Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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20 NOV. 25, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT With the game tied 7-7 midway through the second quarter, Notre Dame faced a fourth-and-3 at the Wake Forest 49-yard line. That's when graduate student quar- terback Sam Hartman delivered a clutch pass to freshman wide receiver Rico Flores Jr. for a 22-yard gain and a first down to the Demon Deacons 27-yard line. Three plays later, Hartman connected with sophomore wide receiver Tobias Merriweather for a 35-yard touch- down pass that gave Notre Dame a 14-7 lead. Hartman completed 4 passes for 67 yards on the turning point drive. On the ensuing possession from Wake Forest, the De- mon Deacons moved the ball to the Irish 12-yard line and attempted a 30-yard field goal that was blocked by Irish graduate student defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste. Notre Dame responded with a 10-play field goal drive to take a 17-7 halftime lead that was never threatened. STATS OF THE GAME With 137 rushing yards, the overall ground game for Notre Dame wasn't overly impressive. But it was good enough to keep Wake Forest off balance and the chains moving. The Irish averaged 4.6 yards per carry and won the first down battle 25-14. Possibly playing in his final game at Notre Dame Stadium, Irish junior tailback Audric Estimé led the Irish rushers with 22 carries for 115 yards with 1 touchdown. Along the way, he surpassed 1,000 yards rushing on the season and 2,000 yards rushing for his career. Estimé has 7 rushing touch- downs in his last four games and 14 for the season, while also recording his fifth 100-yard rushing game this year. What made Estimé's performance most impressive was that injuries along the Irish offensive line brought the first career starts for sophomores Ashton Craig (at center) and Billy Schrauth (at right guard), both of whom performed admirably. In other notable stats, Notre Dame parlayed five trips inside the Wake Forest red zone into five scores and 31 points, and it averaged 7.0 yards per offensive play com- pared to 4.1 yards for Wake Forest. Six different Irish players scored touchdowns. BOUNCING BACK Coming off of one of his worst performances of the season against Clemson, Hartman responded with an ef- ficient 21-of-29 passing performance for 277 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions against Wake Forest. In a reunion against a Demon Deacons program that Hartman spent the last five seasons playing for, Hartman was solid from start to finish in a game that Notre Dame never trailed. Hartman's strong effort came two weeks and one game after he completed only 13 of 30 throws for a season-low 146 yards with no touchdowns and 2 interceptions, one of which was returned for a score, in a 31-23 loss to Clemson. After a quick start to the 2023 season during which Hartman threw for 14 touchdowns and no interceptions through his first six games, the graduate transfer entered the Wake Forest outing with only 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in his previous four games until his bounce- back game against the Demon Deacons. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TODD D. BURLAGE WIDE RECEIVER RICO FLORES JR. The Fighting Irish freshman enjoyed the best game of his young career against Wake Forest. He emerged early as the favorite target for graduate student quarterback Sam Hartman and finished with 8 catches on 9 targets for 102 yards. Flores' day included a clutch 22-yard catch on a fourth-and-3 play in the second quarter, which set up a Notre Dame touchdown that gave it a 14-7 lead and set the tone for the rest of the game. He not only showed his sure hands but also recorded 30 after the catch yards. QUARTERBACK SAM HARTMAN The Irish graduate student returned to his early season form and enjoyed arguably the best game of his season against his former team, completing 21 of 29 passes for 277 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. After failing to score on his first two offensive drives against the Demon Deacons, Hartman led scoring drives on six of his next seven possessions (5 touchdowns, 1 field goal). It marked the third time this season that Hartman threw for 4 touchdowns in a game, and only the second time in the five outings that he did not throw an interception. DEFENSIVE LINEMAN JAVONTAE JEAN-BAPTISTE The Ohio State transfer made an immediate and impressive impact on the game, recording 4 tackles (3 solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 quarterback hurry and blocked field goal in the first half. Jean-Baptiste added another solo stop in the second half in reduced snaps when Notre Dame began to clear its bench. The 5 tackles tied for the second most this season for Jean-Baptiste. His sack brought his season total to 2.5, and his blocked kick – the second for the Irish this season – helped flip momentum in a game that Notre Dame led 14-7. GAME BALLS BY TODD D. BURLAGE Graduate student defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste notched 5 total stops, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 quarterback hurry and 1 blocked field goal in the win over Wake Forest. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER