Blue and Gold Illustrated

FRESHMAN IMPACT Injuries have forced Notre Dame to dig deeper on its depth chart. The Irish have lost five starters already this sea- son, and they faced off against UMass without new starting tight end Tyler Luatua (concussion) and wide receiver Corey Robinson, who sprained a knee during pregame workouts. For the second straight season, head coach Brian Kelly has had to rely on his freshman class more than antici- pated, especially in the backfield. Notre Dame came into the game look- ing to get its two freshmen running backs more involved. Mission accomplished — Josh Ad- ams and classmate Dexter Williams combined for 181 rushing yards and two scores. Williams scampered in from 14 yards out for his first career touchdown, while Adams ripped off a 70-yard scoring run. "The young backs stand out to me; Adams and Williams getting in was very, very important to us," Kelly said after the game. "Josh got 13 carries, Dexter got seven. So taking some of those carries away from C.J. [Prosise] was important." Adams and Williams were not the only freshmen to make their presence felt against UMass. Tight end Alizé Jones set a career high with 56 receiv- ing yards, and wide receiver Equa- nimeous St. Brown made his first ca- reer reception. St. Brown hauled in what appeared to be a 44-yard touch- down in the fourth quarter, but it was called back by a penalty. Freshman punt returner CJ Sanders also scored for the first time, taking back a second-quarter punt 50 yards for a touchdown, putting the Irish up 28-20 in the second quarter. Sanders had been on the verge of a breakout performance in the first three games, but against UMass he finally got free for a score. "He's a shifty runner. He's got great vision," Kelly noted. "… It was a big play in the game, gave us some mo- mentum certainly, and kind of turned the tide a little bit for us." Giving highly touted freshman quar- terback Brandon Wimbush an opportu- nity to play was something Kelly had wanted to do against Georgia Tech, but the game played out in a way that pre- BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 2-9 ND43 Prosise rush for 57 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 UM26 Kizer pass complete to Fuller for 26 yards and a touchdown • 3-3 ND33 Kizer pass complete to Brown for 27 yards to the UM40 • 3-2 ND47 Kizer pass complete to Jones for 37 yards to the UM16 • 3-3 ND42 Wimbush rush for 58 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 ND30 Adams rush for 70 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 ND21 Wimbush rush for 26 yards to the ND47 UMass • 2-7 UM23 Frohnapfel pass complete to Michel for 25 yards to the UM48 • 1-15 UM17 Young rush for 83 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 UM25 Frohnapfel pass complete to Ne- smith for 56 yards to the ND19 • 1-10 ND33 Comis pass complete to Nesmith for 33 yards and a touchdown

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