Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529781
22 NOV. 30, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT At risk of sounding repetitive, Notre Dame didn't take long to establish the turning point in this 35-point blowout win, in the same way it has done numerous times during its nine-game winning streak. On Army's first offensive possession of the game, following the opening kickoff, the Irish defense forced a Black Knights' punt with a three-and-out. From there, Notre Dame needed only five plays to go 68 yards for a touchdown, capped by a 28-yard scoring pass from senior quar- terback Riley Leonard to sophomore wide receiver Jordan Faison. From there, Notre Dame's lead — which was never threatened in the game — swelled to 28-7 at halftime. STATS OF THE GAME The most striking stat of this game was how the Fighting Irish beat the Black Knights at their own game. Army entered play with the top-ranked rushing offense in the nation at 334.9 yards per game. Yet, Notre Dame outrushed the Black Knights 273-207 and averaged 9.4 yards per carry compared to only 3.6 yards per tote for Army. Because of terrific work by the Notre Dame offensive line, Irish rushers often went un- touched between 5 and 10 yards before be- ing brought down. Additionally, Army entered the game ranked No. 2 in scoring defense, allowing only 10.3 points per game, and it allowed only one opponent score more than 14 points this season. Notre Dame needed less than nine minutes to score 14 points, and the 49 points by the Irish were 21 more than the Black Knights had given up in a game this season. ALL THREE PHASES Not enough can be said about how well the Irish have played in all three phases of the game during their nine-game winning streak. And all of it was on full display against Army. Offensively, Notre Dame dominated the line of scrimmage and gained 273 rushing yards, its second-highest total this season. Defensively, the Irish held Army 21 points below its season scoring average, and it set an overwhelming tone early in the game that the Black Knights never overcame. And on special teams, Irish freshman defensive line- man Bryce Young blocked a punt, marking his third blocked kick of the season and the sixth block for the Irish on the year. Notre Dame enters its game against USC playing as well in every phase of the game, and the best complementary football, among any team in the country. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TODD D. BURLAGE THE IRISH DEFENSE With one of its most balanced and dominating performances this season, awarding one single Irish defen- sive player a game ball wasn't possible. Sophomore safety Adon Shuler recorded a team-high 8 tackles and sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry added 7 tackles to highlight the dominating defensive performance. Bundled up, Notre Dame's defense overwhelmed Army and held it to 127.9 yards below its season average in rushing offense, 101.9 yards below its total offensive output per game and 21.2 points below its scoring average. Collectively, the Irish defense held Army to only 3.5 yards per play and 6 of 17 (35.3 percent) on its third-down attempts. QB RILEY LEONARD The Irish senior quarterback continued his steady season improvement against Army when he finished the 49-14 slaughter with 10-of-13 passing for 148 yards with 2 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. He also added 8 rushes for 30 yards, before he was lifted in the third quarter after the Irish built a 35-7 lead. Leonard started fast, completing his first 8 passes of the game for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns, leading his Irish to a 28-7 halftime advantage. He has now thrown 2 or more touchdown passes in five of his last seven games. RB JEREMIYAH LOVE The sophomore tailback rushed for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 7 carries and added a scoring catch for his third multi-touchdown performance in the last four games. This was also Love's fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season. Love scored on a 6-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, then added a 14-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter and a 68-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter. Along the way, he extended his streak to 11 straight games with a rushing touchdown, making him only the second Irish tailback to reach that mark in program history. GAME BALLS BY TODD D. BURLAGE Senior quarterback Riley Leonard was an efficient 10-of-13 passing for 148 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions against Army. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP