Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 5, 2022 27 for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns in Notre Dame's 41-24 win over No. 16 Syracuse. He was at the center of the game plan on a day where the Irish leaned hard into the ground game. He had enough equity left to get the first 2 carries of the game, both as a fullback in 22 personnel I-formation Notre Dame used the first 2 plays. His final carry was a 28-yarder that set up the Irish's last field goal. "To get the first carry, it just means a lot to me," Estime said. "I feel like it was a big confidence booster." Maybe that was part of offensive co- ordinator Tommy Rees' plan, but Estime had to earn it. He needed to hold onto the ball all week in practice. He needed to show he cared about his role in push- ing Notre Dame further away from bad habits that felled it in losses to Stanford and Marshall. Estime's fourth-quar- ter fumble in the former game ended a promising chance for the Irish to take the lead over the Cardinal. "The urgency we have as a program to improve," Freeman said. "It's not stay the course, it's fix the course. It's fix the mistakes that we're seeing in practice and seeing in games." In doing so, Estime made no concrete changes during the week, he said. No toting a ball around campus from class to class. No fundamental tweak in how he carried the ball. The adjustment was mental. "Be more mindful of it," Estime said. "The game of football is named after what I hold in my hand. It could come out at any time. "No big changes. Just in my mind, no matter what, the ball comes first." As long as he hangs onto it, he will be a featured presence in a Notre Dame of- fense that wants to bludgeon opponents into the ground with its run game and offensive line. Estime's punishing run- ning style fits right into that identity. So does sophomore Logan Diggs' pound- for-pound strength. Estime and Diggs each rushed 20 times against Syracuse, marking the first time in 20 seasons that two Notre Dame running backs had at least 20 car- ries in the same game. One week ear- lier, Estime looked on as Diggs earned the most carries (28) by a Notre Dame running back in a game since James Al- dridge had 32 in 2007. Diggs — Estime's roommate and close friend — even gave him some tough love after the fumble. If that doesn't bring urgency to the level Freeman wants, there's not much that will. "He's literally my brother from an- other mother," Estime said. "Mine and Logan's bond can't be any closer. We're always trying to figure out ways we can push each other and get better every day. "We just have that bond that's un- breakable no matter who's having a bad week, a bad day, a bad game. We always feed off each other." ✦ SYRACUSE VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Syracuse 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 5:57 5:15 5:48 5:20 11:12 11:08 22:20 Third-Down Conversions 1-2 1-5 1-3 1-3 2-7 2-6 4-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-2 Average Field Position SYR-25 SYR-34 SYR-21 SYR-25 SYR-30 SYR-23 SYR-26 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 9:03 9:45 9:12 9:40 18:48 18:52 37:40 Third-Down Conversions 1-3 2-3 0-4 3-5 3-6 3-9 6-15 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average Field Position UND-31 UND-37 UND-37 SYR-33 UND-35 SYR-48 UND-44 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards SYR ND Nega ve 8 6 0-5 32 47 6-9 7 10 10-19 9 9 20-29 2 2 30-39 2 1 40-49 0 0 50 or more 0 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Syracuse 3 3 0 0 Notre Dame 6 4 2 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 SYR25 Joseph interception return for 29 yards and a touchdown • 2-10 ND49 Pyne pass to Mayer for 37 yards to SYR14 • 1-10 SYR34 Estime run for 28 yards to SYR6 Syracuse • 2-2 SYR33 Del Rio-Wilson pass to Gadsden for 30 yards to ND37 • 1-10 ND34 Del Rio-Wilson pass to Adams for 30 yards to ND4 Sophomore running back Audric Estime had a career-high 20 carries one week after being benched for fumbling issues. PHOTO BY JOSHUA BESSEX MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Senior defensive end Isaiah Foskey logged his seventh sack of the season in the second quarter, pushing his career total to 22.5. He is now just two sacks behind Justin Tuck's (2002-04) Notre Dame career record. • Sophomore tight end Mitchell Evans has 4 carries this season on third-and-short (all conversions) and 1 on the goal line for a touchdown. • Sophomore running back Logan Diggs posted his first rushing touchdown of the season on a 3-yard run in the second quarter. • Senior wide receiver Braden Lenzy did not start against Syracuse, ending his 18-game start streak.