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Notre Dame Football: 3 players who deserve game balls in Cincinnati loss

By Danny McCormick

Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Kyren Williams (23) celebrates with Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Drew Pyne (10) in the second half of the NCAA football game on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. Cincinnati Bearcats defeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish 24-13.Cincinnati Bearcats At Notre Dame Fighting Irish 234
Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Kyren Williams (23) celebrates with Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Drew Pyne (10) in the second half of the NCAA football game on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. Cincinnati Bearcats defeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish 24-13.Cincinnati Bearcats At Notre Dame Fighting Irish 234 /
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Notre Dame football came into Saturday as an underdog which does not happen often for the Irish playing at home. They entered this contest with a 26-game home winning streak which is a key reason why many felt Notre Dame could upset the Bearcats.

The Bearcats made sure that the home winning streak did not reach 27 and also that there was no upset as Cincinnati won this top-10 matchup 24-13.

This was the Bearcats’ first win against a top-10 team in their program’s history. The Cincinnati Bearcats faithful will remember this key win forever.

Throw in that it came against multiple former Cincinnati coaches including Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman on the other side makes it much sweeter for Cincinnati.

Notre Dame suffered their first loss of the season against Cincinnati. This loss basically knocks the Irish out of returning to the playoff — for now.

Here are three players who deserve a game ball despite their loss to Cincinnati.

3. Michael Mayer

Michael Mayer was one of the few bright spots for Notre Dame on offense. The sophomore tight end finished with eight receptions and just shy of 100 yards on the day with 93 receiving yards.

Mayer seemed to injure what looked like his hamstring in the second half after a catch and run. This did not stop Mayer as he fought through it and continued to play the rest of the game.

The Cincinnati defense was able to keep what most around the county believe is the best tight end out of the end zone.

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