Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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20 SEPT. 28, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE AND TYLER HORKA W h e n No t re Da m e s e n i o r quarterback Riley Leonard completed a simple 3-yard spot route to senior wideout Jayden Thomas for a first down in the second quarter, a smattering of Irish fans began to cheer. They weren't happy with the play, not by a long shot. They were sarcastic cheers. Before that, they were boos, which began after Leonard badly missed two sprint-out throws in the first quarter. They grew louder after a botched snap on a field goal attempt cost Notre Dame three points, and even louder after the ensuing possession resulted in a three- and-out. It looked like the Irish were in for an- other slugfest, trailing 3-0 to yet an- other Mid-American Conference op- ponent in Miami (Ohio). But soon enough, the boos turned into real cheers. Leonard and the Notre Dame offense marched down to score after his short throw to Thomas. He punched it in with an 8-yard touch- down scamper, his fifth rushing score of the season. Later in the second quarter, he completed his first touchdown pass with the Irish on a 38-yard deep ball to graduate student wide receiver Beaux Collins. That, combined with another shut- down performance for the Notre Dame defense, was enough. The Irish beat Mi- ami (Ohio) 28-3 to move to 3-1. "It wasn't pretty," Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. "It wasn't clean. But to beat that football team 28-3, that's a really good victory." Notre Dame still has plenty to work on after its first home victory of the season, and the passing game tops that list. Leonard completed 16 of 25 throws for 154 yards with that touchdown, al- though he did rush 12 times for a career- high 143 yards and 2 scores. "The misses are just on me being lackadaisical and just not finishing with my mechanics and things like that," Leonard said. "The hits obviously come when you trust your guys around you. I think our best drives were when I was just giving it to our playmakers and let- ting them go." Even Leonard's work on the ground wasn't perfect, though. Early in the third quarter, he broke free for a 43- yard gain — but he lost the football as the RedHawks took him down. Leonard's fumble was one of sev- eral mistakes that hurt Notre Dame throughout the afternoon. Sophomore wide receiver Jordan Faison's muffed punt after the RedHawks' opening drive was the first. A needless unsportsman- like conduct penalty on sophomore safety Adon Shuler enraged head coach Marcus Freeman and cost the Irish a chance to add points before halftime. "We had too many penalties that we have to clean up and see why they oc- cur, and make sure we don't continue to allow them to happen," Freeman said. Even the defense didn't put forth its best effort, allowing 5.8 sack-adjusted yards per carry to a Miami (Ohio) team that averaged 1.4 in its first two games. But when Notre Dame needed a big play, defensive coordinator Al Golden's unit stepped up. After Faison's muffed punt, sopho- more cornerback Christian Gray jumped a slant route near the goal line and de- flected the ball into the hands of junior defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka. Gray later came down with an interception of his own, which led to sophomore run- ning back Jeremiyah Love's touchdown run to put the Irish up 21-3. "We had some drives, we had some yards, but we stuck our cleats in the ground and didn't let them get into the end zone, which is a huge credit to Coach Golden and our defense," Free- man said. Leonard ended any remaining hope Miami (Ohio) had with a 50-yard touch- down run up the middle with 5:39 left in the fourth quarter. Once he crossed the goal line, the Irish turned their at- tention to their Week 5 rematch with Louisville. "We're a mature group and every- body's feeling the same thing," Leonard said. "Let's get back out there on the next drive and try to prove it." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 0, MIAMI (OHIO) 0 Top moment: Gray attacked a short pass on first-and-goal from the 5-yard line. The ball deflected high into the air, and Tuihalamaka fell under it for his first career interception, a points-saver early for the Irish defense. Feature performer: Miami (Ohio) came into Notre Dame Stadium and put its early upset hopes on the arm of its veteran quarterback, Brett Gabbert. He connected on 7 of 12 throws for 59 yards. He threw the interception but he also had a 14-yard gain on the ground and was sacked once for a loss of 14 yards. Stats: Miami (Ohio) outgained Notre Dame 103-35 in total yards and averaged more yards per play 5.2-4.4. The Red- Hawks possessed the ball for 10:35 and had 6 first downs to the Irish's 2. Items: Sophomore defensive end Boubacar Traore had a sack … Graduate student punter James Rendell had a 53- yard punt … Notre Dame botched a snap on a 51-yard field goal attempt; the play resulted in an incomplete pass thrown out of bounds by kicker Mitch Jeter. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 14, MIAMI (OHIO) 3 Top moment: Leonard connected with Collins for a beautiful 38-yard touchdown pass, Leonard's first with the Irish, to give Notre Dame a 14-3 lead with 1:05 left until halftime. Feature performer: Leonard also had an 8-yard rushing score to give A WIN IS A WIN Notre Dame survived its second MAC opponent, beating Miami (Ohio) 28-3 Senior quarterback Riley Leonard accounted for 297 yards of total offense and 3 touchdowns to lead the Irish to their second straight win. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER