Notre Dame Notebook: Marcus Freeman Talks Michael Mayer, Drew Pyne, Beating BYU

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman discussed several aspects of his team's 28-20 victory over BYU following the game

Notre Dame is leaving Las Vegas a winner. Saturday night’s 28-20 victory over BYU is the third in a row for Marcus Freeman and his Fighting Irish. The win moves the Irish to 3-2 on the season and also evens Freeman’s brief career mark at 3-3.

The Irish got big performances across the board, from players both expected and unexpected. One player who didn't see the field was defensive tackle Howard Cross, who Freeman said missed the game with a high ankle sprain. But the Irish head coach shared his thoughts on many other players from the win in Vegas.

On Michael Mayer

All-American candidate Michael Mayer set multiple records for an Irish tight end against the Cougars. He came into the night with 135 career receptions, which was five behind Irish career leader Tyler Eifert.

Mayer ended his night with 11 catches for 118 yards and two touchdown grabs. His 11 receptions is a new Notre Dame single-game record as well. He is just one touchdown from tying Ken MacAfee for the career mark of 15. Mayer already owns the single season marks for catches and yards, which he set last season, and he also owns the program's top marks for a tight end for catches and yards for a freshman.

"He’s special, man,” Freeman said of his star tight end. "He is a special football player, but the thing you love about Michael Mayer is that he’s the hardest worker. When your best player is your hardest worker, you know what, that’s the greatest example you can have for young guys and your entire team.

"So, I’m just going to continue to push him to continue to be the hardest worker we have,” continued Freeman. “(Tight ends) Coach (Gerad) Parker and (offensive coordinator) Coach (Tommy) Rees have done a great job of still developing Mike. He’s not a finished product and that’s tough to say for the guy that probably holds every record at Notre Dame for a tight end. He’s not a finished product, but he understands and he wants to be pushed. That’s the thing about Michael Mayer, he’s one of those great ones that don’t want to be told what he does well, tell me how.”

Jayden Thomas Breaks Out

Sophomore wide receiver Jayden Thomas came into the night with three catches for 32 yards for his career, but he matched that total in catches to go with a career-high 74 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown grab that saw him go up over a BYU defensive back. It was the biggest play of his career, and it was a key part of the victory.

"Those are big catches,” Freeman stated. "Those are catches that we need. We need guys, I’ve always said, to make the quarterback look good. It’s too often the quarterback gets too much blame and too much praise, right? We need guys to make the quarterback look good. To see Jayden make some of those big catches that he made today was huge for the confidence of our wideouts room, but also the confidence of our quarterback to be able to spread the ball around, so it was really good to see that.”

Drew Pyne Competes

Quarterback Drew Pyne went 22 of 28 for 262 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. While half of his completions went to Mayer, he found six other receivers on the night as well.

"He’s the ultimate competitor,” Freeman proclaimed. "That’s the one thing that makes him special is he competes, he prepares the right way.

"I look at and I think about the first half of that Cal game and really, maybe a little bit more the first quarter,” continued Freeman. “It wasn’t a lack of confidence, but a lack of execution and that really messes with your confidence. Drew Pyne is always ready to go. And now, what you’re seeing is the execution is starting to be there, so the confidence just continues to rise. I just keep challenging him to continue to be the standard in terms of how we prepare, because he is and he’ll continue to get better and better.”

Audric Estime Leads The Backfield

Audric Estime led the team with 97 rushing yards on 14 carries (6.9 YPC). He gave Irish fans a highlight reel run when he took a pitch from Pyne and galloped toward the sideline, where he hurdled a would-be tackler for a 13-yard gain. He also had a key 46-yard run late in the game on a play where he was initially stopped near the line of scrimmage.

"He’s a bulldozer, man,” Freeman commented. "When that bulldozer starts jumping, bulldozers aren’t supposed to be off the ground, you know what I mean? Bulldozers are supposed to stay on the ground. To see him do that, it just shows his athleticism, but he’s playing at a high level.”

While Estime and fellow backs Chris Tyree and Logan Diggs each accounted for more than 100 yards from scrimmage two weeks ago against North Carolina, Estime was the only back to do it against BYU. His 13 receiving yards gave him 110 total yards and his third straight game with 100+ yards from scrimmage.

Diggs finished with a team-high 17 carries to go with 93 yards, while Tyree had 11 totes for 42 yards and two catches for –4 yards.

"I can’t speak enough about the unselfishness of that room,” Freeman said. "All three of those guys want to be the starter. All three of those guys want to have every rep, but to be unselfish and putting the greater good of the team in front of yourself, man, that’s the example we need for our team.”

Offensive Line Fuels The Victory

Notre Dame’s offensive line was good for a majority of the night. The times they struggled to get a push came when Notre Dame ran the ball inside the five yard line against eight-man defensive boxes.

But the Irish picked up a pair of first downs thanks to six straight runs to finish the game in the fourth quarter," explained Freeman. "They knew we were running the ball,” Freeman said emphatically. “They knew we were running it and I told them that’s a sign of a great offensive line, is when they know you’re running the ball and you’re able to get first downs, that’s an O-line driven program.

Jayson Ademilola Comes Up Big

Defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola finished with two tackles. None was bigger than when he stuffed BYU running back Lopini Katoa on 4th and 1 in the fourth quarter.

"Man, is he an emotional leader for that group,” Freeman noted. "He’s the guy that when things are tough he always comes to grab me and say, Coach, I got you. He did it last year and he does it this year and at the biggest moments he shows up. You can’t say enough about a guy like that, that you know in the biggest moments you can depend on. That he’s going to make a play.

“He just does his job really, really well,” Freeman continued. “That’s what our guys have to understand. You don’t have to go make a play. You’ve got to do your job really, really well and then the plays usually come to you, but he is a very dependable player for us.”

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