Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529159
24 NOV. 16, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. Mills Unleashed Fury On Florida State After Notre Dame's win over Florida State, senior quarterback Riley Leonard was asked what it's like to face graduate student defensive tackle Rylie Mills in practice. Leonard did not mince words. "Oh, it's awful," Leonard said. "Our guys do a good job protecting me, first and foremost. But he's a guy that just — I mean, look at him. He's a freak." Standing at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds, Mills is cer- tainly daunting to line up against. But in recent weeks, he's been a dominant force. And against the Seminoles, he exploded. Mills totaled 3 sacks during Notre Dame's 52-3 win over Florida State, but not all sacks are cre- ated equal. In Mills' case, he didn't break through after a few seconds of airtight coverage. He cut through the Seminoles' offensive line like a knife through butter. They were meaningful sacks, too. Mills went back-to-back in the immediate aftermath of fellow graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III's ankle injury. "I was just gutted for him," Mills said. "That kind of gave me a little frustration. … Hopefully it led to that." If Cross has to miss time — it doesn't sound seri- ous, but ankle sprains can linger — Notre Dame needs this version of Mills. He was absolutely un- blockable against the Seminoles. 2. Some Inconsistencies In Passing Game, But Good Outweighed Bad Leonard completed 14 of 27 passes for 215 yards. That's a completion rate of 51.8 percent, which isn't great. But it's also 7.96 yards per at- tempt, which is very good. In total, Leonard threw six passes of 20 yards or more. That's a new season high. Enough with the box score scouting, though. How did the Irish actually look through the air? In the first half, it was a mixed bag. Drops hurt. Leonard also took a sack that was his fault; he didn't see a free blitzer coming off the right side. He also missed a couple third-down reads. "Sometimes you get a little greedy here and there," Leonard said. "Just take what the defense gives you." However he also threw a touchdown, broke off three chunk plays and drew a pass interference penalty on slot fades to senior tight end Mitchell Evans, graduate student wide receiver Jayden Har- rison and sophomore wide receiver Jaden Great- house. "He's a guy that you've gotta give him a chance at it," Leonard said about Greathouse. "Every time I've thrown it up to him, it's either a PI or he's com- ing down with it." The slot fades Leonard threw to Greathouse weren't designed, either. He saw one-on-one cov- erage and checked into them. That's trust. That's progress. 3. Florida State Has Reached A New Level Of Awful Notre Dame can say all it wants about Florida State having more talent than its now 1-9 record indicates. Good gravy, this team is terrible. FSU can't block. It can't throw. Its wideouts can't make plays. As soon as Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden adjusted to the Seminoles' gimmicky run game, they had nothing offensively. Their defense has all but thrown in the towel. Notre Dame has been fortunate enough to play arguably the worst two teams in the Power Four in Florida State and Purdue. But the College Football Playoff Committee has shown that it values when contenders blow pitiful opponents out of the wa- ter. The Irish have done just that. 4. Irish Exploited Vulnerability In FSU's Special Teams Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi must have seen something on tape that told him Florida State's punt team is vulnerable to pres- sure off the edge. He sent the house toward redshirt senior punter Alex Mastromanno on every rep. The Irish got their hands on Mastromanno's punts twice, first with sophomore safety Adon Shuler and later with sophomore linebacker Pres- ton Zinter. They came close several more times. Notre Dame's third phase has had its flaws this year, but it's been good at taking advantage of its opponents' flaws, too. 5. Freeman Made Touchdown Happen With A+ Call To Go For It Focusing on this amid Florida State's atrocious- ness would be missing the forest through the trees, but head coach Mike Norvell made a critical error toward the end of the first half. On fourth-and-10 from the FSU 34-yard line with 21 seconds left in the second quarter, Irish head coach Marcus Freeman sent out junior walk-on kicker Zac Yoakam for a 52-yard field goal. Norvell called timeout to ice Yoakam, which gave Freeman time to reconsider. Notre Dame fans should be happy he did. Going for it was absolutely the right call there. Yoakam, who is 2 of 4 on field goals this season, was probably not making that. If the Seminoles got the ball back with under 20 seconds to go, they were definitely not scoring the other way. There was little upside in kicking and no risk in the alternative, so Freeman put his offense back on the field. The result was a 22-yard completion from Leon- ard to sophomore wideout Jordan Faison, and a 12-yard touchdown pass to Evans on the next play. Freeman's willingness to go for it on fourth down is an unequivocal strength for this Notre Dame team. Irish fans love to complain about his aggres- siveness, but they should celebrate it instead. ✦ FIVE THOUGHTS BY JACK SOBLE Senior quarterback Riley Leonard did his usual dam- age with this legs (70 yards and 2 touchdowns), but against the Seminoles he also connected on a sin- gle-game career-high 6 passes of 20 yards or more. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER