The Notre Dame Fighting Irish destroyed the Massachusetts Minutemen 62-27 thanks to a giant second half. With the win the Irish improve to 4-0 and 3-0 at home. With the loss the Minutemen remain winless and fall to 0-3 on the season.
The 62 points that Notre Dame scored in this one are their most since the 62-0 shellacking of Rutgers in 1996. The Irish starters were out of this game by the middle of the third quarter when Notre Dame blew the game open.
Notre Dame opened the scoring with just over six minutes left in the first quarter when C.J. Prosise ran the ball 57 yards for the touchdown, the week after he ran the ball 91 yards for the longest touchdown in Notre Dame Stadium history. With seven seconds left in the first quarter, DeShone Kizer ran it in from seven yards out to put Notre Dame ahead 14-0. As the first quarter ended Marquis Young put the Minutemen on the board with an 83-yard run to make it a 14-6 game as the extra point was blocked.
The Minutemen would continue the comeback attempt in the second quarter when Sekai Lindsay ran it in from one yard out to make it a 14-13 game with 11:17 left. With 7:47 left DeShone Kizer passed it to Will Fuller for the 26-yard score to extend the Notre Dame lead to make it a 21-13 game. Almost a minute later, UMass would bring to within one, which was the closest it would get with a one-yard run by Jamal Wilson to make it a 21-20 game.
Notre Dame would start the onslaught with 3:21 left in the second quarter when C.J. Sanders ran the UMass punt back 50 yards for the score to make it a 28-20. With six seconds left in the first half DeShone Kizer dropped back and sent it to Will Fuller for the seven-yard touchdown to make it a 35-20 game at halftime.
The second half was all Notre Dame as they made UMass forget all the about the hard fought first half. With 12:02 left in the third, C.J. Prosise ran 16 yards for the touchdown to make it a 42-20 game. With 9:28 left, Dexter Williams ran 14 yards to add to the Notre Dame lead to make it a 48-20 game.
After that the backups for the Irish came in and played the rest of the game. So, with 2:18 left in the third quarter, true freshman quarterback Brandon Wimbush passed it deep to about the five to Will Fuller but that was called back so his first college completion would have to wait. However, a few plays later Brandon Wimbush ran through the Minutemen defense for a 58-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 55-20. The Irish would add another one when with 8:42 left in the fourth quarter as true freshman running back Josh Adams took the ball on a trip that lasted 70 yards ending in the end zone to put Notre Dame up 62-20. The UMass Minutemen got a meaningless touchdown with 3:35 left when backup quarterback Ross Cornis threw the ball 33 yards to Shakur Nesmith to make it a 62-27 game.
On the first play of the second quarter DeShone Kizer again threw an interception, his second interception in as many games. Notre Dame forced some turnovers as well, when in the third quarter on a deep ball by Minutemen quarterback Blake Frohnapfel threw it deep and it was the “tip drill” from there. Mathias Farley tipped the ball where it landed right into the hands of Cole Luke.
DeShone Kizer went 15-22 in this game throwing for 207 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Brandon Wimbush went 3-5 for 17 yards, without a passing touchdown or interception. Blake Frohnapfel went 20-40 for 233 yards and one interception. His backup was perfect, as Ross Cornis went 8-8 for 69 yards and a touchdown.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish look to improve to 5-0 next week when they play a primetime ESPN showdown in Death Valley, South Carolina when they play the Clemson Tigers who beat Louisville 20-17 in their last game. The UMass Minutemen look to get in the win column and improve to 1-3 next week when they stay home for the Florida International Golden Panthers.