Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 OCT. 15, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. Dominant Michael Mayer What else is there to say at this point? Michael Mayer keeps confounding defenses, even when he's at the top of the scouting report. The junior tight end made his best case yet that he is the na- tion's premier player at his position against BYU. Mayer caught a career-high 11 passes for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns. Five of his receptions were third-down conversions. He accounted for half of junior quarterback Drew Pyne's comple- tions. Sometimes, Mayer was inexplicably wide open. Others, he was closely covered and made the catch anyway. The opposing team's game plan starts with de- fending No. 87. Mayer produces anyway. Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has found ways to get him open despite the oppo- nent's attention to him. Mayer has 33 catches through five games. Break- ing his single-season program record of 71 set last season feels well within reach, as does leading all FBS tight ends in receptions and touchdowns this year. He is the current leader in the former. 2. Drew Pyne Delivers Again The opposing quarterbacks in Notre Dame's last two games were a former top-50 overall prospect who looks like a budding star (North Carolina's Drake Maye) and a second-year starter who's a likely NFL Draft pick (BYU's Jaren Hall). Pyne outplayed both. Against BYU, he looked like the veteran starter. He wasn't lacking confidence before, but it seems to be growing with each game. He doesn't ap- pear to ever be flustered or overwhelmed by the moment. That showed up on third down against BYU. The Irish converted 11 of 16 third downs, which included 5 of 7 when they needed at least 5 yards. Pyne was 9-of-12 passing for 124 yards on third down. In his last two starts, Pyne has completed 46 of 62 (74.2 percent) throws for 551 yards with 6 touchdowns and 1 interception. He's a reason Notre Dame is winning and turning the direction of its season around. 3. Jayden Thomas Awakens Notre Dame receivers not named Lorenzo Styles had 13 combined catches all season entering the BYU game. Sophomore Jayden Thomas had 3 for 32 yards to his name, and not because of a lack of opportunities. Thomas had run 94 routes through four games, fourth most on the team. That equated to 0.34 yards per route run, which is a good measure of efficiency for pass catchers. There were 558 FBS receivers with at least 8 targets entering Week 6. Thomas was tied for 551st in yards per route run. Teammate Braden Lenzy was 534th, at 0.56 yards per route run. That level of absent production couldn't con- tinue all year. The Irish needed more from one of them, or someone else. Thomas answered the call, making 3 catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. He hauled in a 30-yarder on a jump ball for the score. His 32-yarder came one play after BYU cut its deficit to 5 points. He had a 12-yard catch on third-and-5 three plays later. The ball skills Thomas displayed in camp came out in a game for the first time. So did the short- area quickness and yards-after-catch ability receiv- ers coach Chansi Stuckey touted before the season. Pyne seems to trust him, too. The next step is ensuring it's not a mirage. 4. Lines Deliver Late Short-yardage rushing struggles and BYU's 5.5 yards per carry might stick in the craw of Notre Dame's offensive and defensive lines, respectively. This was a matchup that favored the Irish on both lines of scrimmage. Failures on two straight goal- to-go run plays and allowing the Cougars to run for 104 yards in a half weren't examples of that. But both lines put the clamps on BYU's comeback attempt. First, it was two straight run stuffs that stamped out a drive that reached the Irish 27-yard line. Graduate student defensive end Justin Ademi- lola and linebacker Jack Kiser combined on a tackle that turned third-and-2 into fourth-and-1. Jayson Ademilola then tackled BYU running back Lopini Katoa for no gain — a playmaker coming through in a big moment. The Irish offense took care of the rest by running out the final 3:37. BYU knew Notre Dame was go- ing to run the ball and bleed clock. Notre Dame went 36 yards in five plays (excluding kneel-downs) anyway, including a 4-yard gain on third-and-4. 5. More Defensive Breakdowns What should have been a BYU three-and-out deep in its own territory turned into a 10-play, 87-yard touchdown drive. That followed a scoring drive that ended with a coverage bust on a 53-yard touchdown pass. After it, a dominant first-half defensive effort from Notre Dame felt like a distant memory. The Irish's defense still had a good day, all told. It has had a good season. But a couple big mis- steps per game negate some of the positive vibes. A game that felt like it was on its way to being a laugher turned into a white-knuckler because of two drives with a few leaks. BYU's first touchdown of the second half was the result of a coverage bust. Freshman cornerback Jaden Mickey, the defender initially on Cougars wide receiver Kody Epps, thought he had deep help to pass off the route. Help wasn't there. A safety blitz left the middle of the field open. One drive later, a third-and-18 run play — a wave-the-white-flag call — turned into a 20-yard gain and new set of downs because of a few poor tackling attempts. Later that drive, an 18-yard completion to a wide-open Epps came after Notre Dame appeared to have some substitution confu- sion. That drive ended on a 28-yard touchdown run. FIVE THOUGHTS BY PATRICK ENGEL Sophomore wide receiver Jayden Thomas hauled in his first career touchdown catch with a spectacular 30-yard grab and finished with 3 receptions for 74 yards. PHOTO BY DAVID BECKER