Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 OCT. 19, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. This Was The Defensive Tackle Duo Notre Dame Knew It Had Stanford moved the ball well until it ran into a wrecking ball named Howard Cross III. The Notre Dame graduate student defensive tackle brought Stanford junior quarterback Ashton Daniels down for an 8-yard sack on first-and-10 from the Irish 46-yard line. He made another tackle on the very next play, halting junior tight end Sam Roush for a gain of 7. Stanford wound up with fourth-and-5, and head coach Troy Taylor kept his offense on the field. Daniels took the snap and looked for something quick. Nothing there. He went to his second read, but all he saw was a blue-and-gold jersey with No. 56 on it. Cross drove Daniels back and threw him to the ground, hitting his signature "take a bow" celebra- tion to the Notre Dame Stadium crowd's delight. He was a game-wrecker against the Cardinal. Mills wasn't far behind, with a sack of his own in the third quarter. "I challenged those two seniors, Rylie and How- ard, to be great, because they're great football players," Freeman said. " They dominated the game. We needed them to be dominant, and they played dominant." Mills and Cross went through slow starts to the 2024 season. They know that better than anyone. But they caused consistent havoc in Week 7. "I hold myself to a higher standard, and I felt like I needed to do a lot better," Cross said. "I feel like lately, I'm starting to be the guy I want to be." 2. This Was Also The Offense Notre Dame Believed It Could Become Notre Dame's game plan, which Freeman ex- plained afterward, was simple. "Their defense is built to stop the run," Freeman said. "We felt like to have some success, we were going to have to stretch the field." The Irish knew they needed to throw, which they did early and often. Run-pass options (RPOs) drew Stanford's linebackers toward the line of scrim- mage, parting the second level like the red sea. Leonard constantly hit seniors Beaux Collins and Jayden Thomas, as well as graduate student Kris Mitchell, in that 8- to 15-yard range. It should give Notre Dame confidence, though, that it did that successfully. Traditional wisdom says, "Run to set up the pass." The Irish, early this season, said, "Run and pray running works." But they unlocked a second way to win against the Cardinal: Passing to set up the run. Through constant RPOs and early-down drop- backs, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock gradually softened the Stanford front. And sure enough, junior Jadarian Price and sopho- more Jeremiyah Love both broke off explosive touchdown runs after halftime. 3. Offensive Line Takes Step In Right Direction Speaking of confidence, Notre Dame's offensive line needed it. The front five rebounded from an early holding penalty and sack that killed its first possession. No one touched Leonard the rest of the evening, and the Irish wound up rushing 38 times for 234 sack-adjusted yards (6.2 yards per carry). On Price's touchdown run, he had what looked like acres of green grass to work with before he cut outside and found paydirt. The offensive line opened a gaping hole for Love to run through later in the third quarter, and the sophomore's speed did the rest. "I think it's just reps," senior center Pat Coogan said. "These five guys that I'm playing with on the O-line, we're just building. We're stacking days." This was a needed bounce-back for the big guys, who struggled in the final three quarters against Louisville. 4. It Didn't Count, But Xavier Watts' Intercep- tion Reflects His Outstanding Season I didn't catch the holding penalty on junior cor- nerback Benjamin Morrison that wiped out gradu- ate student safety Xavier Watts' second-quarter in- terception. The sentiment from Irish fans who saw the replay on TV, though, was that it was a bad call. Regardless, what a pick it was from Watts. Play- ing deep center field, he raced toward the sideline and somehow made the catch in traffic with a foot inbounds. Watts "only" has 2 picks that counted so far, compared to 7 last year. But make no mistake, he has taken the next step. Watts is a far more com- plete player this season, playing zone coverage, man coverage and run support to near perfection. He's been fantastic on the back end. 5. Unforced Errors Remain Concerning Freeman deserves credit for his honesty about the way Notre Dame started this game. "Terrible first series, on all three phases," Free- man said. He's right. The aforementioned holding penalty and sack erased a promising drive for the offense. Graduate student James Rendell shanked his first punt, which went 24 yards and set Stanford up in excellent field position. The Cardinal then marched down the field for a go-ahead touchdown. While the Irish responded well, they were not perfect. Collins' second-quarter fumble stands out. Notre Dame quietly has a fumbling problem, having lost 5 in 6 games. Freeman talked about eliminating unforced er- rors during the bye week. The Irish played well, but they did not do that. These mistakes could hurt them against better competition. FIVE THOUGHTS BY JACK SOBLE Graduate student defensive tackles Howard Cross and Rylie Mills were dominant against the Cardinal, combining for 8 tackles and 3 sacks. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER