Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 FEBRUARY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED on a fake punt shovel pass put Notre Dame in plus territory, keeping alive a possession that ultimately ended with the go-ahead touchdown. Mason and Freeman deemed fourth-and-4 from Notre Dame's 33-yard line in a 31-31 tie early in the fourth quarter as the time to unfurl it, a decision based more in re- sponse to how South Carolina defended a previous punt than time and place. "We ran a punt earlier in the game," Freeman said. "We wanted to see the look we would get, and after we ran the punt, [Mason] said it's there if we want it. Right before we went out there, he said it's there." Notre Dame had punted four times before the fake. It motioned Lenzy — a gunner on punt teams — across the for- mation on none of those kicks. Mason still liked what he saw and told Freeman, who needed little convincing. Freeman did not expand on the exact details of the look Mason needed to see, but it's worth noting South Carolina put 10 players on the line of scrimmage on three of the four earlier punts and did so again on the fake. "I said, 'Let's do it,'" Freeman said. "We've been practicing that fake all year long." The play is a snap to upback Davis Sherwood, who caught the ball 6 yards behind the line of scrimmage and flipped a shovel pass to the motioning Lenzy. He needed a mere 4 yards. He gained 20 because Notre Dame had blockers for all but one defender on the play side. The unblocked man was linebacker Debo Williams, who had followed Lenzy across the field but never had the angle to tackle him before the marker. Lenzy turned the corner with no defender near him. It was, in essence, a fly sweep fake punt. Lenzy stepped out at South Carolina's 47-yard line. Three plays later, running back Logan Diggs' 39-yard rushing touchdown put the Irish ahead for the first time (38-31). The play was revenge for Mason, whose field goal block unit was outfoxed when South Carolina motioned out of a kicking formation and scored on a 23-yard touch- down pass from holder Kai Kroeger (who stood up to become the de facto quarter- back) to long snapper Hunter Rogers (who split out wide). That touchdown broke a 7-7 tie in the first quarter. Notre Dame's fake helped snap a tie, too. It was also an- other impact play from Lenzy, whose 44- yard touchdown catch about three min- utes earlier tied the score at 31. He ended with 4 catches for a season-high 89 yards. All told, special teams were a net pos- itive for the Irish, even with allowing a touchdown. They were penalty-free in that phase, which South Carolina can't say. The Gamecocks committed five special teams infractions. Kroeger had a 29-yard punt, which set up Lenzy's tying touchdown. Sot, meanwhile, av- eraged 51.2 yards per kick. South Carolina's special teams com- ing unglued at the seams is an out-of- body experience for a program led by SOUTH CAROLINA VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON South Carolina 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 7:55 7:12 5:18 2:56 15:07 8:14 23:21 Third-Down Conversions 1-2 3-6 1-5 0-1 4-8 1-6 5-14 Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 1-1 0-1 1-2 Average Field Position SC-27 SC-28 SC-32 SC-19 SC-27 SC-28 SC-28 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 7:05 7:48 9:42 12:04 14:53 21:46 36:39 Third-Down Conversions 4-5 2-4 1-4 5-6 6-9 6-10 12-19 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average Field Position ND-31 ND-18 ND-30 ND-36 ND-25 ND-33 ND-29 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards SC ND Nega ve 8 5 0-5 34 45 6-9 12 8 10-19 9 15 20-29 3 4 30-39 0 1 40-49 1 1 50 or more 0 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score South Carolina 1 1 0 0 Notre Dame 5 4 1 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 ND25 Buchner pass to Diggs for 75 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 SC48 Buchner pass to Thomas for 25 yards to SC23 • 1-10 SC44 Buchner pass to Lenzy for 44 yards and a touchdown • 3-2 SC39 Diggs run for 39 yards and a touch- down • 1-10 SC33 Estime run for 26 yards to SC7 South Carolina • 3-5 SC31 Rattler pass to Joyner for 26 yards to ND33 • 2-11 ND42 Rattler pass to Legette for 42 yards and a touchdown Graduate student wide receiver Braden Lenzy's 20-yard catch and run on a fake punt shovel pass in the fourth quarter proved to be a pivotal play in the game for the victorious Irish. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Marcus Freeman became the second first-time Notre Dame head coach to post four victories over Associated Press Top 25 teams in his first season. Terry Brennan also claimed four victories over ranked foes in 1954. • Freeman also became the first head coach to finish off his first full season with Notre Dame by claiming a victory over a ranked team in a bowl game. • Freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison notched his sixth interception of the season on the final play of the first half. It is the most interceptions for an Irish player since line- backer Manti Te'o had 7 during his Heisman Trophy runner-up campaign in 2012, and the most for an Irish cornerback since Cole Luke had 4 in 2014. • Sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner's 15-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter was his first in 111 days, when he last saw action against Marshall Sept. 10. He added an 11- yard scoring run in the third quarter, matching his career high of two rushing touchdowns set during that contest versus the Thundering Herd Sept. 10. • Junior linebacker Jordan Botelho posted 2 sacks against the Gamecocks, matching his career high.