Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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26 SEPT. 28, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. Leonard's Consistency Still An Issue, But There Was Progress After his two first-quarter misses, nothing senior quarterback Riley Leonard did for the rest of the game was going to matter in Notre Dame fans' eyes. Those misses, to be clear, cannot happen. Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock schemed up easy sprint-out reads to get Leonard in a rhythm and he just botched the throws. He chalked it up to lackadaisical mechanics, which have to tighten up in the next seven days. However, Leonard the passer showed significant progress in Week 4, even if the stat sheet doesn't necessarily reflect it. The hesitancy that plagued him in his first three games with Notre Dame wasn't there. He was letting it rip, even taking several shots down the field. One hit — a 38-yard touchdown to graduate student wide receiver Beaux Collins — and three others might have if not for obvious Miami (Ohio) pass interference penalties. "It gave me a lot of confidence to know I can throw the ball down the field, and something good happened the majority of the time we did that," Leonard said. Confidence is a key word here. Trust is another. Notre Dame's wide receivers are significantly bet- ter than they were last year. Leonard has to trust his guys and, crucially, trust himself. He's not all the way there, but he took a step in the win over the RedHawks. "We know we can make plays like that, and it was just a matter of going and doing it," Collins said. "That was definitely a big confidence-booster for us." 2. Irish Secondary Is Reaching Epic Levels Of Dominance Another day, another meager stat line for a quar- terback facing Notre Dame. Miami (Ohio) signal-caller Brett Gabbert is a solid player, and he didn't shy away from testing the Irish at every level. But he wound up connecting on only 14 of 35 (40.0 percent) throws for 119 yards with 2 interceptions, because the Irish passed almost every test. Gabbert challenged junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison in the end zone twice on one possession, and that went just about as well as you would ex- pect. He went after sophomore cornerback Chris- tian Gray several times, and he wound up with 2 interceptions. Safeties Adon Shuler and Xavier Watts each had 2 passes broken up as well. "Our job as coaches is to call the things your guys do well," head coach Marcus Freeman said. "If we play man well, let's call man." The Irish play an abnormal amount of man defense because they have abnormal defensive backs. It's a rare luxury for defensive coordinator Al Golden to have. 3. Run Defense Issues Shouldn't Be Brushed Aside The Irish did this last year. They would show concerning signs in run defense and brush them to the side, because they didn't give up many points. And then a few games later — against Louisville and Clemson in particular — it would come back to bite them. When you remove Notre Dame's 4 sacks that re- sulted in a loss of 30 yards, Miami ran 24 times for 140 yards (5.8 yards per carry). This is a team that entered the game averaging 1.4 yards per carry. The Irish haven't shown the ability to consistently win the line of scrimmage, leaving their lineback- ers out to dry. "We're greedy," Freeman said. "We don't want to give up any rushing yards. So we'll look at them to see where they have the ability to run the ball, and we'll attack and fix it." Freeman also said the Irish did a "heck of a job" holding the RedHawks to a field goal after an early muffed punt, which is true. But the run defense has to get fixed before they play a team like North- ern Illinois who can hurt them again. 4. Reaction To Shuler Penalty Much-Needed From Freeman Notre Dame has not typically been an undisci- plined team as it relates to post-whistle shenani- gans. Shuler made an exception when he tossed the ball to a Miami (Ohio) player on the sideline after an incompletion, which will be flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct every time. Freeman laid into Shuler. As Blue & Gold Illus- trated staff writer Tyler Horka noted, it was as angry as he's ever been at a single player. He was screaming, probably cussing and making it clear with his body language just how furious he was. And you know what? Good. Freeman has to have zero tolerance for those penalties, and he's built up enough love and trust with his players to rip them without losing it. 5. Course Of The Season Rests On Next Week Notre Dame will be in one of two places after Week 5 versus Louisville. The Irish could pick up a cathartic redemption win over a top-20 team and enjoy a bye week to iron out the kinks of the offense with NIU firmly behind them. Or they could spend the bye dis- cussing what their goals for the season now look like with their College Football Playoff dreams all but dashed. Which future will become reality? That's up to Notre Dame. ✦ FIVE THOUGHTS BY JACK SOBLE Senior quarterback Riley Leonard took several shots downfield against Miami (Ohio), connecting on a 38-yarder with graduate student wide receiver Beaux Collins for his first touchdown toss with the Irish. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER