Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 OCT. 15, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED lola, is best summarized in two words. Your turn. Justin had just combined with senior linebacker Marist Liufau for a third- and-short run stuff of BYU running back Christopher Brooks. Third-and-2 from the Notre Dame 28-yard line was now a do-or-die fourth-and-1 in the Cougars' comeback attempt. Scratch across 1 yard, and the game pressure shifts even fur- ther to the Irish. Fail, and it's likely over. In the timeout huddle between plays, one brother turned to the other and urged him to plant the dagger in BYU's hopes. It all came down to this moment. "I said, Jay, go get it right now," Justin said. "Let's win it. Let's seal it up, and he did that." Jayson lined up across from right guard LaChance Harris, stood his ground upon initially encountering Harris and shed the block. He had an unob- structed path to running back Lopini Katoa, who was still 4 yards behind the line of scrim- mage setting up a run to the right side. He did not miss. He and senior defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah took half credit on the play, but Ademilola had the finishing touch and obstructed the running lane. The play was officially for no gain, even though Katoa ended up on the ground almost 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage when Ademilola brought him down. It won't count as a tackle for loss. Ademilola can live with that. What matters is he answered the call to make a game-shifting play. A returning starter with a track record of disruptive abil- ity provided it in a crucial moment. He stood up and took off for the sideline, arms hanging down as he ran in a crouch. Several other defensive linemen followed in his wake. He didn't stop until he was a few feet away from the stands. "He's an emotional leader for that group," head coach Marcus Freeman said. "He's the guy that when things are tough, he always comes and grabs me — 'Coach, I got you.' He did last year and does it this year. At the biggest moments, he shows up. You can't say enough about a guy like that, that in the biggest mo- ments you can depend on. He is going to make sure he makes a play." Ademilola is a tone-setter for a de- fensive line that is capable of dominant stretches. In the second half, though, the unit fell short of dominant. In fact, it was closer to lackluster. BYU rushed for 104 yards in the final two quarters. Before those two straight stuffs, the Cougars averaged 8.5 yards per on their first 14 second-half rushing attempts. They trimmed Notre Dame's lead to 25-20 with an 87-yard touch- down drive that included three runs of at least 15 yards. They scored on a 53-yard touchdown pass their previous drive. In response, Freeman urged his de- fensive line and the bevy of playmak- ers on it to flip a switch. That unit has NOTRE DAME VS. BYU QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 9:10 12:22 8:23 11:00 21:27 19:23 40:55 Third-Down Conversions 2-4 4-5 2-3 3-4 6-9 5-7 11-16 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 Average Field Position UND-29 UND-24 UND-25 UND-29 UND-27 UND-27 UND-27 BYU 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 5:50 2:38 6:37 4:00 8:33 10:37 19:05 Third-Down Conversions 0-2 0-2 3-3 0-2 0-4 3-5 3-9 Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 1-1 0-1 1-2 Average Field Position BYU-41 BYU-18 BYU-19 BYU-21 BYU-29 BYU-20 BYU-25 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND BYU Nega ve 5 4 0-5 39 25 6-9 14 8 10-19 9 5 20-29 2 3 30-39 3 0 40-49 1 0 50 or more 0 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score ND 4 1 2 1 BYU 1 1 0 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 UND28 Pyne pass to Styles for 26 yards to BYU46 • 3-3 BYU30 Pyne pass to Thomas for 30 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 UND25 Pyne pass to Thomas for 32 yards to BYU43 • 1-10 UND47 Es me run for 46 yards to BYU7 • 2-17 UND20 Diggs run for 33 yards to BYU47 BYU • 2-5 BYU47 Hall pass to Epps for 53 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 UND28 Brooks run for 28 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 BYU37 Hall pass to Epps for 27 yards to UND36 Jayson Ademilola finished with only 2 tackles, but he supplied the defensive stop that stomped out BYU's comeback hopes. PHOTO BY DAVID BECKER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Graduate student defensive lineman Chris Smith and sophomore tight end Davis Sherwood both made their first career starts at Notre Dame against BYU. • The 28-20 win vs. BYU gave Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman his first career victory against a ranked opponent. • Junior tight end Michael Mayer extended his streak to 29 career games with at least one reception — every game Mayer has played at Notre Dame. Mayer 's 2 touchdown receptions were the 13th and 14th of his career, putting him one be - hind Ken MacAfee for the Notre Dame tight end record (15). In addition, Mayer's 118 receiving yards were just two yards from his single-game high (120 at Florida State in 2021) and gave him his fourth career 100-yard receiving game. • Freshman tight end Holden Staes notched his first career reception for the Irish, hauling in an 11-yard pass from junior quarterback Drew Pyne in the second quarter. • Sophomore linebacker Prince Kollie tallied his first career sack for the Irish late in the third quarter.