Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 7, 2024 23 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: C Quarterback Riley Leonard completed 60.0 per- cent of his passes in his first career Notre Dame start but only for 158 yards. Graduate student wide receiver Beaux Collins was the only pass catcher with at least 30 receiving yards. He had 5 catches for 62. Without him, the Irish would have been in a bad way. A real bad way. The Irish's young offensive line showed its inex- perience over and over, often hanging Leonard out to dry with relentless pressure piercing through the left side. Starting receiver Jordan Faison got hurt and did not return. It was all going south for the Irish … until Leonard completed two clutch passes, one to Collins and the other on third down to sophomore slot man Jaden Greathouse, just a few plays before Notre Dame took a late lead for good. Those passes alone — winning plays, by all mea- sures — save this grade from being a D. Only up from here on what was a tough night for Mike Denbrock's aerial attack, perhaps. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: B Four of junior Jadarian Price's eight carries went for negative yardage. He somehow finished with 44 yards despite his tantalizing touchdown com- ing from 47 yards out. He did break the big one, though, and it counted for much more than the ones that went backward. Sophomore Jeremiyah Love, meanwhile, put together a steadier stat line of 14 attempts for 91 yards and a touchdown as Notre Dame's lead back. He only lost yardage once, and he came up big in the biggest moment with his 21-yard score in the final two minutes of the game. Leonard, of course, was a factor with his legs in rushing 12 times for 63 yards. Three of those attempts went for first downs. Even against the stingiest defensive line Notre Dame will go against all season, as head coach Marcus Freeman said in his postgame press conference, Leonard was a factor when he tucked and took off. Fewer bottled up situations from Price, which would have required more push from the offensive line, to take the 34 carries for 198 yards over the 200 mark and this grade would have flirted with an A. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: A+ Blue & Gold Illustrated touted Texas A&M quar- terback Conner Weigman as the best signal-caller the Irish will face in 2024 in its season preview magazine. He might still be worth of that title even after he completed just 12 of 30 throws (40.0 percent) for 100 yards with no touchdowns and 2 interceptions. That's just how darn good this Notre Dame pass defense is. These guys make talented quarterbacks look like they don't belong. They go after balls on the back end and go after the quarterback up front. In addi- tion to the 2 interceptions, one each from starting safeties Xavier Watts and Adon Shuler, graduate student Howard Cross III came up with a timely third-down sack. That's all before mentioning the lockdown nature of corners Benjamin Morrison and Christian Gray. The Irish couldn't be in a better spot in this phase of the game. They showed it against the Aggies. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: B- There was a point when it felt like Texas A&M was going to be able to do whatever it wanted in the ground game, particularly when the Aggies gained at least 6 yards on four straight rushing plays to end the first quarter. But for some reason, Weigman threw the ball 30 times in a game Notre Dame never led until late in the third quarter. In all, the numbers weren't great for the A&M; 38 carries for 146 yards and a touchdown. But Notre Dame's rush defense has some catching up to do with its pass defense, and the Irish know that. B- leaves room for improvement while still giving some credit to the group for not letting things get out of hand like in losses at Louisville and Clemson last year. SPECIAL TEAMS: A Welcome to Notre Dame, Mitch Jeter. The graduate transfer from South Carolina made all three of his field goal attempts, including two from 46 yards away — the latter of that pair com- ing with 30 seconds left to put the game out of reach. Australian punter James Rendell was called on five times and averaged 42.8 yards per boot and landed three of his kicks inside the Texas A&M 20- yard line. Not bad for the first American football game of his life in front of 107,315. COACHING: B+ Eleven penalties for 99 yards certainly need to be reduced, but you've got to give credit to defensive coordinator Al Golden for coaching up a masterclass and Freeman and offensive co- ordinator Mike Denbrock coming together to motivate the offense in a critical juncture by tell- ing the players on that side of the ball, "This is right where we want to be. This is what we talked about" before the Irish went on an eight-play, 85- yard game-winning drive. There is beauty in a coaching staff being able to get the most out of a group when everything is at stake. REPORT CARD BY TYLER HORKA Senior quarterback Riley Leonard didn't have a strong game throwing the ball, but he compiled 63 yards on 12 rushing attempts and came through with a couple big throws during the game-winning drive. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER