Notre Dame survives, beats BYU 28-20 in Las Vegas
Led by remarkable and historical work from junior Irish tight end Michael Mayer, Notre Dame (3-2) secured its third straight victory in a dicey but solid 28-20 win over No. 16 BYU (4-2) at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
In a streaky game that Notre Dame led 25-6 in the third quarter, BYU pulled to within 25-20 midway through the fourth before a couple of clutch offensive plays and defensive stops secured the Irish win.
The victory moved Notre Dame to 11-0 all-time in its Shamrock Series games.
Mayer finished with 11 catches, a single-game Notre Dame record, for 118 yards. And along the way, the All-American became the career reception leader at “Tight End U” with 146.
Irish junior quarterback Drew Pyne targeted Mayer early and often, and wisely.
Pyne went 22-of-28 passing for 262 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception — his first six completions all to Mayer — and efficiently led a balanced Irish offensive attack that added 234 rushing yards.
Sophomore tailback Audric Estime paced the running game with 14 carries for 97 yards.
With BYU leading 6-3 early in the second quarter, Mayer scored two touchdowns during a 22-0 Notre Dame scoring run that pushed the Irish lead to 25-6 midway through the third quarter.
The Cougars got as close as 25-20 and were down 28-20 when graduate lineman Jason Ademilola made a clutch stop on a fourth-down BYU play that essentially sealed the win.
The Irish started fast. On BYU’s first offensive play of the game, Notre Dame graduate cornerback TaRiq Bracy snagged the first interception of the year for the Irish and returned it to the BYU 25-yard line.
Notre Dame managed only a field goal and a 3-0 early lead out of the trip.
But the Bracy pick and score still demonstrated a quicker start the Irish have been looking for.
Notre Dame fell behind 6-3 late in the first quarter after a BYU touchdown and missed PAT.
It was mainly all Irish from there.
A one-armed 30-yard touchdown catch by sophomore wideout Jayden Thomas — the first scoring grab of his career — was the highlight of the 22-0 Irish scoring spurt.
