By John Brice
Special Contributor
4 elements that defined Notre Dame’s win in the program’s first-ever meeting with UNLV
Finally, Notre Dame mustered a three-phases-win.
Buoyed early by special teams excellence, carried by a pressuring defense and then closing with a will-imposing fourth-quarter running game, the Fighting Irish dispatched UNLV, 44-21, Saturday afternoon inside Notre Dame Stadium.
Back above .500 for the second time this season as it enters a season-defining five-game stretch to the finish line with three games against ranked foes, Notre Dame found building blocks in all phases of Marcus Freeman’s fourth career win.
In an item we’ll bring you after each Notre Dame contest, here’s the 4-1-1 on Notre Dame’s wire-to-wire win against the Runnin’ Rebels.
FOUR ELEMENTS THAT DEFINED NOTRE DAME GETTING BACK ON THE WINNING TRACK INSIDE NOTRE DAME STADIUM
- 20: With a punt-block unit that made stuffing UNLV punter Marshall Nichols twice in the first half look almost routine, the Irish special teams were essentially responsible for 20 points in the win against the Runnin’ Rebels. Notre Dame’s two blocked punts resulted in 10 first-half points, and Blake Grupe finished with three field goals and booted all five of his extra-point attempts. Michael Mayer nabbed his record-setting touchdown off the second blocked punt from 20 yards out.
- 6: Isaiah Foskey, the Irish’s sublimely talented defense end, flat-out stuffed the box score with his most complete performance of the 2022 season. To wit:
Foskey blocked both of the punts in the first half, with Prince Kollie nearly assisting on the second try, and in the process Foskey lifted his career punt-block tally to four.
Additionally, Foskey tallied three quarterback sacks – the Irish defense had nine tackles-for-losses on the day – and also recorded a quarterback pressure. Those six plays loomed large in the Notre Dame win.
- 28: Logan Diggs didn’t just close with a career-high single-game workload at the collegiate level, with his game-high 28 carries – which matched the entire number of rushing attempts for UNLV. Diggs had nine carries alone on the Irish’s 13-play, 62-yard drive that culminated in Chris Tyree’s 8-yard scoring rush and lapsed a season-best seven minutes, 10 seconds off the game clock; at one stretch on the march, Diggs carried the ball six-straight times. He finished with 130 of the Irish’s 223 rushing yards.
- 7: In moving into the red zone seven times against UNLV, the Irish offense had the type of consistent real estate inside the opponent’s 20-yard line that is key for offensive production.
Notre Dame’s five first-half red-zone attempts – four of which resulted in scores – were as many red-zone trips as the Irish offense had mustered in any full game this season; the previous best was five in last month’s convincing win at North Carolina.
The Irish finished 6-for-7 on scoring in the red zone after a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. Notre Dame now is 21-for-25 on the season in red-zone scoring opportunities, with 17 touchdowns.
ONE THING TO NOTE
No surprise, All-America Irish tight end Michael Mayer continued his assault on the storied program’s record books with his six-catch, 115-yard and one touchdown performance. Yet for all the accolades, Mayer against UNLV might have generated his career-best catch.
Blanketed so much by a UNLV defender that the Runnin’ Rebels defense was flagged for pass interference, Mayer still made a lunging, one-handed catch around the defense for a 38-yard gain through the seam.
“I don’t even think I saw the ball, to be honest,” Mayer said postgame. “I kind of just stuck out my hand and hoped for the best. It’s a route we’ve practiced a lot, me against a linebacker, Drew (Pyne) knows there’s a pretty good chance if he kind of throws it up that I can catch it.
“I haven’t seen (replay) yet, but I’m pumped to watch it. I’ve got to watch it first [to determine if it’s his all-time best catch]. I’ll get an answer for you later on, but it’s up there for sure, no doubt.”
ONE THING PIVOTING FORWARD
From Freeman to Mayer to Diggs, all three expressed confidence in Pyne and noted their belief in him as the Irish’s “QB 1.”
Pyne also made some dazzling throws against UNLV and was victimized by a couple of dropped passes as well in his 205-yard, two-touchdown day through the air that also saw Pyne add an extra 30 rushing yards.
Yet the Irish again saw their ideal model to put away a game on display in this contest. Their final two scoring drives covered a combined 22 plays, 108 yards and chew some 12 minutes, 16 seconds off the game clock. Pyne never threw a pass past the line of scrimmage on those two possessions, with his TD toss to Braden Lenzy that capped the game’s scoring coming on a toss-pitch in front of him as Lenzy raced left-to-right behind the line of scrimmage in a de facto jet sweep.