Defensive end Isaiah Foskey blocked two punts in a two-minute span of the first quarter to set up two scores and spark Notre Dame’s 44-21 victory over UNLV on a warm Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind.
Foskey also registered three sacks as the Fighting Irish (4-3) salved the sting of the previous week’s home loss to Stanford with a well-rounded victory.
Drew Pyne threw for 205 yards and two touchdowns, Logan Diggs rushed for a career-high 130 yards in his first 100-yard rushing game and tight end Michael Mayer caught six passes for 115 yards and a score.
For UNLV (4-4), which played without starting quarterback Doug Brumfield (concussion) and top running back Aidan Robbins (knee), senior Courtney Reese rushed for a career-high 142 yards and Jordan Younge-Humphrey plunged for two touchdowns as the Rebels rotated Cameron Friel and Harrison Bailey at quarterback.
UNLV went 0-for-12 on third-down conversions against Notre Dame’s defense, while the Irish offense was 9-for-17 on third downs.
After managing just 14 points against Stanford, Notre Dame produced 23 points in the first quarter to slow the rising stress levels in South Bend.
Audric Estime capped the game’s first drive with a blast through right tackle for a 12-yard score. Blake Grupe booted a 43-yard field goal to stake the Fighting Irish to a 10-0 lead at the 10:06 mark of the first quarter.
UNLV responded with Reese’s 74-yard slalom down the left side that set up Younge-Humphrey’s 2-yard touchdown run on the option to pull the Rebels within 10-7 at 9:10.
Notre Dame’s special teams set up the next score as Foskey rushed in untouched and swatted punter Marshall Nichols’ drop to the ground before Nichols could boot it away. That set up the Irish at UNLV’s 20-yard line and Pyne found Mayer for a 20-yard score to push the lead to 17-7 with 6:24 left in the first.
Mayer’s 15th career touchdown catch tied Ken MacAfee’s Notre Dame all-time record for a tight end.
The Irish forced UNLV into another 3-and-out, which led to another Foskey punt block that gave Notre Dame possession at UNLV’s 14. Grupe finished the brief drive with a 27-yard field goal to make it 20-7. Grupe added a 46-yarder to boost the margin to 23-7 at 1:18 of the first.
Tight end Mitchell Evans added a 1-yard touchdown sneak to give Notre Dame a 30-7 margin with 4:10 left in the half.
Blessed with a 23-point second-half lead, Notre Dame turned conservative and stuck to its ground attack. UNLV earned the only score of the third quarter on backup quarterback Bailey’s 5-yard bootleg at the 8:06 mark.
That pulled the Rebels within two scores at 30-14, but Notre Dame wore down the Rebels defense and regained a 37-14 lead on Chris Tyree’s 8-yard blast with 11:59 left in the game.
Younge-Humphrey answered with a 1-yard touchdown blast on fourth-and-goal to cut UNLV’s deficit to 37-21 with 8:02 to go. Cornerback Clarence Lewis recovered the Rebels’ ensuing onside kick to blunt the visitors’ momentum.
Notre Dame clinched matters with Pyne’s 4-yard shovel pass to man-in-motion Braden Lenzy with 2:55 to play.
–Field Level Media
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