Notre Dame scores an important, adequate, 44-21 rebound win over UNLV
Notre Dame cashed in on its get-well opportunity Saturday with an uneventful 44-21 win over UNLV on a sun-drenched day at Notre Dame Stadium.
Playing without its starting quarterback and top running back, UNLV was a 25-point underdog. And save for a couple of scoring drives, it played like one.
The shorthanded Rebels (4-4) managed only 11 first downs and went 0-for-12 on its 3rd-down conversions, though it did play Notre Dame (4-3) to a 14-14 draw during a second half that felt mainly like two-quarters of mop-up time.
Through a balanced Notre Dame offense that recorded 223 rushing yards and 205 passing yards, which was complemented by a dominating Irish defense that made 4 sacks and 9 tackles for loss, Notre Dame built a commanding 30-7 halftime lead that was never threatened, though this one wasn’t overly inspiring to watch unfold second half.
In the first game it has led start to finish all season, the Irish jumped to a 7-0 lead on their first offensive possession of the game with a 12-yard touchdown run by sophomore tailback Audric Estime.
Estime got the first Irish touchdown. But it was fellow sophomore tailback Logan Diggs who handled almost the entirety of the workload and stole the rushing headlines from there.
Diggs led the Irish with his career highs in attempts (28) and rushing yards (130).
Leading 10-7 in the first quarter, Irish senior defensive end and special teams ace Isaiah Foskey recorded two consecutive blocked punts, which Notre Dame parlayed into 10 points and a 20-7 lead on a 20-yard touchdown catch by junior tight end Michael Mayer from junior quarterback Drew Pyne, followed by a 43-yard field goal by graduate place-kicker Blake Grupe.
Mayer, as expected, led all Irish with 6 catches for 115 yards with 1 touchdown, while Grupe enjoyed his best game of the season with 3-of-4 field goals (46 long), and 5-of-5 on PATs.
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Senior defensive end Isaiah Foskey was also fabulous on defense, recording 5 tackles with three sacks and 1 quarterback hurry.
In a script flip from previous games, Notre Dame took a commanding 23-7 lead after one quarter, for its first quick start of the season. The Irish had previously trailed at some point in each of its first six games, and were outscored 27-6 in the first quarter of those six outings.
The Irish dominated nearly every statistical category against the overmatched Rebels. Most notably, it held a 19-yard difference in starting field position.
If there was anything to nit-pick over, it’s that Notre Dame continually settled for Grupe field goal tries and left plenty of points on the table with multiple drives that stalled deep in UNLV territory, despite the terrific starting field position.
Saturday’s missed opportunities didn’t play a factor in this blowout Irish win. But they won’t serve Notre Dame well moving forward with a one-two scheduling punch up next against two top-15 teams that played each other Saturday.
In a matchup of undefeated teams, No. 5 Clemson (8-0) scored a 27-21 comeback win at home Saturday over No. 14 Syracuse (6-1).
Notre Dame plays at Syracuse Oct. 29 before playing host to Clemson on Nov. 5.
