Audric Estimé could have been an afterthought.
While the sophomore Estimé struggled to protect the football with three fumbles in his previous four games, fellow sophomore Logan Diggs answered any questions about the Notre Dame run game with a combined 330 yards on 64 carries (5.2 yards per carry) in that four-game stretch.
Last week against UNLV, Diggs replaced Estimé after his third fumble and took over with a career-high 28 carries and 130 rushing yards for the game. But the coaching staff never lost confidence in Estimé, and their faith in him showed Saturday.
During Notre Dame's 41-24 victory at No. 16 Syracuse, Diggs and Estimé received an equal number of carries (20). Except this time, the 6-foot, 227-pound Estimé was the better back by 38 more yards and one more touchdown. And ironically enough, he was better partly because of Diggs’ support.
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“Logan's my brother, man,” said Estimé after registering a career-high 20 carries for 123 yards and two TDs. “He's literally my brother from another mother. He’s my roommate. I feel like me and Logan's bond can't be any closer. We're always trying to figure ways out (how) we can push each other to get better every day.
"So, we just have that bond. Honestly, that's just unbreakable, no matter who's having a bad day or a bad week or bad game. We're there for us. We just always feed off each other. Like one has a big run, and it's like, 'All right, it's your turn to go get a big run now.'
"So, I felt like we're just there for each other to lean on and just to push each other to get better."
When Estimé fumbled the first two times, Diggs used motivational support by telling him to keep doing his job and to be better. But last week, it came in the form of tough love.
“I was a real teammate and told him, for real, ‘If you want to play, you've got to hold onto the ball,’” Diggs said after the UNLV game Oct. 22. “It's as simple as that. We have that mutual respect and that love.”
Estimé started Saturday’s game focused on building confidence. And he did by rushing six times for 36 yards in the first quarter. Then, Diggs took over in the second and third to lead the team with a combined 12 carries for 59 yards and one score.
But with the Irish only leading by one score (24-17) to start the fourth quarter, the Irish called on Estimé to carry the workload. He responded with two touchdowns on five carriers and totaled 49 yards.
Although Estimé did not directly point to Diggs’ message to describe this week’s turnaround, it sounded like he had parts of it on his mind as he registered his second-career 100-yard game.
"Honestly, it was just really to be more mindful of it really because the game of football is named after what I hold in my hand,” he said. “… don't take advantage of it because, literally, it could come out anytime. … No matter what, the ball comes first."
Braden Lenzy limited
Notre Dame’s most veteran receiver’s impact was minimal on Saturday.
For the first time in 18 games, senior Braden Lenzy did not start for the Irish. He was limited to mostly special teams and did not record an offensive stat.
“He was ill to start the week,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “So, he missed practice and then we kind of settled into trying to get a little bit more length on the field at wideout. We had a couple of personnel (groups), where we wanted tall guys. We called it ‘tall personnel,’ you know. And the ability to get some of that length — because they have some long corners.
“We wanted to be able to challenge those guys, but it started off because of an illness.”
Lenzy had 14 catches for 128 yards (9.1 yards per catch) and a touchdown on the season before the game.
As a result of Lenzy’s limited availability and the offensive game plan, the 6-5, 211-pound Deion Colzie saw more action. The sophomore finished the game with a career-high three catches for 44 yards (14.7 yards per catch). It was the first time he caught a pass this season.
Hash Marks
- In just 32 games, junior Michael Mayer set another career record for tight ends. With his 54 receiving yards, he eclipsed former first-round NFL Draft choice Tyler Eifert (2009-12) for the most career receiving yards by an Irish tight end. Mayer is up to 1,870 career yards.
- Mayer moved up to fifth all-time in overall career receptions with 160 with only wide receivers ahead of him. Rhema McKnight (2002-06) is fourth with 170. The 6-5, 265-pound Mayer has caught a pass in every game of his career.
- Senior Isaiah Foskey came away with his seventh sack of the season, which increased his career total to 22.5. He is now tied with Kory Minor (1995-98) for second all-time and just 2.5 sacks away from surpassing Justin Tuck (2002-04) for the ND career sack record.
- Junior Jordan Botelho achieved the first sack of this season when he brought down Syracuse quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson in the third quarter. Botelho, who had two sacks last season, finished the game with two sacks and a quarterback hurry.
- Junior cornerback Clarence Lewis’ fourth-quarter blocked punt brought Notre Dame’s total to five this season. It broke the modern single-season school record set in 1938 and matched in 1949 and 2000.
- Notre Dame improved to 8-3 all-time against Syracuse. The Irish have now won five straight games against the Orange.
- With the win, ND has now won 26 consecutive games against ACC opponents. Notre Dame takes on No. 5 Clemson next at Notre Dame Stadium next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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