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Game Balls: 5 Notre Dame football players who performed well against Toledo

Notre Dame survived a scare against Toledo on Saturday.

The Fighting Irish needed a game-winning touchdown drive with less than two minutes remaining to pull out a 32-29 victory at Notre Dame Stadium, and they got one rather quickly on a three-play, 75-yard scoring march.

The two players who connected for that score are listed below among the five Fighting Irish players who received game balls from BlueandGold.com. Here's a look at all of them:

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish football sophomore tight end Michael Mayer
Sophomore tight end Michael Mayer had 81 receiving yards and two touchdowns against Toledo. (AJ Mast/AP)

Freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner

What would Notre Dame have done without the debut of its true freshman quarterback? Buchner ran for 68 yards on seven attempts. The first snap of his career was a 26-yard scamper down the right sideline. He also completed all three of his pass attempts for 78 yards and a touchdown — a 55-yard catch-and-run screen to sophomore running back Chris Tyree.

Sophomore tight end Michael Mayer

Notre Dame’s Mackey Award contender started the game with a four-yard touchdown and ended it with his 18-yard score on a seam route over the middle. In the end, the talented tight end led Notre Dame in receiving for the second consecutive week. He reeled in seven passes for 81 yards and the two touchdowns. He also had a team-high 12 targets.

Junior linebacker JD Bertrand

Bertrand was not supposed to be a starter a month ago. Injuries led him to the top of the depth chart at will linebacker, and he has made the most of it. Bertrand again led the team in tackles. Like at Florida State, he had 11 against Toledo. Three of those were tackles for loss. He also recorded the first sack of his career and recovered the fumble in the final minute that put the game on ice.

Graduate student quarterback Jack Coan

Coan had to deal with Buchner’s constant involvement in the offense and — wait for it — dislocating his finger on Notre Dame’s final offensive possession of the game, and he still tossed the game-winning touchdown to Mayer. Coan finished 21-of-33 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. His 34-yard completion to senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. on the first set the tone for the winning score.

Graduate student defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa

Tagovailoa-Amosa forced the fumble that Bertrand recovered in the final moments. It was only his second tackle of the game, but it was a big one. Both of Tagovailoa-Amosa’s tackles were sacks. Tagovailoa-Amosa was slotted to speak to the media in post-game player availability for the media, but he had to hop online for a virtual version of his father’s funeral. Some things are much bigger than football.

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