Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540095
24 OCT. 11, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Boise State took the lead for the first time in the game with 4:03 left in the first half. No- body would have been surprised if a sputtering Notre Dame offense sputtered once more and wasn't able to put any points on the board to wrestle the advantage back in the home team's favor by halftime. But that couldn't be further from what hap- pened. The Irish not only scored by way of a Jer- emiyah Love 4-yard rushing touchdown culmi- nating a workmanlike 75-yard drive, but they tacked on a two-point conversion to make up for a blocked extra point following their first touchdown of the afternoon some 19 minutes of game time earlier. Notre Dame never looked back from there. STATS OF THE GAME Notre Dame sacked Maddux Madsen 4 times. Boise State didn't have any sacks of CJ Carr. Notre Dame turned the Broncos over 4 times. The Broncos didn't turn the Fighting Irish over once. When a team is that disruptive of the oppos- ing quarterback while keeping its own clean, chances of winning increase astronomically. When a team takes the football away from the other that many times and never gives it up in return, chances of winning increase astronomically. Interestingly, Notre Dame didn't officially score any points off of the Boise State give- aways. But that's still four times the Broncos had the ball and then didn't. And when you don't have the ball, you can't score, and you end up losing a football game by three touch- downs as a result. MARCUS FREEMAN GETS ANIMATED The game featured 224 penalty yards, 112 called against each side. Obviously, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman didn't agree with everything that didn't go his team's way from a flag throwing standpoint. After defensive tackle Jason Onye was called for roughing the passer on a play in which the Irish intercepted the football, and Onye's in- fraction was nothing more than perhaps land- ing a little too forcibly on the quarterback for the referee's liking, Freeman was all up in the officials' ears all the way through the ensuing TV timeout. "In the heat of the moment you want to de- fend your guys," Freeman said. "I don't know what Jason can do." Freeman's always been the quintessential players' coach. Against Boise State, he stayed true to form and had one of his veteran's backs on a questionable call. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TYLER HORKA QB CJ CARR The redshirt freshman signal-caller didn't play his best game, but he delivered a pair of critical touchdown passes for the Irish. He placed perfectly his 19-yard touchdown pass to redshirt senior Will Pauling that put the Irish up 6-0 in the first quarter. He extended the lead to 21-7 with a 6-yard touchdown pass to redshirt senior wide receiver Malachi Fields with 5:49 left in the third quarter, letting Fields make a play on a well- thrown, back-shoulder fade. Carr finished 15 of 23 passing (65.2 percent) for 189 yards with 2 touchdowns despite missing on some open targets. He didn't turn the ball over and never took a sack against the Broncos. S TAE JOHNSON The redshirt freshman safety embodied the improved play in Notre Dame's secondary. He produced the first of Notre Dame's 4 interceptions late in the second quarter. It was also his first career interception. Johnson made sure Boise State didn't add a late score in the first half when he picked off Madsen at the Irish 11-yard line in the final minute. The Irish limited Madsen to 22-of-37 passing (59.5 percent) for 215 yards with 0 touchdowns. Johnson finished with 5 tackles in his third career start. CB LEONARD MOORE It doesn't seem like a coincidence that Notre Dame's pass defense looked a lot better with the sophomore cornerback back in the starting lineup. He didn't play the entire game, but he logged most of the snaps at one of the cornerback spots and intercepted a pair of passes from quarterback Maddux Madsen. Moore, who finished with 6 tackles, intercepted his first pass at the Notre Dame 36-yard line late in the third quarter with the Irish leading 21-7. He wrapped up the game with Notre Dame's fourth interception with 1:23 remaining in the game. GAME BALLS BY TYLER JAMES Sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore had 2 interceptions for Notre Dame's defense after missing the previous two games with an ankle injury. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER