Irish Knock Off No. 16 BYU In Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – The University of Notre Dame football team earned a 28-20 victory over the No. 16 BYU Cougars Saturday evening at Allegiant Stadium in the Fighting Irish’s annual Shamrock Series game. 

Drew Pyne led a balanced offensive attack. The sophomore quarterback finished 22-for-28 for 262 yards and three scores. Michael Mayer was Pyne’s favorite target as the junior tight end finished with 11 catches for 118 yards and two scores. It’s the first time a Notre Dame tight end had 10 or more receptions in a game in school history. Mayer scored a touchdown for the fourth-straight week, extending his career-best of consecutive games with a receiving touchdown. 

Jayden Thomas had a breakout game against the Cougars. The freshman caught three passes for 74 yards including his first career touchdown. 

The three-pronged attack out of the backfield from Logan Diggs, Audric Esimteé and Chris Tyree combined for 238 yards on 45 carries. Estimé logged 14 carries for 97 yards while Diggs was right behind with 17 carries for 94 yards. 

Brandon Joseph and Jack Kiser led the Irish defense. Joseph led the team with six tackles and his first career forced fumble, while Kiser had four stops which included a sack in the end zone which forced a fumble that resulted in a safety. JD Bertrand logged five tackles while playing in just the second half after missing the first 30 minutes for a targeting penalty from the North Carolina game two weeks ago. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

On BYU’s first play of the game, Jaren Hall’s pass floated towards the Notre Dame sideline where TaRiq Bracy went up and got it for the first interception of the season. The Irish used the turnover to march 36 yards down to the BYU five yard line before settling for a Blake Grupe 26-yard field goal. 

The Cougars got on the board on the next possession, utilizing a big punt return to put BYU with first and 10 on the Irish 26. The Irish tightened in the red zone, stopping three-straight runs inside the five to force a fourth and two. BYU showed run before throwing out to the flat on the left side for the two-yard score. A delay of game put some added stress on the extra point, where the attempt was missed and the Cougars held a 6-3 lead. 

Michael Mayer made history as the Irish took the lead early in the second quarter. The junior tight end hauled in a 24-yard pass from Drew Pyne for his sixth catch of the game. That catch was his 141st in his career, making him the new career receptions leader for a tight end in Notre Dame history. With the extra point, the Irish took a 10-6 lead with 14:19 left in the first half. 

After the Irish failed to convert a fourth and one from inside the BYU five, the Cougars took over with 6:57 remaining in the half. Their first play saw Hall drop back to pass and he was sacked by Justin Ademilola and Jack Kiser. Kiser forced a fumble that was recovered by a BYU lineman. 

The Irish got the ball back with the safety punt and took over at their own 21. Six consecutive runs opened the series as the Irish marched into Cougar territory. Pyne dropped back and found Holden Staes for his first career reception to move the chains and keep the drive going. After back-to-back Estime carries, Pyne dropped back again, this time finding Jayden Thomas who made a highlight reel one-handed catch over the head of the BYU defender. After a failed two-point conversion, the Irish led 18-6 with just over a minute left in the first half. 

Notre Dame received the second half kick off and marched right down the field for another touchdown. A balanced attack of six passes and five carries moved the ball down the field as the offensive line began to make its mark on the game. On a third and 13, Pyne scanned the field multiple times before finding Mayer over the middle for a gain of 15. It was that same connection, this time from 19-yards out that gave the Irish the score as Pyne dropped it in a bucket over Mayer’s shoulder for the score. The extra point was good and Notre Dame held a 25-6 lead with 8:05 left in the third quarter. 

The Cougars answered right back on their first possession of the second half, needing just five plays to go 75 yards for the score. Hall found Kody Epps up the seam for a 53-yard scoring play. The point-after attempt was true and the Irish held a 25-13 lead. 

The Cougar comeback continued into the fourth quarter. BYU converted a key 3rd and 18 deep in its own territory before Hall found Epps on the left side to move into Irish territory. Hall turned around and handed off to Christopher Brooks who scampered 28 yards for the score to cut the Irish lead to 25-20 with 14:18 remaining in the game. 

The Irish offense and defense then stepped up to close the door on the Cougars. Keyed by a 46-yard run by Estimé, Notre Dame tacked on a Grupe field goal to build an eight-point lead. BYU attempted to answer, but the Irish defense stuffed the Cougars on fourth and one at the Irish 27. The stop was spearheaded by senior defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola. 

Notre Dame took over and eventually ended the game by running out the clock with Diggs picking up a key third down conversion. 

UP NEXT

The Irish return to Notre Dame Stadium next Saturday for a matchup with the Stanford Cardinal. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on NBC.