Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507821
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 23, 2023 23 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: A+ Graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman averaged 12.7 yards per attempt. For reference, USC quarterback Caleb Williams went into Week 3 leading the country in yards per attempt at 12.5. Hartman became the first Notre Dame quarter- back since at least 1996 to have two passing touch- downs of 75 yards or more in the same game. He completed passes to eight different targets, and sophomore backup Steve Angeli added a ninth in garbage time. In total, Notre Dame completed 17 of 28 passes for 342 yards. Notre Dame did not allow a sack; pass protection was very stout for most of the day. Junior wide receiver Jayden Thomas got back on the stat sheet with 4 catches for 63 yards after being shut out a week prior versus North Carolina State. It was all good, yet again, for the Fighting Irish passing attack. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: A+ As long as junior tailback Audric Estimé is up- right, healthy and on two legs, this Notre Dame rushing offense is going to be dang good. And Estimé isn't even always on two legs; he left both of them, twice, to hurdle two different Central Michigan defenders in the fourth quarter. Estimé had a career-high 176 rushing yards on just 20 attempts. Notre Dame ran for 236 yards as a team, so Estimé carried most of the weight, but sophomore tailback Jadarian Price rattled off a 15- yard gain and even wide receiver Jayden Thomas had a 10-yard carry on an end-around. To top it all off, quarterback Sam Hartman got into the end zone on a quarterback sneak. Estimé had a 17-yard touchdown as well. The Notre Dame offensive line seems to be find- ing its stride, and Estimé is the right guy to be run- ning behind a group like that. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: B Two different Central Michigan tailbacks aver- aged at least 4.9 yards per rush, and the leader among them, Marion Lukes, had an average of 6.2. Lukes and Myles Bailey combined to rush for 115 yards on 21 attempts. Bailey scored a touchdown, and so did quarterback Jase Bauer. Notre Dame had a bit of a tackling issue through- out the game. Multiple rushes that should have been short gains ended up going for extra yardage because Irish defensive players couldn't get ball carriers to the ground. That needs to be cleaned up in advance of the Ohio State game. The Buckeyes boast some backs talented enough to feast on poor tackling. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: B Quarterback Jase Bauer completed 10 of 20 throws for only 137 yards, but he had four passes go for at least 15 yards. Two of those went for more than 30. Again, Notre Dame cannot have such lapses against Ohio State. Notre Dame head coach Mar- cus Freeman said there was a blitz that left the defensive backs on islands in the secondary on one of those 30-yarders. The blitzes need to get home more often for the Irish defense. If blitzes don't work against a team like Ohio State, the personnel is there to make the defense pay. SPECIAL TEAMS: B+ Graduate student kicker Spencer Shrader missed from 59 yards out, but he also made a 50-yarder and a 31-yard chip shot. A bigger miscue than the missed field goal, Shrader had a kickoff go out of bounds. Central Michigan took the ball at the 35 and ended up scoring a touchdown on the drive. Sophomore punter Bryce McFerson was not busy yet again, but his two boots went for an average of 49 yards. He had a long of 55. He'll be a weapon in low-scoring games against good teams. Graduate student running back Devyn Ford had one kick return for 20 yards. Senior slot receiver Chris Tyree was credited with 2 punt returns for just 9 yards. COACHING: A There is something to be said for Notre Dame reaching 40-plus points in a stretch of five con- secutive games dating back to the Gator Bowl last season for the first time in Notre Dame history. This team is humming right along. It was not always pretty, but Notre Dame came out of the locker room and outscored Central Michigan 20-3 in the second half. A bad team would have let the Chippewas stick around and sniff an upset. Head coach Marcus Freeman and company would not let that happen. Another test passed. REPORT CARD BY TYLER HORKA Graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman connected on 16 of 26 throws for 330 yards — a stellar 12.7 yards per attempt — with 3 touchdowns. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER