Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528160
10 OCT. 26, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME It was a tough start to the season for senior quarterback Riley Leonard. He did not throw a touchdown pass until Notre Dame's fourth game. He had 2 interceptions in his second outing, a 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois. Since then, things have been looking up. Through six games, Leonard had completed a career-best 66.2 percent of his passes for 163.2 yards per game with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He ran 65 times for 405 yards and 8 touchdowns, making him one of the most efficient and effective runners among all quarterbacks in college football. In guiding Notre Dame to a 5-1 start, Leonard landed on the October watch list for NCAA Comeback Player of the Year. He's coming back from an injury-riddled junior season at Duke and two spring surgeries on his ankle that he battled through after getting to South Bend in January. He wasn't able to participate in Notre Dame spring practices because of those procedures. Leonard has gotten better and better as the season has gone along. In addition to Comeback Player of the Year recognition, he was named a Davey O'Brien Award Great 8 quarterback for his efforts against Purdue and Louisville as well as the Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week for what he did against the Cardinal. In throwing for 229 yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions against Stanford, Leonard was named a Manning Award Star of the Week. It's not just national services that have noticed Leonard's uptick in level of play. It's Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, too. "I love the confidence that he played with on Saturday," Denbrock said following the Stanford game. "I thought he let himself be the player that he can be. And that's a real positive sign moving forward. … Hopefully we've broken through a little bit, and we're able to bust this thing loose." — Tyler Horka No Niele Ivey-coached Notre Dame team has ever started a season ranked in the top six of the preseason Associated Press Top 25 … until now. The Fighting Irish come in at No. 6 this year. Their previous best was No. 9 in 2022-23. Notre Dame will face No. 2 Connecticut and No. 4 Texas at home inside Purcell Pavilion one week apart. The Irish host the Longhorns Dec. 5 and the Huskies Dec. 12. Before then, the Irish go on the road to play No. 3 USC Nov. 23. Notre Dame will also face No. 9 North Caro- lina State Feb. 23, No. 11 Duke Feb. 17, No. 15 North Carolina Jan. 5, No. 17 Louisville Feb. 2 and March 2, and No. 19 Florida State Feb. 27. That makes nine games for the Irish against opponents ranked in the preseason poll. If any team is up for the challenge, it's Ivey's. The Irish have one of the best backcourts in the country in 2023-24 first-team All-American Han- nah Hidalgo and 2021-22 Freshman All-American Olivia Miles. The latter missed the entire 2023-24 season because of a knee injury, but she has said time and again in the offseason she's healthy and as strong as she's ever been. Notre Dame also has a five-star freshman cen- ter in 6-foot-5 Kate Koval in addition to two trans- fer additions in the front court in Marquette's Liza Karlen and Pittsburgh's Liatu King, who were both all-conference players at their previous institu- tions. Senior guard Sonia Citron was a second- team All-ACC selection last season as well. Notre Dame begins the upcoming season with an exhibition against Davenport Oct. 30 and the regular season opener versus Mercyhurst Nov. 4. Both games will tip off at Purcell Pavilion, the former at 7 p.m. ET and the latter at 5 p.m. ET. The first road game of the year is the Irish's sec- ond game overall, Nov. 10 at Purdue at 7 p.m. ET. — Tyler Horka Notre Dame Women's Basketball Starts Season As Top-10 Team Quarterback Riley Leonard Earns Weekly Honors, Added To Watch List Head coach Niele Ivey's team is ranked No. 6 to start the season, the best preseason Associated Press Top 25 ranking of her five-year tenure. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 Rk. School (First-Place Votes) 1. South Carolina (27) 2. Connecticut (2) 3. USC (1) 4. Texas 5. UCLA 6. Notre Dame 7. LSU 8. Iowa State 9. North Carolina State 10. Oklahoma 11. Duke 12. Baylor 13. Kansas State 14. Ohio State 15. North Carolina 16. West Virginia 17. Louisville 18. Maryland 19. Florida State 20. Ole Miss 21. Creighton 22. Kentucky 23. Nebraska 24. Alabama 25. Indiana Leonard started the season slow but has come on strong lately with 6 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions in his last three starts. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER