Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 26, 2026 27 NOLAN JAMES JR. EMERGES AS NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME TAKES AN INCREMENTAL STEP FORWARD Perhaps the one thing Marcus Free- man didn't expect from the most fixer- upper facet of his third-ranked Notre Dame football team on a soggy Satur- day night was an excessive celebration penalty. Not that there were even excessive reasons to celebrate the Irish running game in a 27-10 subduing of Michigan State at Notre Dame Stadium in the first clash of the former annual rivals in nine years. But there was indeed occasion to mark at least some significant incre- mental progress in something that the Irish came into the game ranked 116th among the FBS teams in — rushing of- fense (114.5 yards per game). And it started with a breakout perfor- mance from sophomore Nolan James Jr. The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Westwood, N.J., product rushed for a career-high 121 yards — more than the Irish had amassed as a team in either of their pre- vious two games — on 26 carries with 1 touchdown. He also produced Notre Dame's lon- gest run of the season — all of 17 yards, a number that simultaneously illustrated the Irish's progress and how much work remains. Notre Dame (3-0) finished with a commanding 161-44 edge in the rush- ing game, but labored at times, espe- cially early. And the Irish ended up with an average of 3.7 yards per carry against the Spartans (2-1), admittedly the best run defense they've seen statistically this season. "I thought, more than anything, the adjustments that we made in game as a coaching staff and the ability for our players to then go out to the field and execute them was tremendous," Free- man said. "But it was an emphasis for us this week. We'll see exactly how it went, but they did a good job, and we ran for a lot of yards." Starter Aneyas Williams continues to struggle to find consistency. The junior, who running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider earlier in the week admitted was press- ing to live up to expectations, finished with 25 yards on 9 carries (2.8 yards per rush) and 1 touchdown. A touchdown after which he drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct pen- alty. "They were doing a dance or what- ever and the ref threw the flag," Free- man said. "Do that on the sideline. It's uncalled for. We've got to be smarter than that." Freshman Jonaz Walton had only 1 carry versus the Spartans, for a 1-yard loss, after being Notre Dame's leading rusher the previous game, but Freeman remains bullish on the player who proj- ects as the most explosive of the Irish's five backs. "He's going to continue to get oppor- tunities," Freeman said, "because he's a talented football player that is really ascending." So, it appears, is James, who showed power, patience and enough burst to help the Irish play keep-away from the Michigan State offense. Notre Dame held the ball for 37:02 to the Spartans' 22:58, with MSU running only 45 of- fensive plays to Notre Dame's 67. "He's got great balance," Freeman said of James. "He's explosive. In his own way, he's explosive once he sees it, but he's physical and tough to bring down. I think that lower center of grav- ity really helps him. He's strong in his lower half, but he's explosive, quick, and he has good vision too." And maybe ready to move to the top of the depth chart. — Eric Hansen MICAH GILBERT EMERGES AS DEEP THREAT Micah Gilbert learned what No. 3 Notre Dame intended to call for its first offensive play well ahead of kickoff Sat- urday in Notre Dame Stadium. MICHIGAN STATE GAME NOTES BY ERIC HANSEN AND TYLER JAMES James' combination of vision, patience and late-game physicality gave the Irish the reliable feature-back production they had been missing, and the Irish finished with a season-high 161 yards after averaging just 114.5 rushing yards per game through its first two games. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER