Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 12, 2024 27 NOTRE DAME STRUGGLES MIGHTILY ON OFFENSE IN SECOND HALF Notre Dame had the ball five times in the second half against Louisville ex- cluding the "drive" that equated to two quarterbacks kneels at the end of the game. Based on what happened — and what didn't happen — in those five true drives, senior quarterback Riley Leon- ard and everyone who roots for him and his team were fortunate he was in- deed touching his knee to the wet Notre Dame Stadium turf. He almost didn't deserve to, for rea- sons not all his fault. Three of the possessions spanned four or fewer plays. One resulted in a turnover on downs. Thankfully, for the Irish's sake, the other went 75 yards on five plays for what was ultimately the game-winning touchdown march. Point being? Lotta ugly. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman admitted as much. He was asked about the Irish offense being largely inept in the final 30 min- utes in the context of the conversations he was having with Notre Dame offen- sive coordinator Mike Denbrock. This is what he said. "Hey, we got to get a first down," Freeman noted. "What we're do- ing right now is not working. Let's try something else. That's about it." This was in the same game Notre Dame went 75 yards on 12 plays on its first offensive possession. Same game Notre Dame turned a midfield fumble recovery into a 34-yard touchdown pass from Leonard to sophomore Jaden Greathouse. Same game Leonard only needed one play following a Louisville special teams gaffe to power into the end zone from four yards out. No need to worry if Notre Dame was going to botch an opportunity rolled out on a red carpet. Leonard had it taken care of. He didn't have it taken care of, though, when Denbrock dialed up a quarterback draw on fourth-and-3 from the Louisville 46 early in the fourth quarter. Leonard only got 2 yards. He didn't have it taken care of when Notre Dame had the ball and a chance to run out the clock with 5:17 remaining, either. Leonard ran three times and net- ted a loss of a yard. The Irish gave the ball back to Louisville with plenty of time for the Cardinals to score a touchdown and either tie the game with an extra point or win it with a two-point conversion. Notre Dame's offense had chances to make the Irish's victory an emphatic statement. Instead, the blue and gold barely got by. "I don't know if it was exactly their defense; [they were] awkward drives," Leonard said. "You got some penalties here. I think it was just a weird thing that we got to fix." Notre Dame needs less awkward. Less weird. More of whatever you would call the two touchdown journeys of 75 yards. LOUISVILLE GAME NOTES BY TYLER HORKA AND JACK SOBLE Notre Dame and senior quarterback Riley Leonard had an up-and-down day on offense in their 31-24 win over Louisville, including giving the ball back to the Cardinals with plenty of time remaining for them to mount one final drive late in the fourth quarter. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Attendance was a capacity crowd of 77,622, the ninth consecutive sellout in Notre Dame Stadium. • For the "Irish Wear Green" game today, Notre Dame donned their green tops with white pants. It marked the first time for a home game in Notre Dame Stadium the Irish have worn white pants. • Notre Dame's opening drive touchdown, a 6-yard Jeremiyah Love run, broke Louisville's streak of 21 consecutive games without giving up an opponent touchdown on their first drive of the game. • Notre Dame improved to 3-2 in the all-time series with Louisville and 216-84-3 against ACC op- ponents. • Freshman cornerback Leonard Moore made his first career start and recorded his first career forced fumble, plus had a career-best and team-high 7 tackles. • Sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry notched his first career fumble recovery, while freshman linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa recorded his first career sack. • Sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse caught his first touchdown pass of the season and the fifth of his career.