Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1510565
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 4, 2023 27 ups, 'Hey, you're starting, Jaden Mickey,'" Freeman said. "At some point, 'Christian Gray, you're going in with Jaden Mickey.' It's a credit to those guys being ready, also to [cornerbacks] coach [Mike] Mickens for having those guys ready." Their performance showed that the future — and present — of cornerback play at Notre Dame is as bright as the freshly gilded dome. "It's always fun competing with them boys at practice," Mickey said. "Me and Christian, we're ready because any play can happen." Before Mickey's pick six, he came within inches of undercutting and intercepting two more of Veilleux's throws. Both would have gone for touchdowns, too. After each of them, Mickey reminded himself of Freeman's chief philosophy: One play, one life. Mickey is a great example of that mindset, Freeman said. He hadn't cracked the starting lineup not because of his own skill level, but because Notre Dame has two stars ahead of him. But he accepted his rotation role and was ready for his opportunity. "That was the mentality every time I stepped on the field, every play I had," Mickey said. When Mickey's opportunity came, thanks in large part to the pressure Harper put on Veilleux, he didn't miss it. As he crossed the goal line, all Mickey could think about was his mom, Nilka. She has been fighting colon cancer since February 2020, and he promised he would get his first collegiate intercep- tion versus Pitt for her. "I was just picturing my mom and my dad in the living room, yelling," Mickey said. "I said, 'My mom got to see this.'" ✦ MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Notre Dame improved its series lead ver- sus Pittsburgh to 51-21-1, including 22-10-0 at home. • The Fighting Irish now have an all-time record of 17-3 in games played on Oct. 28. • Senior wide receiver Chris Tyree's 82- yard punt return for a touchdown was Notre Dame's first since C.J. Sanders brought one back 50 yards for a score against UMass in 2015. • Freshman wide receiver Braylon James and freshman tight end Cooper Flanagan both recorded their first career receptions in the fourth quarter. Flanagan's resulted in a touch- down on a 19-yard connection with sopho- more quarterback Steve Angeli. • Senior safety Ramon Henderson also notched the first touchdown of his career, pouncing on a loose ball in the end zone on a special teams coverage fumble forced by graduate student Devyn Ford's hit on the Pitt punt returner at the 6-yard line. NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Estimé 19 117 3 114 6.0 3 33 Price 6 37 2 35 5.8 1 23 Love 3 10 0 10 3.3 0 4 Tyree 1 3 0 3 3.0 0 3 Payne 1 2 0 2 2.0 0 2 TEAM 2 0 3 -3 -1.5 0 0 Hartman 1 0 6 -6 -6.0 0 0 Total 33 169 14 155 4.7 4 33 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Hartman 18 25 72.0 2 288 0 60 Angeli 6 7 85.7 0 92 1 33 Total 24 32 75.0 2 380 1 60 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Evans 5 66 0 22 Tyree 3 62 0 47 Flores 2 72 0 60 Merriweather 2 50 0 42 Love 2 26 0 33 Thomas 2 23 0 16 Estimé 2 16 0 9 Staes 2 14 0 9 Flanagan 1 19 1 19 Faison 1 14 0 14 James 1 12 0 12 Payne 1 6 0 6 Total 24 380 1 60 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Tyree 1 82 1 82 Faison 1 20 0 20 Total 2 102 1 82 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Price 1 37 0 37 Total 1 37 0 37 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 McFerson 2 38.0 41 0 0 1 0 1 Total 2 38.0 41 0 0 1 0 1 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Shrader 1 1 23 0 Total 1 1 23 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Bertrand 4 1 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Harper 3 2 5 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 Watts 3 0 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 Cross 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Shuler 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bowen 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brown 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Gray 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Kiser 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hart 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Mickey 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Botelho 1 0 1 1-4 1-4 0 0 0 Burnham 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Correll 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Evans 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Henderson 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 Jean-Baptiste 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Lewis 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Liufau 1 0 1 1-9 1-9 1 0 0 Mills 1 0 1 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 Talich 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Tucker 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hinish 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Onye 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Sneed 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long Watts 2 31 0 23 Mickey 1 43 1 43 Gray 1 0 0 0 Total 4 74 1 43 PITT INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Hammond 6 31 0 31 5.2 0 12 Flemister 8 26 2 24 3.0 0 11 Johnson 2 12 0 12 6.0 0 8 Nwabuko 1 0 1 -1 -1.0 0 0 Veilleux 2 0 13 -13 -6.5 0 0 Total 19 69 16 53 2.8 0 12 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Veilleux 14 29 48.3 4 127 0 34 Yarnell 2 3 66.7 0 75 1 50 Total 16 32 50.0 4 202 1 50 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Reynolds 6 31 0 10 Means 3 63 0 34 Mumpfield 3 52 1 25 Johnson 1 50 0 50 Epps 1 12 0 12 Johnson 1 -2 0 -2 Flemister 1 -4 0 -4 Total 16 202 1 50 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Devonshire 1 -6 0 0 Total 1 -6 0 0 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Johnson 2 31 0 20 Nwabuko 1 16 0 16 Total 3 47 0 20 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Junko 7 41.3 54 0 1 1 3 2 Total 7 41.3 54 0 1 1 3 2 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Sauls 0 1 0 0 Total 0 1 0 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR McMillon 5 3 8 0.5-1 0-0 0 0 0 McIntyre 4 1 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hall 3 1 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Kamara 2 2 4 1.5-3 0-0 0 0 0 Bass 1 3 4 1-7 0-0 0 0 0 Temple 1 3 4 0.5-1 0-0 0 0 0 DeShields 3 0 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Devonshire 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 George 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Williams 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Green 0 3 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Crumpley 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hayes 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 O'Brien 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brima 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Jules 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Okunlola 1 1 2 1.5-6 1-6 0 0 0 Gandy 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Junko 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Lovelace 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Simon 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Biles 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Danielson 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long O'Brien 1 19 0 19 George 1 3 0 3 Total 2 22 0 19