Matt Salerno reaches high and low in biggest game of his Notre Dame career

SOUTH BEND — Matt Salerno made a wise decision following Notre Dame’s 21-10 loss at Ohio State. He opted to avoid social media as much as possible.

It would have been natural for Salerno, a fifth-year wide receiver who came to Notre Dame as a walk-on, to want to soak up the reaction to his circus catch in the second quarter.

Salerno, who was upgraded to a scholarship player in January, entered the season with one career catch for a loss of four yards. So the 31-yard reception from quarterback Tyler Buchner, in which he twisted away from cornerback Denzel Burke and tipped the ball twice before securing it while lying on the ground, instantly became the highlight of his career.

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But what may have been the lowlight of his career followed in the fourth quarter. On a first-and-10 play from Ohio State’s 41-yard line, Buchner threw another pass Salerno’s way only for him to be flagged for offensive pass interference. The penalty wiped out the momentum the Irish offense built as it worked to respond to Ohio State taking a 14-10 lead.

Notre Dame gained seven yards on a first-and-25 run by Buchner on the following play and two yards on a third-and-18 run by Buchner before punting back to Ohio State. The Irish wouldn’t gain another yard the rest of the game.

“I do use social media to look at news and stay updated with my friends, but especially when the season comes, I try to shut it down,” Salerno said Tuesday. “Because there are a lot of people saying stuff that’s incorrect or negative. I went on my social media to clear all the notifications, but I didn’t really look at most of them.”

Instead, Salerno spent more energy catching up with friends and family who reached out to him after the game. His favorite message came from his grandfather, Frank Salerno, who is the reason Matt came to Notre Dame in the first place.

Frank Salerno briefly enrolled at Notre Dame in 1957 and played football for the Irish before returning home with little progress made to graduate. He enrolled at a junior college in California but carried with him a love for Notre Dame football that he would eventually pass on to his family.

“I’ve always felt like I’m coming here to finish what he started,” Matt Salerno said. “To get a text from him and then just call him right after and have a good conversation about it, it was a good experience.”

Frank Salerno expressed how proud he was of his grandson, knowing how much hard work went into a moment like that. As a high school football player at Crespi Carmelite in Encino, Calif., Matt Salerno decided he would enroll at Notre Dame before knowing what sort of walk-on opportunity he would have.

After contacting then-wide receivers coach Del Alexander, Matt Salerno was told to reach back out once he was admitted into the university. Once that happened, Salerno was offered a preferred walk-on role, which meant he’d be welcomed onto the team without a tryout.

By the time Salerno entered his spring semester of his sophomore year, he felt confident that he could find a playing role on the team. That led to a spot as the starting punt returner in 2020. But his opportunities to impact the offense didn’t really come until this offseason as Notre Dame lacked depth and healthy bodies at the wide receiver position.

In Saturday’s season opener, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Salerno played eight snaps on offense, which qualified as the fourth-most of Notre Dame’s wide receivers, according to Pro Football Focus. The ball was thrown his way on two of three passing plays for which he was on the field.

“It’s hard to expect how many times the ball’s going to come your way going into a game,” Salerno said. “I was happy that it came my way more than once. Who knows? I could get no targets for the next two or three games or I could get a ton. You never really know how the game’s going to work.”

Including penalties, Notre Dame only had 50 offensive snaps in the loss to Ohio State. That was part of Notre Dame’s plan to slow the game down and limit Ohio State’s offensive possessions. The AP No. 8 Irish (0-1) will likely expand the offensive game plan starting this Saturday against 1-0 Marshall (2:30 p.m. EDT on NBC).

What that means for Salerno’s involvement in the offense remains to be seen. The wide receiver unit only combined for three catches against Ohio State with Salerno, Lorenzo Styles (54 yards) and Braden Lenzy (32) each recording one reception.

“I don’t think it was anything we did wrong as a receiver group or anything with the play calling,” Salerno said. “Sometimes that’s how the game goes.”

At the very least, Salerno proved he could make a play in a big moment. It wasn’t a surprise to those who have seen Salerno’s work in practice. Former Notre Dame cornerback Troy Pride Jr. tweeted as much during the game.

“This man was a menace on scout team back in the day, glad to see him saucing somebody else’s defense,” Pride wrote.

Salerno said the moment felt like it was almost moving in slow motion. When he tipped the ball for the second time, he was worried he put it within reach of Burke.

“I remember once the ball was tipped making sure the DB wasn’t able to catch it, which was what helped me stay focused on it,” Salerno said. “I was fortunate enough that it stayed close enough of to my body that I could complete the catch.”

Said Buchner after the game: “I was juiced. Matt Salerno, former walk-on, he’s a stud on the team. One of our best receivers. Made a huge play. It was huge, led to a scoring drive. I was thankful he came down with it.”

Perhaps that gave Buchner too much confidence in Salerno when he threw to him later in the game. The play call was built on deceit with Salerno starting in the right slot, motioning to a wing position behind the right side of the offensive line. At the snap, Salerno ran left behind the offensive line as a run fake was carried out between Buchner and running back Chris Tyree.

As Salerno ran his wheel route near the sideline, Ohio State never lost track of him and prevented Salerno from getting open with cornerback Cameron Brown in coverage.

When the ball was in the air, Salerno looked back for the ball and put a hand on Brown’s shoulder as Brown seemingly backed into Salerno while looking for the ball as well. Brown went to the ground in what appeared to be a bit of an embellishment.

Salerno said he didn’t agree with the penalty.

“We both got kind of tangled up,” Salerno said. “I thought it was a 50-50 call. Unfortunately, it didn’t go my way. Just as a learning experience for next time, I have to be aware of that and not leave any doubt or leave it in the referee’s hand next time.”

Salerno never appeared open, so Buchner probably shouldn’t have thrown it to him in the first place. Given another chance, Salerno said, he’d try to win the route more cleanly to avoid contact. As someone who hasn’t received many in his Notre Dame career, Salerno knows there might not be another opportunity for a while either.

“We weren’t really expecting someone to be there,” Salerno said of the Ohio State defender. “Tyler kind of just put it up for me. I didn’t really think it was even a catchable ball for either of us. I didn’t think he was going to have a chance either. That’s kind of why I disagreed with the call. But at the of the day, that’s what they called.”

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