Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 26, 2024 27 ters, is just a freight train," Leonard said. "And you're talking about a guy who has every right to be a little hesitant, our most athletic guy, he couldn't care less. He's a team glory guy. "He's not going to say much. He's not going to complain at all if he gets a con- cussion from hitting these linebackers head-to-head. He doesn't care. If that's what he's called to do, he's going to do it." His position mate, junior Jadarian Price, is called on to make sure there isn't a production drop off when Love comes off the field. He does quite well in that regard. After rushing 8 times for a game-high 69 yards against Georgia Tech, Price is averaging 6.7 yards per carry this year. Love is averaging 6.0 on 28 more carries than Price, 77 to 49. Price's first carry against the Yellow Jackets went for 19 yards. His fifth went for 23. His sixth went for 19. He's got home-run ability that would make the 2024 New York Yankees feel a little in- secure. "He's a lot like J Love," Leonard said "Very trustworthy. Every time the ball gets in his hands, something good can happen. We trust him no matter what. Pass game, run game. He's a great guy to be in the backfield with. You feel com- fortable. You feel confident every time he steps out there." The total number of rushing yards between Love and Price through seven games, 791, isn't earth-shattering. Five individuals across the country had more than that on their own entering Week 8's slate. But Leonard having 456 of his own and being such a go-to option in his own right plays into that, and Notre Dame coaches — and Leonard himself — would be the first to say there aren't any backs in college football the Irish would rather have than the ones that make up their top-two duo. "Huge part to this offense," Leonard said. ✦ NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Price 8 73 4 69 8.6 0 23 Leonard 10 51 0 51 5.1 2 16 Love 14 41 5 36 2.6 1 10 Ford 2 7 2 5 2.5 0 7 Williams 2 5 0 5 2.5 0 3 Buchner 1 4 0 4 4.0 0 4 TEAM 2 0 2 -2 -1.0 0 0 Total 39 181 13 168 4.3 3 23 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Leonard 20 29 69.0 1 203 0 28 Sherwood 1 1 100.0 0 14 0 14 Total 21 30 70.0 1 217 0 28 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Collins 5 51 0 15 Evans 4 26 0 10 Love 3 57 0 25 Greathouse 3 43 0 28 Harrison 2 -1 0 7 Mitchell 1 14 0 14 Williams 1 10 0 10 Raridon 1 9 0 9 Thomas 1 8 0 8 Total 21 217 0 28 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Hurleman 2 14 0 12 Total 2 14 0 12 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long None Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Rendell 2 37.5 51 0 0 0 1 0 Total 2 37.5 51 0 0 0 1 0 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Yoakam 1 2 42 0 Total 1 2 42 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Bowen 5 4 9 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Moore 5 2 7 1-16 0-0 2 0 0 Heard 4 1 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ausberry 3 2 5 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 Kiser 2 3 5 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Watts 2 2 4 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Mills 2 1 3 1.5-12 1.5-12 0 0 0 Shuler 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Gray 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Urlacher 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Sneed 0 2 2 0.5-2 0.5-2 0 0 0 Viliamu-Asa 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Clark 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Coogan 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Cross 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hurleman 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Minich 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Oben 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Rubio 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Talich 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Young 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long Shuler 1 36 1 36 Watts 1 0 0 0 Total 2 36 1 36 GEORGIA TECH INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Pyron 13 59 14 45 3.5 0 20 Alexander 5 19 0 19 3.8 0 8 Haynes 8 16 1 15 1.9 1 5 Singleton 2 1 0 1 0.5 0 1 TEAM 1 0 16 -16 -16.0 0 0 Total 29 95 31 64 2.2 1 20 Passing Com. Att. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Pyron 20 36 55.6 2 269 1 60 TEAM 0 2 0.0 0 0 0 0 Total 20 38 52.6 2 269 1 60 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Singleton 6 59 0 17 Rutherford 4 32 0 16 Stockton 2 37 0 22 Alexander 2 18 0 12 Haynes 2 12 0 8 Janneh 1 60 0 60 Boyd 1 25 0 25 Hawes 1 20 0 20 Lane 1 6 1 6 Total 20 269 1 60 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Stockton 1 4 0 4 Total 1 4 0 4 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Singleton 4 98 0 31 Total 4 98 0 31 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Shanahan 4 45.0 54 0 2 0 1 0 Total 4 45.0 54 0 2 0 1 0 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Birr 0 1 0 1 Total 0 1 0 1 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Seymore 5 2 7 0.5-2 0-0 0 0 0 Biggers 5 0 5 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 Brooks 4 1 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Gibbs 3 1 4 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Harvey 3 1 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Powell-Lee 3 1 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Daniels 2 2 4 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 Tatum 2 2 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Yondjouen 2 2 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Butler 3 0 3 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 Gore 3 0 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Lightsey 2 1 3 0.5-1 0-0 0 0 0 Hamilton 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Height 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Burrell 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Dean 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Franklin II 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Gordon 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Janneh 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Moore 1 0 1 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 Robinson 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Scott 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Tobe 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long Burrell 1 27 0 0 Total 1 27 0 27 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Senior defensive tackle Jason Onye re- mained out for personal reasons, missing his second straight game. In addition, graduate student kicker Mitch Jeter did not play due to a hip injury. • Senior quarterback Riley Leonard's 2 rush- ing touchdowns in the second quarter were the ninth and 10th of the season, moving him into a tie for second on Notre Dame's single- season list with DeShone Kizer (10 in 2015). Brandon Wimbush (14 in 2017) is the Notre Dame single-season leader for quarterback rushing touchdowns. • Leonard's two rushing touchdowns were the 28th and 29th of his career, putting him one behind Oregon's Dillon Gabriel (30) for the lead in career rushing touchdowns by an active quarterback.