Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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20 FEBRUARY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Stats: Notre Dame outgained South Carolina 150 to 68 in total yards … The Irish ran 20 plays with an average of 7.5 yards per play, while the Gamecocks ran 17 plays for an average of 4.0 yards per play … Notre Dame had 9:42 time of pos- session versus 5:18 for South Carolina. Items: South Carolina wide receiver Xavier Legette made an immaculate 42- yard reception for a touchdown to give South Carolina a 31-24 lead … Morrison was injured on a South Carolina recep- tion up the middle and did not return to the game … Buchner's second pick of the night was an instance of him trying to do too much; an ill-advised shovel attempt while he was being tackled. FOURTH QUARTER NOTRE DAME 45, SOUTH CAROLINA 38 Top Moment: On third-and-7 with 1:45 on the clock and three timeouts to South Carolina's credit, Buchner faked a handoff and rolled to his right. He acted like he was going to throw to sophomore wide receiver Jayden Thomas, but he looked back to his left to find a wide- open Evans flanking to the left. Buch- ner hit him, Evans waltzed into the end zone, and Notre Dame won the game. Feature Performer: Evans caught the first touchdown pass of his career, and he also had a 5-yard reception. He was the intended target on Buchner's 100-yard pick-six that tied the game at 38-38, too. Stats: Notre Dame outgained South Carolina 205 to 32 in total yards … The Irish ran 26 plays and averaged 7.9 yards per play, while the Gamecocks ran 10 plays and averaged 3.2 yards per play … Notre Dame had 12:04 time of posses- sion to that of 2:56 for the Gamecocks. Items: Diggs' second score of the day was a 39-yard touchdown that gave the Irish its first lead of the game early in the final quarter … Notre Dame's game- winning drive went 80 yards in 12 plays and took 6:01 off the clock … South Carolina's last hope was a Spencer Rat- tler heave on fourth-and-36 with less than 30 seconds left. ✦ ND SC FIRST QUARTER SC Legette 13-yard pass from Rattler (Jeter kick) 11:48 0 7 Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 3:12 ND Buchner 15-yard run (Grupe kick) 5:54 7 7 Drive: 10 plays, 50 yards, 3:37 SC Rogers 23-yard pass from Kroeger (Jeter kick) 2:27 7 14 Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:27 SC Smith 47-yard interception return (Jeter kick) 0:44 7 21 SECOND QUARTER ND Grupe 37-yard field goal 8:36 10 21 Drive: 12 plays, 56 yards, 7:08 SC Jeter 45-yard field goal 5:18 10 24 Drive: 10 plays, 48 yards, 3:18 ND Diggs 75-yard pass from Buchner (Grupe kick) 5:06 17 24 Drive: 1 play, 75 yards, 0:12 ND SC THIRD QUARTER ND Buchner 11-yard run (Grupe kick) 10:28 24 24 Drive: 5 plays, 68 yards, 2:21 SC Legette 42-yard pass from Rattler (Jeter kick) 8:31 24 31 Drive: 5 plays, 67 yards, 1:48 ND Lenzy 44-yard pass from Buchner (Grupe kick) 0:31 31 31 Drive: 1 play, 44 yards, 0:08 FOURTH QUARTER ND Diggs 39-yard run (Grupe kick) 12:41 38 31 Drive: 7 plays, 73 yards, 2:13 SC Fortune 100-yard interception return (Jeter kick) 7:42 38 38 ND Evans 16-yard pass from Buchner (Grupe kick) 1:38 45 38 Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 6:01 ND SC Total First Downs 27 20 Rushing 14 5 Passing 13 13 Penalty 0 2 Rushing Attempts 46 22 Yards Gained Rushing 287 92 Yards Lost Rushing 23 17 Net Yards Rushing 264 75 Net Yards Passing 294 287 Passes Attempted 34 49 Passes Completed 19 31 Had Intercepted 3 1 Percent Completion 55.9% 63.3% Yards Per Attempt 8.6 5.9 Yards Per Completion 15.5 9.3 Total Offensive Plays 80 71 Total Net Yards 558 362 Average Gain Per Play 7.0 5.1 Fumbles: No.-Lost 0-0 1-1 Penalties: No.-Yards 4-40 8-73 Punts: No.-Yards 4-205 6-240 Average Per Punt 51.2 40.0 Average Net Punt 43.2 38.8 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 1-7 2-12 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 1-18 2-52 Interception Returns: No.-Yards 1-0 3-142 Fumble Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 36:39 23:21 Third-Down Conversions 11-19 5-15 Percentage 57.9% 33.3% Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 1-2 Percentage 100.0% 50.0% Sacks By: No.-Yards 3-16 2-21 Buchner connected with Mitchell Evans on a 16-yard touchdown reception — the first of the sophomore tight end's career — on third-and-7 to put the Irish up for good with 1:38 remaining in the game. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER NOTRE DAME 45, SOUTH CAROLINA 38 Dec. 30, 2022 ✦ Attendance: 67,383 TIAA Bank Stadium ✦ Jacksonville, Fla. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Notre Dame 7 10 14 14 45 South Carolina 21 3 7 7 38