Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 21, 2024 29 demption after a week he described as "pretty awful" following his sub- par performance in a loss to NIU. With 11 completions on 16 attempts for 112 yards, along with 11 carries for 100 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns in Notre Dame's 66-7 win over Purdue, he got it. "I was just itching to get out to the field again and be able to prove myself," Leonard said. "It's a long time, Satur- day to Saturday, just sitting around and thinking about the last game. You're like, 'Man, I just want another oppor- tunity to get back out there.'" Leonard wasn't perfect. Some of the issues that plagued him in Week 2, such as passing up open receivers, popped up again. But he avoided turnovers, made ac- curate throws underneath, converted third downs and ran like a man on a mission. If his reportedly injured left shoulder bothered him, he didn't show it. "Yeah, it's just how I play the game," Leonard said. "I got no fear in the world of getting injured. I think the second you play hesitant is when things get scary, so I just play my game and trust in the Lord. "I'm gonna lower my shoulder. I'm gonna get the first down for my guys." Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man credited Leonard for his perfor- mance, but he also said the Irish did better to put him in a position to suc- ceed than they did against NIU. "We gotta make sure we're calling things that our players know in and out," Freeman said. "And it takes time. It takes time, spending time together. The growth of our offense from Week 2 to Week 3 was tremendous." Leonard said he and offensive coordi- nator Mike Denbrock talked throughout the week, with Denbrock constantly re- minding him, "I trust you." He also gave the ex-LSU OC feedback on which plays he's most comfortable with, which paid dividends. "Just being honest with each other, being vulnerable and having open con- versations is something every offen- sive coordinator and quarterback has to have," Leonard said. "And this week, we nailed it. He called the game perfectly, in my opinion." Leonard didn't silence his critics this week. Calls for junior Steve Angeli remain loud and aggressive, and they won't go away until he proves he can win games with his arm. He seemed to regain his confidence, though. And he bought himself valuable time. ✦ Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Love 10 109 0 109 10.9 1 48 Leonard 11 100 0 100 9.1 3 34 Price 8 87 1 86 10.8 1 70 Young 4 25 0 25 6.2 0 11 Angeli 4 29 17 12 3.0 0 29 Minchey 2 12 0 12 6.0 1 7 Ford 2 9 0 9 4.5 0 7 Williams 1 9 0 9 9.0 0 9 Thomas 1 2 0 2 2.0 0 2 TEAM 1 0 2 -2 -2.0 0 0 Total 44 382 20 362 8.2 6 70 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Leonard 11 16 68.8 0 112 0 23 Angeli 6 9 66.7 0 100 2 42 Minchey 1 1 100.0 0 4 0 4 Total 18 26 69.2 0 216 2 42 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Raridon 3 30 0 12 Evans 3 27 0 19 Harrison 2 47 0 42 Thomas 2 36 0 23 Love 2 18 0 14 Smith 2 13 0 9 Collins 2 9 0 6 Flanagan 1 28 1 28 Bauman 1 8 1 8 Total 18 216 2 42 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Hurleman 2 21 0 11 Greathouse 1 9 0 9 Williams 1 5 0 5 Total 4 35 0 11 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long None Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Rendell 4 37.5 43 0 0 3 0 0 Total 4 37.5 43 0 0 3 0 0 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Jeter 1 1 42 0 Yoakam 0 0 0 0 Total 1 1 42 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Heard 3 1 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Onye 3 1 4 1.5-13 1.5-13 1 0 0 Botelho 1 2 3 1-13 1-13 0 0 0 Kiser 3 0 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Urlacher 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Viliamu-Asa 0 3 3 0.5-5 0.5-5 0 0 0 Ausberry 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bowen 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Moore 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Morrison 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Mukam 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Shuler 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Sneed 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Talich 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Traore 2 0 2 2-12 1-9 0 0 0 Watts 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Clark 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hurleman 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Mills 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Oben 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Thomas 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Zinter 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long Traore 1 34 1 34 Viliamu-Asa 1 4 0 4 Total 2 38 1 34 PURDUE INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Love 10 61 0 61 6.1 0 11 Mockobee 9 19 0 19 2.1 0 4 Card 6 1 43 -42 -7.0 0 1 Total 25 81 43 38 1.5 0 11 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Card 11 24 45.8 2 124 1 52 Total 11 24 45.8 2 124 1 52 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Klare 3 36 0 21 Morrissette 2 9 1 5 Brown 1 52 0 52 Edrine 1 18 0 18 Mockobee 1 3 0 3 Rigby 1 3 0 3 Tibbs 1 3 0 3 Smith 1 0 0 0 Total 11 124 1 52 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long None Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Jackson 3 61 0 25 Total 3 61 0 25 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Crimmins 10 47.3 64 0 1 4 2 3 Total 10 47.3 64 0 1 4 2 3 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Porath 0 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Thieneman 6 3 9 1-2 1-2 0 0 0 Stevens 5 3 8 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Jenkins 4 3 7 0.5-3 0.5-3 0 0 0 Breedlove 4 1 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Heldt 2 3 5 0.5-2 0.5-2 0 0 0 Sillah 2 3 5 1-10 1-10 0 0 0 M'ba 1 3 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Karlaftis 0 4 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Dinkins 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Lewis 2 1 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 Madden 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brown 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Levy 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brown 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Omonode 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Grant 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Miller 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Rigby 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Anderson 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Jefferson 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Kennedy 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long None NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS