Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507821
20 SEPT. 23, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE AND TYLER HORKA N otre Dame sophomore wide receiver Tobias Merriweather ran right by Central Michigan junior cornerback Donte Kent for a 75-yard touchdown on graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman's first pass of the game. Less than one quarter later, senior slot receiver Chris Tyree one-upped him. Tyree broke past Chippewas redshirt sophomore safety De'Javion Stepney deep down the middle of the field. Hartman tossed a perfect throw, and Tyree made an over-the-shoulder catch in stride for a 76-yard score. Hartman finished the game with 330 yards passing on only 16 completions, good for 20.6 yards per reception. Notre Dame rode the deep passing game to a 41-17 win over Central Michigan, and the Irish will enter their prime-time battle with Ohio State 4-0. "We are so greedy and selfish, and we wanted to be perfect, and that's just who we are as coaches," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "I was proud of the way they battled. It wasn't perfect, man. But they battled and they battled, and they responded." Merriweather's touchdown was a quick strike for Notre Dame after the Irish defense forced a three-and-out. His career yards per reception rose to 33.2 on 5 catches at the time, and he added two more grabs for 16 yards later in the game to lower it to 26.0. "Yeah, [Hartman is] an NFL guy," Merriweather said. "The difference be- tween college and the NFL, the quar- terbacks just don't give the receivers a choice but to catch it. They just throw it on you and it's going to be there and you expect it to be there. And I think that's what Sam does for us." Tyree's score gave the Irish a 21-7 lead in the second quarter, and it was his second reception of 65 or more yards in as many weeks. He maintains his team lead in receiving yards, now with 216, in his first season at his position. In addition to the long touchdowns, Hartman completed a 39-yard pass to junior wide receiver Jayden Thomas, who made a diving catch to set up a 1-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak three plays later. Later, he made his best throw of the afternoon: a 42- yard deep ball to junior wide receiver Rico Flores Jr., who had one step, maybe less, on his defender. "The ability to execute on those deep balls and those open passes are huge," Freeman said. "They're huge to have success." Once Notre Dame built a big lead, it was junior running back Audric Esti- mé's turn to shine. He ran ferociously once again, even when the game was wrapped up, and set his career high for yards rushing in a game with 176. While Central Michigan did not go away easily, scoring a last-minute touch- down to make it a 21-14 game at the end of the first half, Notre Dame outscored the Chippewas 20-3 after halftime. The Irish defense only allowed Bauer to com- plete 4 of 11 passes after the break. Freeman challenged his players all week to avoid thinking about Ohio State, which they did. Senior defensive tackle Rylie Mills said many players oc- casionally had the Buckeyes in the back of their minds, but they were able to keep their attention on the Chippewas. "For a lot of guys, we just treated it like a trigger," Mills said. "So, any time I was thinking about … what's Ohio State doing, watching that game — I got to bring myself down and focus on Central Michigan." When it became clear that the game was out of reach, Notre Dame fans en- joyed most of the fourth quarter by sing- ing Taylor Swift, listening to the band play Mr. Brightside and showing one shirt- less fan on the Jumbotron almost a dozen times. The stadium crew even interviewed him at one point, telling him to wave his shirt around and hype up the crowd. He obliged. Notre Dame hosts Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 23. FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 14, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 7 Top moment: Notre Dame gradu- ate student quarterback Sam Hart- man found a wide-open Tobias Mer- riweather on a 75-yard touchdown for LETTING IT FLY Tobias Merriweather and Chris Tyree go long for touchdown receptions, igniting Notre Dame's 41-17 win over Central Michigan