backbone," head coach Marcus Freeman said. No drive illustrated it more than the one with four consecutive Estime car- ries. The repeated play was an inside give with seven blockers on the line and one tight end (junior Michael Mayer) coming around from behind the left tackle to seal the edge with a trap block. The first carry gained 8 yards, with Es- time following sophomore left tackle Joe Alt and graduate student left guard Jarrett Patterson before he was hit and fell forward for a couple extra yards. Notre Dame kept the same personnel on second-and-2. Estime ran off tackle, barreled into a crowd and fell forward past the marker for a 2-yard gain. He picked up the same yardage on the next handoff, putting the Irish's offense in- side the 1-yard line. No reason to abandon the play and the run now. Notre Dame called it once more, and Estime dove in to the end zone after an interior lineman broke through and tried to wrap up around his ankles. "Our O-line was battling their butts off," junior quarterback Drew Pyne said. "When you give the ball to Audric, he falls forward. I trust those guys, and it's pretty easy when I can hand it off and score a touchdown." Yards on the ground, let alone rushing touchdowns, weren't much of a given in games against Ohio State and Mar- shall. The Irish did not clear 3.5 yards per carry in either of those. That didn't mean Freeman was going to punt on putting a ground attack in the game plan, though. He and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees stayed com- mitted to it against a Cal defense that had allowed 5.0 yards per carry to run- ning backs each of the first two weeks. Their faith was rewarded on the opening drive of the third quarter that turned into a tone-setter. "Do things that work," Estime said. "That was working. We had the momen- tum and the whole line was pushing guys off the line, opening up holes for me." ✦ NOTRE DAME VS. CALIFORNIA QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 6:07 9:51 8:55 8:09 15:58 17:04 33:02 3rd-Down Conversions 0-4 1-3 1-1 1-4 1-7 2-5 3-12 4th-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position UND-21 UND-34 UND-32 UND-40 UND-24 UND-37 UND-30 California 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 8:53 5:09 6:05 6:51 14:02 12:56 26:58 3rd-Down Conversions 1-5 2-3 1-2 0-5 3-8 1-7 4-15 4th-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-3 0-0 1-3 1-3 Average Field Position Cal-30 Cal-46 Cal-24 Cal-19 Cal-35 Cal-21 Cal-28 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND Cal Nega ve 4 8 0-5 38 36 6-9 16 6 10-19 4 12 20-29 1 3 30-39 1 1 40-49 0 0 50 or more 0 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 2 2 0 0 California 3 2 1 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 Cal42 Es me 36-yard pass from Pyne to Cal6 California • 2-8 UND41 Hunter 33-yard pass from Plummer to UND8 Notre Dame ran the same play with sophomore running back Audric Estime on four straight snaps, culminating in a touchdown. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Junior quarterback Drew Pyne and freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison both made their first career starts for Notre Dame. • Pyne set new career highs in pass attempts (23), pass completions (17), passing yards (150) and passing touchdowns (2). • Junior tight end Michael Mayer's 6-yard touchdown grab was his 11th career touchdown, which tied him with Tyler Eifert (2009-12) for second most among Fighting Irish tight ends all time. • Senior defensive end Isaiah Foskey's 1.5 sacks against the Golden Bears brought his career total to 18, which matches Bryant Young (1990-93) for ninth on Notre Dame's all-time list.

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