Game balls: Five Notre Dame players who played well in loss to Cincinnati
Notre Dame junior defensive end Isaiah Foskey said it best.
"It sucks to lose."
Still, Foskey was one of five players who played well enough in Notre Dame's 24-13 loss to Cincinnati to receive a game ball from BlueandGold.com. See who else made the cut below.
TE Michael Mayer
Playing through a groin injury he sustained in preseason and aggravated during the game, the sophomore tight end still caught eight of 11 targets for 93 yards. He had two 20-yard catches on the day; the first from graduate senior quarterback Jack Coan on fourth and 10 on Notre Dame’s first drive and the second on third and five from sophomore Drew Pyne early in the fourth quarter.
DE Isaiah Foskey
Notre Dame’s junior vyper recorded the Irish’s biggest tackle of the game — a strip sack of Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder midway through the third quarter. The forced fumble set up the Irish’s first touchdown of the day. Foskey finished with three total tackles, a sack and a quarterback hurry.
WR Braden Lenzy
Lenzy had the best game of his senior season. He caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. On the score, Lenzy had to come back to a ball thrown by Pyne in the right corner of the south end zone. He won the battle with the Cincinnati cornerback covering him and came down with his fourth career touchdown.
LB Isaiah Pryor
After not playing much against Wisconsin the week prior, the graduate senior linebacker got plenty of snaps against the Bearcats. He made the most of them. Pryor finished tied with junior linebacker JD Bertrand for the team lead in tackles with six. He set the edge well for the Notre Dame defense on multiple Bearcats rushing plays to the boundary.
QB Drew Pyne
For the second week in a row, Pyne replaced Coan in the second half. This time it was under different circumstances. Coan was not injured. The Irish offense just needed a spark. The numbers — 9-of-22 for 143 yards and a touchdown — weren’t great, but the results were a bit better. Pyne led Notre Dame’s only two scoring drives of the day.
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