SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Logan Diggs has listened to Kyren Williams before.
Last season, Diggs shared the same running backs room with Williams when he was a junior captain. However, a season is all it was.
In the winter, Williams elected to forego his senior season to chase a career in the NFL. He left three returning scholarship running backs behind him — Audric Estimé, Chris Tyree and Diggs — who have all stood out in spots through Notre Dame's seven games this season.
But on a sunny and warm Saturday afternoon, Diggs was the one that shined with a career-high 28 carries for 130 yards in a 44-21 Notre Dame victory over UNLV (4-4).
Diggs' performance came from Williams' inspiration.
"He said, 'You play football, you're a football player,'" Diggs recalled. "'Go out there and do what you do. Do your job.'
"That gave me all the confidence I need just to go out there and just do what I've been doing my whole life.”
Williams, now with the Los Angeles Rams, returned to South Bend for Saturday's game to assist with Peacock's game coverage of Notre Dame (4-3). On Friday night, he reconvened with Diggs and shared the message. And the 6-foot, 214-pound Diggs took it and ran with it.
Before Saturday's game, the last time an Irish running back received 25 or more carries was when Williams registered that number Oct. 23, 2021, against USC. In that same game, Williams churned his way to 138 rushing yards.
Until Saturday, Estimé's 134 yards against North Carolina on Sept. 24 was the only time an Irish rusher exceeded 100 yards. And Diggs reached his career-best 130 rushing yards partly due to an Estimé mistake.
On the 6-foot, 229-pound Estimé's third carry of the game, he coughed up the ball marking his third lost fumble in four games. It led offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and running backs coach Deland McCullough to turn to Diggs as the primary running back for the remainder of the game.
SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS TO STAY IN THE KNOW ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS
JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON THE INSIDER LOUNGE MESSAGE BOARD
“I heard Coach Rees and coach McCullough kind of say, ‘Hey, put Logan in the game right now. Let's go with Logan,” head coach Marcus Freeman said. “... Logan's done a great job. He's continued to get better. That's a result of being unselfish. It's tough. You've got three great running backs. Everybody wants the ball.
“Today, we rode Logan, and he did a great job.”
Diggs did not hesitate when the coaching staff called his name. After Estimé’s fumble, Diggs racked up 119 rushing yards on 20 carries — averaging 5.4 yards on each handoff.
“They told me, ‘Let's go. It's time,’” Diggs said. “When it's time, then it's time to go. There's no looking back. There's only looking forward. If this is what I want to do for a long time, then this is the time to do it. So, I have to execute on my opportunity.”
And according to Diggs, his number of opportunities and his rushing output are not coincidental.
“I'm a volume back,” he said. “It takes — not a while, but a few carries to get me going. Once I'm going, then I feel like I'm going. And then with that offensive line and their confidence coming off the ball, the offense is unstoppable.”
Special teams play a special role in the victory
Isaiah Foskey was more forthcoming on and off the field.
Before Saturday, no Notre Dame player since at least 1937 — as far as Notre Dame’s recorded stats — had blocked two punts in one game. Then, Foskey busted through the Ramblers' punt protection twice for blocked punts in the first quarter.
The last time the Irish blocked two kicks altogether were 16 years ago. And Foskey did it twice in less than two minutes of game time. It increased Notre Dame’s team total to four on the season — the most since 2000.
Despite his similar outcomes, Foskey’s blocks were not a part of special teams coordinator Brian Mason’s game plan strategy, according to Freeman.
“It wasn't that ‘Hey, they had something in particular that we're going to exploit,’” Freeman said. “Every week, we feel like we can take advantage of a punt team, and Coach Mason does a great job of executing the game plan. Today we were able to get two.
Although Foskey did not openly disagree with Freeman’s assessment, he shared that Mason actually found something he liked and inserted it into the game plan.
“Coach Mase put me in the right position to wrap around the long snapper to make a play,” Foskey said. “We've seen the opening for the last couple of games that UNLV showed, and we just took an opportunity from it.”
Graduate senior kicker Blake Grupe also took advantage of his most chances as an Irish kicker.
Grupe made and attempted a season-high three of four field goals to increase his season total to 8-10. The 5-8, 156-pound Grupe also succeeded on all five point-after-touchdown attempts. He accounted for 17 of Notre Dame’s points.
Meanwhile, fellow graduate senior Jon Sot had yet another 50-yard punt for his ninth of the season.
Coming into Saturday’s game, Notre Dame ranked in college football’s upper half in blocked kicks, blocked kicks allowed, blocked punts, blocked punts allowed, kickoff return defense and punt returns.
Michael Mayer is magnificent for Pyne again
Notre Dame’s 6-5, 265-pound junior tight end continues to impact Drew Pyne and the record books.
With the Irish rolling on offense in the first half, Pyne targeted Mayer on 10 of his first 18 passes. They connected on six of them for 115 yards (19.2 yards per catch) and a touchdown.
Though Mayer takes pride in production like Saturdays, he has occasionally highlighted his growth as a leader throughout the season. And Saturday, he took it upon himself to brush some of it off on Notre Dame’s starting quarterback.
“I know Drew pretty well,” Mayer said. “I know when he's down. I know when he's up. I know when he's in the middle. I know when he needs a slap on the butt to say, ‘Let's go. We're still in this thing. Let's drive down the field. Let's go score.’
“I think it's important because he does get down sometimes, and I think he does need some people to lift him up sometimes."
However, Mayer has done the majority of the lifting this season.
He has totaled a team-high 44 receptions for 526 receiving yards (12.0 yards per catch) and six touchdowns through seven games. Notre Dame’s wide receivers have caught 50 passes for 652 yards (13.0 yards per catch) and four touchdowns.
After Saturday, he again moved up in several categories in the Notre Dame record books.
• His 20-yard catch marked the 15th of his career, tying Ken MacAfee (1974-44) for first all-time in tight end touchdown receptions.
• With his 115 receiving yards, he surpassed MacAfee for second all-time in career receiving yards with 1,816. He’s just 25 yards away from claiming the No. 1 spot, which Tyler Eifert (2009-12) currently holds.
• Saturday was Mayer’s fifth career game with 100 or more yards receiving.
• Mayer has 157 career receptions, matching wide receivers Golden Tate (2007-09) and Tom Gatewood (1969-71) for fifth all-time.
• Mayer already holds the tight end records for receptions in a game, receptions in a season, receiving yards in a season and touchdown receptions in a season.
Cleats for a cause
The Notre Dame football team wore cleats promoting local charities during Saturday’s game.
The Irish are live auctioning the cleats until Oct. 31 at 11:59 p.m.
As of midnight Saturday, Mayer’s cleats received the highest bid at $3,100, while Freeman’s were second at $2,100. Eighteen players’ cleats had a minimum bid of $250.
Learn more about the initiative by reading Tyler James’ story here.
Hash Marks
- Freshman quarterback Steve Angeli made his Notre Dame debut, taking a handful of snaps in relief of Pyne. Notre Dame's starting quarterback, Pyne, was briefly pulled out of the game after taking a hard hit near the goal line in the second quarter. He returned after missing three snaps.
- Pyne's 21-yard run was the longest of his career.
- After two UNLV defenders sandwiched Pyne, sophomore tight end Mitchell Evans scored his first career touchdown on the next play. Evans, a former quarterback at Wadsworth (Ohio) High, scored on a direct snap from under center — the game's second play of that type. Evans also made his first career start.
- Not only did Foskey register a career-high three sacks, but the senior defensive lineman also moved up to tied-for-third all-time in career sacks (21.5). Foskey matched Victor Abiamiri (2003-06) and Stephon Tuitt (2011-13). He's three sacks away from reaching first all-time.
- Notre Dame's seventh scoring drive — which resulted in a Chris Tyree touchdown (37-14) — was the longest of the season. The Irish took over with 4:09 remaining in the third and scored with 11:59 remaining in the fourth. ND possessed the ball for 7:10.
- Senior wide receiver Braeden Lenzy's four-yard touchdown run with 2:55 remaining in the game was the first of his season.
- Jayson Ademilola's streak of 19 consecutive starts ended. While Ademilola did enter the game questionable with a rib injury, he came on the field for ND's third defensive play before being sent back to sideline following a UNLV pre-snap penalty. Foskey now holds the record for consecutive starts made (20) among active players.
- The following players moved up in the Notre Dame's all-time, games-played rankings:
---------------------------------------------------------------
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND, @TJamesND and @ByKyleKelly.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports
