Blocked punt help Notre Dame defeat UNLV
SOUTH BEND, IND. (AP) >> Mike Mayer caught six passes for 115 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown, Isaiah Foskey blocked two punts to set up a touchdown and a field goal and Notre Dame beat UNLV 44-21 on Saturday, just the second victory in four home games this season for the Fighting Irish.
“We needed this. We needed this for our confidence,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “We are a good team that doesn’t always play that way. It’s our job as coaches to get our team to perform this way.”
Notre Dame (4-3) hadn’t scored a first-quarter touchdown in its first six games, being outscored 27-6, but scored two on Saturday and added a three field goals by Blake Grupe to open a 23-7 lead. It was a familiar story for the Rebels (4-4), who lost their third straight and have been outscored 96-40 in the first quarter.
UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo said the Rebels need to play better.
“Blocked punts and turnovers and lack of execution are going to be hard to overcome on the road against a good team. I think our guys understand that,” he said.
The Irish added another touchdown in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by tight end Mitchell Evans and squandered two more scoring chances.
Drew Pyne, who entered last week’s game against Stanford completing 72.5% of his passes before going 13 of 27 against the Cardinal, struggled again on Saturday. He was 14 of 28 passing for 205 yards and threw the touchdown pass to Mayer and added a 4-yard scoring pass to Braden Lenzy. He also scrambled for a 21-yard run to set up the touchdown by Evans. Grupe kicked field goals of 43, 27 and 46 yards.
Logan Diggs rushed for 130 yards on 28 yards and Chris Tyree and Audric Estime added scoring runs.
Courtney Reese led the Rebels with 142 yards rushing on 11 carries, including runs of 74 and 47 yards to set up UNLV’s first two touchdowns. Jordan Younge-Humphrey scored touchdowns on runs of 2 yards and 1 yard.
The Rebels have struggled offensively since quarterback Doug Brumfield sustained a concussion in the first quarter two weeks ago. They also were without leading rusher Aidan Robbins, who injured his knee against Air Force last week.
Cameron Friel started at quarterback and was 9 of 18 passing for 73 yards. Harrison Bailey was 8 of 15 for 80 yards.