Report card: Grading Notre Dame football in win over BYU

Make that three wins in a row for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish (3-2) went to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for their annual Shamrock Series game and came away with a 28-20 victory over the No. 16 BYU Cougars (4-2) that was more dominant than the final margin suggests.

Here’s how Notre Dame graded in the victory according to BlueandGold.com.

Notre Dame Passing Offense: A

Take away a tipped interception, and this is an A+.

Junior quarterback Drew Pyne was nearly perfect. He was 22-of-28 for 262 yards with 3 touchdowns and the 1 interception. What more can you ask aside from getting the batted-then-picked ball over the line of scrimmage, or not attempting that pass in the first place?

The best thing Pyne has going for him is junior tight end Michael Mayer, who caught 11 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. The more he looks to No. 87, the better. Sophomore wide receiver Jayden Thomas had the best game of his career with 3 catches for 74 yards and a touchdown.

Notre Dame now has back-to-back stout performances in the passing game. It started with impressive cohesion in the second half against California in Week 3. This facet of Notre Dame’s game is rolling.

Notre Dame Rushing Offense: A

Speaking of rolling: The Notre Dame running game.

Sophomores Logan Diggs and Audric Estime iced the game away on the final possession with 46 combined rushing yards. Had Notre Dame not picked up a couple first downs, it would have given the ball back to BYU with plenty of time left in a one-score game. That duo did not allow that to happen. Diggs scampered for 33 yards on one electrifying run. Estime picked up the final first down of the game on third and 4.

Estime rushed 14 times for 97 yards. Diggs carried 17 times for 93 yards. In total, Notre Dame had 45 rushing attempts for 234 yards. That’s 5.2 yards per carry. That’ll do. And that’ll garner an “A.”

Notre Dame Passing Defense: B

The Notre Dame secondary wasn’t tested as much as many thought it would be.

BYU quarterback Jaren Hall went into the game averaging 34.2 passing attempts per game. He only attempted 17 against Notre Dame. The Irish held him to 9-of-17 for 120 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Hall did not look right; his INT came on his first pass attempt of the night. It was a flared out pass to nobody but Irish cornerback TaRiq Bracy.

Hall made some throws as the game went on, including a 53-yard catch and run freshman corner Jaden Mickey is going to want back for a lapse in coverage. One hundred of Hall’s 120 yards went to Kody Epps. The Irish did a good job of taking away BYU’s plethora of other weapons, but something was clearly up with Hall. Or it was a faulty game plan. The Cougars simply did not go after Notre Dame with Hall’s arm.

Notre Dame Rushing Defense: C+

This might be a little harsh considering a crucial fourth and 1 stop on a BYU running play late in the fourth quarter was a major reason Notre Dame won, but lapses in the rushing defense prior to that were why the game was so close at that stage anyway.

Notre Dame let BYU pick up a first down on third and 18 from the Cougars’ own 5 yard line. BYU gained 49 more yards on the ground on that drive, 28 of which came on a touchdown that pulled the Cougars to within 25-20 early in the fourth quarter.

BYU ran 29 times for 160 yards. That’s 5.5 yards per carry, more than Notre Dame’s 5.2. If Notre Dame didn’t possess the ball for 40:55, who knows what BYU would have run for. Or who knows if Hall would have used his arm a bit more. Notre Dame’s offense was definitely better than its defense outside of having to settle for a two field goals of less than 30 yards and failing on a fourth and short in an in-goal situation.

Notre Dame Special Teams: B-

A 42-yard punt return set up BYU’s first touchdown. BYU missed the ensuing extra point, though. And those were really the only special teams played that impacted the game.

There were only five combined punts. The Irish’s Jon Sot had two of them, and he averaged 56.5 yards per boot. He outkicked his coverage on the 42-yard return. BYU did not record a kickoff return. Notre Dame had one. The Irish also only had one punt return. Blake Grupe made both of his chip-shot field goals. It was a quiet special teams game outside of the lengthy Cougars return, which drags this grade down a bit.

Notre Dame Coaching: B+

The Irish showed up early in coming away with an INT on the first play of the game and driving down inside the 10 immediately thereafter. But red zone failures often fall on the shoulders of play calling and coaching. As aforementioned in the rushing defense grade, Notre Dame settled for field goals of 20 and 26 yards and failed to convert on fourth and 1 from the BYU 4.

Head coach Marcus Freeman said he sensed panic when BYU came within five points of his Irish, but it seems he did enough on the sidelines to calm his players and get them over the finish line. This could have been a more comfortable win for the Irish. If that had been the case, the coaching would have received an A.