Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547169
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 31, 2026 21 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: B Notre Dame's starting trio of wide receivers — seniors Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse and junior Micah Gilbert — made plays, some in spectacular fashion, repeatedly throughout the game for junior quarterback CJ Carr, but they never managed to connect for touchdowns. Carr missed his mark on some important throws, which typi- cally doesn't happen, and he attempted too many contested throws to Notre Dame's tight ends that offered little chance of a completion. Though Carr didn't take a sack, he dodged more pressure than usual against BYU. That made it more difficult to attack the middle of the field. Greathouse, who caught 8 passes for 125 yards, deserved a shot at scoring the game-winning touchdown, but Carr forced a difficult throw into coverage that was too tight, and the officials were unwilling to call pass interference in that situation. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: B- The Irish continued to start sophomore running back Nolan James Jr., and that looked like a smart decision in the first half. He rushed 10 times for 68 yards and 1 touchdown in the first 30 minutes of play. But BYU bottled him up for just 9 yards on 6 carries in the second half. Freshman running back Jonaz Walton didn't re- ceive many opportunities to show off his dynamic running style, but he started slow — 7 yards on his first 3 carries — in his limited touches. After he picked up 10 yards on back-to-back rushes, the second of which put Notre Dame ahead before the two-point conversion made it 24-21, Walton should have started the Irish's next drive. Notre Dame's rushing attack regressed without injured tight end Cooper Flanagan against a stout run defense. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: B- BYU converted five third downs with comple- tions by quarterback Bear Bachmeier before he threw the game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Walker Lyons on third-and-goal from the 6-yard line. Notre Dame's passing defense failed too frequently at ending BYU drives. The loss of senior defensive end Boubacar Traore to a targeting penalty and ejection early in the first quarter significantly hindered Notre Dame's pass rush. The Irish never sacked Bachmeier and were credited with only 3 quarterback hurries. That allowed Bachmeier to let his receivers and tight ends come open against the Irish's less-than-sticky coverage. Sophomore cornerback Jayden Sanders made a big interception, but the defense wiped away all the progress it made in the second half by allowing Bachmeier to steer the game-winning drive with 4-of-6 passing for 46 yards with 1 touchdown. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: B- BYU running back Preston Rex, who started in place of injured star LJ Martin, rushed for 66 yards on 18 carries in BYU's previous three games. He needed just 10 carries to total 66 yards against the Irish. BYU didn't dominate on the ground, but it es- tablished an attack in the first half and did enough with the help of Bachmeier's physicality to keep the chains moving and get into the end zone. The Cougars finished with 121 yards and 2 touchdowns on 30 carries and became the first team to surpass 100 rushing yards against Notre Dame this season. NOTRE DAME SPECIAL TEAMS: A Special teams errors became far too frequent for Notre Dame in the first half of the season, but the Irish had the upper hand on special teams versus BYU. The closest thing to a mistake that Notre Dame made on special teams was allowing the Cougars to return a 60-yard punt by freshman Jasper Scaife for 23 yards, which the Cougars fol- lowed with their game-winning drive. Junior kicker Spencer Porath nailed 3 field goals, senior safety Luke Talich wrecked a fake punt at- tempt and freshman wide receiver Bubba Frazier recovered a muffed punt. NOTRE DAME COACHING: C The moment proved to be too big for Notre Dame once again. The offense was too reliant on talent rather than scheme. Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock be- came too conservative when the Irish finally took the lead, and he put too much on Carr's shoulders on the failed final drive. Notre Dame needed to find more ways to get its wide receivers open. The defense took too long to find its footing and broke in the fourth quarter after making a strong recovery. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash's blitz, which left freshman safety Joey O'Brien in man coverage on Lyons, backfired in the biggest moment. The Irish let the game unfold in a way that fa- vored BYU's playing style and home crowd. REPORT CARD BY TYLER JAMES Freshman running back Jonaz Walton received only 5 carries (for 17 yards with 1 touchdown) against BYU after rushing for 301 yards the previous two games. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER