Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1508769
28 OCT. 7, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED of coming into its own and finding it- self. Evans, meanwhile, knows who he is and what he can do. Hartman and the Notre Dame coaching staff know it, too. Whenever the Irish run into offensive issues, Evans can bail them out. It's nice to have someone like that, especially con- sidering Mayer moved on to the NFL. "He's a target," Freeman said. "He's a threat for us. He's a playmaker we can throw the ball to and believe he's going to make a play." HOWARD CROSS III BATTLES THROUGH SINUS INFECTION TO HAVE MONSTER GAME Graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III was careful not to touch anything at the visiting press conference room table when he spoke to reporters after Notre Dame's 21-14 win over Duke. Cross had a "really bad" sinus infec- tion. And he played the football version of Michael Jordan's flu game. "There are like three or four plays where I was like, 'I can't breathe, and I don't know what's going on,'" Cross said. "But I just kept going." Cross would look toward his dad, former 13-year New York Giants tight end Howard Cross Jr., in the stands at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C. That gave him all the motivation he needed to gut out the game of his life. By the time the clock ran out on Notre Dame's thrilling win, Cross finished with an astounding stat line: 13 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, 1 sack and 1 quarterback hit for good measure. The sack and one of the forced fumbles iced the game for the Irish. With 27 seconds left, Cross bolted off the line of scrimmage. He dipped past graduate student center Jacob Monk, turned the corner and sacked Duke ju- nior quarterback Riley Leonard, jarring the ball from his right hand. Unfortu- nately, Leonard suffered an apparent ankle injury in the process. For the first time this season, the Irish defense recovered a fumble. Ballgame. "That's what every guy at my posi- tion chases, is that feeling of everybody looking at you, everybody so proud of what you've done" Cross said. "It was a stunt, so I couldn't have done what I did without the rest of my D-line." It was a stunt, but that was not why Cross got to the quarterback. That hap- DUKE VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Duke 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 4:37 8:59 8:06 10:03 13:36 18:09 31:45 Third-Down Conversions 1-2 1-5 1-4 3-4 2-7 4-8 6-15 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average Field Position DU -20 DU -20 DU -30 DU -25 DU -20 DU -27 DU -24 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 10:23 6:01 6:54 4:57 16:24 11:51 28:15 Third-Down Conversions 2-5 0-3 0-4 1-3 2-8 1-7 3-15 Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 0-0 1-1 1-1 1-1 2-2 3-3 Average Field Position ND -42 ND -35 ND -24 ND -36 ND -38 ND -30 ND -34 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards DU ND Nega ve 7 3 0-5 41 39 6-9 6 8 10-19 6 5 20-29 4 4 30-39 2 3 40-49 0 0 50 or more 0 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Duke 4 2 0 2 Notre Dame 3 1 1 1 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 2-9 ND19 Hartman pass to Evans for 28 yards to DU47 • 4-4 DU47 Love run for 34 yards to DU13 • 1-10 ND40 Hartman pass to Evans for 36 yards to DU24 • 2-10 DU30 Estimé run for 30 yards and a touchdown Duke • 1-10 DU28 Leonard pass to Jo. Moore for 27 yards to ND45 • 2-10 DU37 Ja. Moore run for 34 yards to ND29 • 3-6 DU24 Leonard pass to Jo. Moore for 26 yards to DU50 • 1-10 DU50 Leonard run for 33 yards to ND17 Cross racked up a career-high 13 tackles, and also had 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, 1 sack and 1 quarterback hit. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP