Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1482392
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 29, 2022 19 BY TYLER HORKA N otre Dame doesn't have a con- crete offensive formula for winning in 2022. This isn't as simple as hand- ing the ball to Kyren Williams and sprinkling in some passes to Kevin Aus- tin Jr. and Michael Mayer like the Irish did to win 11 times in 2021. Notre Dame is down to a backup- turned-starter in junior quarterback Drew Pyne. Mayer is the only surefire, 100 percent reliable receiving option. Austin wasn't categorized as that last year, but he was still a better threat than the next man in line this year — sopho- more Lorenzo Styles, who was credited with his team-leading fourth dropped pass of the season against UNLV. The Irish's stable of running backs — sophomores Audric Estime and Logan Diggs, and junior Chris Tyree — is a tal- ented one. But none of those three are the next-level talent Williams was as a junior. Not yet, anyway. So call Notre Dame's 44-21 victory over the visiting Rebels incremen- tal progress considering the circum- stances. It still wasn't particularly pretty at times. But it was a three- touchdown win, something Notre Dame had not secured in the first six games of the season. The victory rid the Irish of the bad taste of the previous week's 16-14 loss to Stanford on the same playing surface in South Bend. "A win at Notre Dame Stadium is spe- cial," head coach Marcus Freeman said. "We know it was a tough week for all of us. Anybody that's a part of this Notre Dame family or Notre Dame nation and this football team, it was a tough week. I'm proud of the way our guys responded." Mayer had 6 catches for 115 yards and Diggs ran 28 times for 130 yards. They were the lifeline for a Notre Dame of- fense that sputtered at times under the direction of Pyne, who completed 14 of 28 throws for 205 yards with 2 touch- downs and 1 interception. The Notre Dame defense didn't nec- essarily put the clamps down despite 3 sacks from senior defensive end Isaiah Foskey, either. The Irish gave up rushing plays of 74 and 47 yards to set up two of UNLV's three touchdowns. Freeman will take the win. But the way this team played won't get it done against a Syracuse team that hung with top-five Clemson until the end in a 27-21 win for the Tigers. "It wasn't perfect," Freeman said. "We know that. That's the reality of football. It's never perfect. There's a lot of things that you're going to look and want to correct, but overall they played a really good game." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 23, UNLV 7 Top Moment: Foskey blocked a punt, and Pyne hit Mayer for a 20-yard touchdown two plays later. Feature Performer: Foskey had 1 of his 3 sacks and 2 blocked punts in the first quarter. Stats: Notre Dame outgained UNLV 126 to 69 in total yards. The Rebels had 7 passing yards and just 1 first down. Notre Dame was 1 of 5 on third down, while UNLV was 0 of 5. Items: Mayer and sophomore wide receiver Jayden Thomas combined to make 2 catches for 60 yards on the game's first drive to set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Estime to open the scoring … Notre Dame jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a 43-yard field goal off the foot of graduate student kicker Blake Grupe … A 74-yard run from UNLV run- ning back Courtney Reese set up a short rushing score for the Rebels … Foskey's second blocked punt of the frame led to a 27-yard field goal for Grupe after Pyne could not connect with Mayer on third down … Pyne again couldn't find Mayer on third down, and Grupe was good from 46 yards out to put the Irish up 23-7. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 30, UNLV 7 Top Moment: Sophomore tight end Mitchell Evans lined up under center and scored on a sneak. It was his second sneak of the drive; he moved the chains on third-and-1 earlier. Feature Performer: Mayer had 3 catches for 68 yards in the second quarter. S t a t s : N o t re D a m e o u tga i n e d UNLV 161 to 66. UNLV had 12 rushing yards. Notre Dame had 8 first downs to UNLV's 2. The Irish were 2 for 4 on third down, while the Rebels were 0 of 2. Notre Dame possessed the ball for 9:12. Items: Estime lost his third fumble in the last four games and did not carry the ball again from that point forward … A rare UNLV first down was wiped out for offensive pass interference on what would have been a 27-yard gain … The Irish were unsuccessful on a fourth-and-3 attempt from the UNLV 7; Pyne couldn't connect with Mayer in the end zone … Pyne was hit hard near the goal line on a 21-yard scramble; he had to leave the game temporarily, and true freshman Steve Angeli was on the field for Evans' touchdown … Junior cornerback Clarence Lewis forced and recovered a fumble on a 26-yard gain for the Rebels … Pyne was intercepted on third-and-8 from the UNLV 21; the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage. THIRD QUARTER NOTRE DAME 30, UNLV 14 Top Moment: Foskey came away with a sack on fourth-and-6 from the Notre Dame 49. It was his third and final sack of the night. Feature Performer: UNLV quarter- back Harrison Bailey sparked the only scoring drive of the quarter for either team. He scrambled for 2 yards and shed multiple tackles on an impressive con- FINDING A WAY The Irish did not play 'perfect' per head coach Marcus Freeman, but were good enough to beat UNLV 44-21 Senior defensive end Isaiah Foskey had 3 sacks in a game for the first time in his career, and also became the first player in school history to block 2 punts in a game. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER