UNLV football falls at Notre Dame, 44-21

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022 | 4:18 p.m.

In most seasons for UNLV football — the vast majority of seasons throughout the program’s history — the mere opportunity to play a game at Notre Dame would constitute the highlight of the year. Win or lose.

This is not most seasons, however, and so UNLV’s 44-21 loss at historic Notre Dame Stadium has to be viewed through a different lens.

In the short term the defeat was more painful, as sloppy special teams and uninspired quarterbacking conspired to extend the Scarlet and Gray losing streak to three. But in the bigger picture, it’s not the most important game on the schedule, not by a long shot.

UNLV is now 4-4 overall and still very much alive for a bowl berth. After a bye next week, the Scarlet and Gray will sprint to the finish line, needing to win two of their remaining four games in order to qualify for the postseason.

All four of those contests will be bigger, more important and more pressure-packed than Saturday’s trip to The House That Rockne Built.

Now it’s up to UNLV to play better.

Marcus Arroyo brought a banged-up team to South Bend and the gap in size and physicality was apparent from the early going. Notre Dame star edge defender Isaiah Foskey blocked two punts on back-to-back possessions in the first quarter, with both of them spotting the Fighting Irish offense inside the UNLV 20.

Notre Dame got 10 points out of those drives, putting UNLV in an early hole that was only exacerbated by the team’s unsettled situation at quarterback. With Doug Brumfield out for the second straight week due to a concussion, sophomore Cameron Friel got the start but traded off with third-string passer Harrison Bailey throughout the day.

Neither quarterback was able to establish any consistent offense; Friel completed 8-of-15 passes for 80 yards and Bailey hit 9-of-18 for 73 yards. As a team, UNLV failed to convert a single third-down opportunity all day, going 0-of-11.

Senior running back Courtney Reese was responsible for nearly half of UNLV’s offensive production, as he ran for a career-high 142 yards on 11 carries, including a 74-yarder that set up a touchdown in the first quarter. It made little difference though, as UNLV averaged 4.9 yards per play overall.

Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans scored on a 1-yard touchdown run just before halftime to extend the Irish lead to 30-7 at the break, and that was the ballgame. UNLV kept the scoreboard respectable throughout most of the second half but never got closer than 16 points.

Arroyo said while the locker room was disappointed after the game, the players understand there is still a lot of season remaining, with a lot still at stake.

“We’re in the middle rounds of a heavyweight fight,” Arroyo said. “We’ve got a great stretch ahead of us. We’ve got a week to get healthy, which we really, really need.”

The list of critical injuries is a long one. In addition to Brumfield, UNLV took the field Saturday without starting running back Aidan Robbins (knee) and No. 3 receiver Jeff Weimer (shoulder). No. 2 receiver Kyle Williams returned from an ankle injury and played for the first time since Sept. 24 against Utah State, but appeared to reinjure his ankle late in the fourth quarter.

Almost any other year, UNLV would have been thrilled with a sightseeing trip to Notre Dame. But with a bowl game hanging in the balance, the team will have to refocus, get healthy during the bye week and then regroup for the program’s biggest stretch of games in nearly a decade.

“Guys are fired up and ready to go,” linebacker Austin Ajiake said. “We know what we have ahead of us. We know what we’re fighting for. Coach Arroyo always reminds us what we’re fighting for. These last four have got to be our best brand of football on both sides — actually, on all three sides. The guys are ready and prepared for it.

“We know what’s at stake.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.