Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 NOV. 23, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT As has been the case in several games this sea- son, Notre Dame didn't take long to establish its dominance and the game's turning point. In fact, the Irish needed only four seconds in this one. On the game's opening kickoff, Virginia re- turn man Chris Tyree — a Notre Dame gradu- ate — had the ball slip through his hands, off of his right thigh, and bounce up into the waiting arms of Irish graduate student cornerback Max Hurleman. Four offensive plays and one ill-timed Virginia roughing-the-passer penalty later, and Notre Dame was in the end zone with a 7-0 lead just 1:56 into the game on a 4-yard touchdown run by sophomore tailback Jeremiyah Love. Hurleman originally took Tyree's muffed catch into the end zone. But by rule, the ball was dead upon its recovery and the Irish needed to go 25 yards to establish an early lead that was never threatened. STATS OF THE GAME Virginia head coach Tony Elliott said before his date with Notre Dame that his team needed to win the turnover battle — or at least take care of the football — to have a chance. And it did neither. In a game marked by sloppy ball protection by both teams, the Irish won the turnover battle 5-2 and parlayed those 5 takeaways into 28 points — all in the first half — an advantage the Cavaliers had no chance at overcoming. The Irish entered the game ranked third nation- ally in turnover margin at +1.33 per game and tied for seventh in the country with 20 takeaways. The Irish takeaways helped hide the fact that Notre Dame committed 9 penalties for 89 yards, converted only 1 of 12 third downs and missed two field goals. Virginia wasn't much better, going only 6 of 18 on its third-down tries against one of the stingiest third-down defenses in the country. DEFENSIVE DOINGS Not enough can be said about how well the Irish defense has performed this season, and the big win against Virginia was just the latest example in a growing list of standout performances. Notre Dame recorded 3 forced fumbles and 5 turnovers, it also forced Virginia into 7 punts and kept the Cavaliers offense off sync all day. For more evidence into the defensive dominance Notre Dame demonstrated against Virginia, and all season, it entered the game ranked among the top 10 nationally in several key categories: pass- ing yards allowed (second); total touchdowns al- lowed (T-second); points allowed per game (third); passing touchdowns allowed (T-fourth); third-down percentage (sixth); yards allowed per game (sev- enth); takeaways (T-seventh); and red zone defense (eighth). Out of 134 FBS teams, the Irish were the only team in the country to rank in the top 10 in each of these categories. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TODD D. BURLAGE QB RILEY LEONARD After spending most of this season showcasing his running talents more than his passing prowess, the senior quarter- back has flipped the script in recent weeks. Against Virginia, he did little on the ground, finishing with 32 yards on 8 carries. But through the air, he completed a season-high 22 passes on 33 attempts for 214 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. It marked the fourth time in the last six outings that Leon- ard has thrown multiple touchdown passes in a game. In fact, during those six games, Leonard has tossed 11 touchdown passes and just 2 interceptions. RB JEREMIYAH LOVE The sophomore tailback rushed for a career-high 137 yards on 16 carries and 2 touchdowns — his 11th and 12th scores of the season — and his second multi-touchdown performance in the last three games. This was also Love's third 100-yard rushing game of the season. Love scored on a 4-yard rush in the first quarter and on a 76-yard jaunt in the third quarter. Along the way, Love extended his streak to 10 straight games with a rushing touchdown, making him only the fourth Irish tailback to reach that mark in program history. Wayne Bullock (11), Jerome Bettis (10) and Autry Denson (10) are the other three. S XAVIER WATTS Less than a week after being named a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award (given to the nation's best overall player), the Irish graduate student validated his selection with 3 tackles, 1 pass broken up, 1 interception and 1 fumble recovery. The reigning Bronko Nagurski Award winner from last season as the nation's best defensive player, Watts has been the rock on a Notre Dame defense that shines as one of the best in the nation, and one of the best in program history. Through the Virginia blowout, Watts led all the Irish defen- sive backs and ranked third on the team with 37 tackles, and he paced the team with 4 interceptions and 8 passes broken up. GAME BALLS BY TODD D. BURLAGE Graduate student safety Xavier Watts compiled 3 tackles, 1 pass broken up, 1 interception, and 1 fumble recovery against the Cavaliers. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER