Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527865
22 OCT. 19, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT After Notre Dame trailed 7-0 midway through the first quarter, and then was tied 7-7 early in the second quarter, senior quarterback Riley Leonard faced a third-and-7 at the Stanford 49- yard line. Leonard responded with a nifty 18-yard run over the right side for a first down that kept this important drive alive, and gave the Irish a first down at the Cardinal 31-yard line. Four plays later, he connected with senior wide receiver Jayden Thomas for a 15-yard touchdown pass that lifted Notre Dame to a 14-7 lead — marking its first scoring advantage of the game — and one that it continued to build upon. Ultimately, the Irish scored 49 unanswered points. Leonard's third-down conversion run, and his ensuing touchdown pass, proved to be the turning point in the Irish victory. STATS OF THE GAME Talk about sharing the wealth. During Notre Dame's rout of Stanford, the Irish featured a different player scoring each of its seven touch- downs. Those included three from the running backs, two from the wide receivers, one from the tight ends and one from the quarterbacks. Notre Dame averaged 7.2 yards per play com- pared to only 3.4 yards for Stanford. And, in a strength-on-strength matchup between two solid rushing attacks, the Irish gained 229 yards and averaged 5.9 yards per carry compared to only 113 yards and 2.8 yards per carry for Stanford. Also of note, Irish sophomore tailback Jeremiyah Love scored on a 39-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that gave Notre Dame a 35-7 lead. That score gave Love a rushing touchdown in each of Notre Dame's first six games, the longest streak to start a season since Autry Denson scored on the ground in 10 straight games to start the 1998 season. LEONARD MATTERS For all of the criticism Irish senior quarterback Riley Leonard has received this season in the Irish passing game, he deserves equal praise for his work in the running game at the halfway point of the season. And he shined in both areas against Stanford. Leonard entered the game as one of only four Power Four quarterbacks to lead his team in rushing yardage and was the top signal-caller among that group in forcing missed tackles. Leon- ard's 31-yard, 1-touchdown rushing performance against Stanford brought his season totals to 405 yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground, which keeps him in reach of two notable single-season records for an Irish quarterback. Tony Rice still holds the single-season Irish quarterback rushing record with 884 in 1989, while Brandon Wimbush holds the record for rushing touchdowns with 14 in 2017. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TODD D. BURLAGE DL JOSHUA BURNHAM After missing the previous three games with an ankle injury, the Irish junior returned to the lineup against Stanford and made a big impact, recording 5 total stops (2 solo), 1 tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery that he returned 15 yards on the most memo- rable defensive play of the game. Burnham picked off Stanford quarterback Ashton Dan- iels' option pitch and set up the Notre Dame offense at the Cardinal 17-yard line. Two plays later, Irish sopho- more tailback Jadarian Price went 16 yards for a touch- down that gave Notre Dame a 28-7 lead. DL HOWARD CROSS III The graduate student defensive tackle has been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury through the early part of the season, but it is clear he benefited from the extra re- covery afforded him during Notre Dame's first bye of the season. The preseason All-American tied his season high with 4 tackles, and recorded 2 sacks — which matched his career high — and 1 quarterback hurry. This marked only the second time in his long career that Cross has recorded 2 sacks in a game, the other com- ing against Georgia Tech in 2021. His strong performance helped the Notre Dame defense hold Stanford to only 3.4 yards per play. QB RILEY LEONARD Playing against one of the worst passing defenses in the country, hopes for a breakout aerial game from the Irish senior ran high, and Leonard didn't disappoint. He enjoyed the best game of his Notre Dame career, com- pleting 16 of 22 passes for a season-high 229 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. It marked the second straight game that Leonard has thrown multiple touchdown passes, after connecting on only one scoring toss through his first four games this season. He also showed great work on the ground, finishing with 31 rushing yards and 1 touchdown — his eighth of the season. GAME BALLS BY TODD D. BURLAGE In addition to a strong day throwing the ball, senior quarterback Riley Leonard tallied his eighth rushing touchdown of the season. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER