SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame took care of business. And it did it with the help of two players that will almost certainly make a living playing in the NFL.
On Saturday, the Irish (4-3) trounced UNLV (4-4) 44-21 in the first-ever meeting between the two teams, by scoring the most points at Notre Dame Stadium in the Marcus Freeman era. Two of Freeman's captains — Michael Mayer and Isaiah Foskey — made game-changing plays in the team’s second straight win in South Bend.
Inside ND Sports has awarded game balls to Mayer and Foskey for their performance. Here’s why.
Notre Dame offense: TE Michael Mayer
Mayer had yet another impressive outing in his 31st career game.
The 6-5, 265-pound junior caught six passes for 115 yards (19.2 yards per catch) and a touchdown. Junior quarterback Drew Pyne targeted Mayer on 12 of his 27 passes.
Mayer's 115-yard performance marked five career games with 100 yards or more.
On Pyne's first pass of the game, he found Mayer for a 23-yard gain to put the Irish in plus territory. Three plays later, Audric Estimé reached the end zone for the first ND touchdown on an opening drive all season.
Mayer also hauled in a 20-yard pass from Pyne that resulted in his 15th career touchdown catch. That score tied him with Ken MacAfee (1974-77) for the most touchdowns by an Irish tight end.
Except, that catch was not even Mayer's most impressive.
In the second quarter, Mayer made a magnificent one-handed grab despite UNLV linebacker Fred Thompkins being flagged for pass interference on the coverage.
With his six grabs, Mayer tied Golden Tate (2007-09) and Tom Gatewood (1969-71) for fifth all-time with 157 career receptions.
Mayer has 44 receptions for 526 yards (12.0 yards per catch) and six touchdowns on the season.
Notre Dame defense: DE Isaiah Foskey
UNLV freshman punter Marshall Nichols might have nightmares of Foskey following his performance.
Twice in the first quarter, the 6-5, 265-pound Foskey ferociously broke through the Rebels' punt protection unit for a pair of blocked punts. His stops helped set up the Notre Dame offense on the UNLV 20- and 14-yard lines, resulting in consecutive scoring drives to a 20-7 lead.
Foskey etched his name in the Notre Dame record books with the pair of blocked punts. The senior defensive lineman became the first player in Irish history to block two punts in the same game, dating back to the beginning of records kept in 1937.
But Foskey did not just have success against UNLV's special team squads.
He finished the game with a career-high three sacks, the most from a Notre Dame defender since linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had three against Iowa State in the 2019 Camping World Bowl.
Foskey's first two 0.5 sacks came on third downs in the first quarter, forcing the Rebels to punt. His first solo sack sent UNLV into the locker room to close the first half down 30-7.
The Rebels tried to muster momentum in the second half, but yet another Foskey takedown kept them searching for answers. On their opening drive, Foskey took down Cameron Friel on fourth-and-five.
Besides his three sacks, Foskey added two more tackles and a quarterback hurry. Foskey and the Irish defense held UNLV to 299 yards in the victory.
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