There is plenty to unpack about what went wrong in No. 2 Notre Dame’s 28-24 loss to No. 8 BYU on Saturday night.
The biggest blunder that hasn’t been discussed as much is the lack of true freshman running back Jonaz Walton in the game.
Walton had just seven yards rushing on a few carries through the first three quarters of the contest. He finally saw some action in the fourth quarter that resulted in 10-yards on the ground and a touchdown run that put the Fighting Irish ahead 24-21.
Sophomore running back Nolan James Jr. ran for 77-yards and a rushing score on 16 attempts, but he averaged just 4.8 yards-per-carry.
According to Pete Sampson of The Athletic, James played 50 of Notre Dame’s snaps on Saturday. Junior Aneyas Williams, who had just eight rushing yards on three touches, was part of more snaps (21) than Walton (10).
Walton’s absence through most of the contest is especially puzzling after he set a freshman single-game rushing record with 181-yards and two scores in Notre Dame’s win over Stanford last weekend.
In fact, Walton has racked up 301 yards rushing and a couple of scores in two games before BYU, which includes a 9.6 YAC.
Coach Marcus Freeman even elaborated after last weekend’s win over Stanford why Walton was getting more playing time. “We know he’s gifted,” Freeman said. “He has a lot of ability, but what you’re seeing is that he's being consistent in practice, consistent on his reads.”
But Freeman, nor Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock did not explain why a red-hot Walton was basically a non-factor against BYU. It will be interesting to see if Freeman or Denbrock provide answers this week for the freshman running back’s limited playing time.
Per Pro Football Focus, snaps played by Notre Dame's running backs versus BYU.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) October 18, 2026
Nolan James Jr. – 50
Aneyas Williams – 21
Jonaz Walton – 10
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Notre Dame’s Jonaz Walton sees significantly less playing time vs. BYU