Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530074
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2024 21 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: B+ The efficiency is what you have to love if you're a Notre Dame fan. Senior quarterback Riley Leon- ard threw only 5 incomplete passes in going 17 of 22 for 155 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Leonard admitted he wanted the interception back; it was a poorly underthrown ball on a go route. But he couldn't have thrown the ball better on his two touchdown passes, both to tight ends, and those scores more than offset the giveaway considering USC did not put points on the board off of it. Leonard was sacked twice and he avoided other instances where he could have been sacked if he was not so elusive, so the pass blocking could have been a little better. That's just nitpicking a unit that was overall pretty solid, though. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: A+ This is one of the best rushing offenses in college football. The Irish capped the regular season with 258 yards, a number that has become par for the course. Notre Dame eclipsed 200 in five consecu- tive games to end the regular season. Like the passing offense, the running game is also efficient. The Irish averaged 7.4 yards per carry af- ter adjusting for sacks. Junior Jadarian Price ran 12 times for 111 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Jeremiyah Love carried 13 times for 99 yards and a score. Leonard chipped in with 12 carries for 50 yards and a touchdown of his own. One, two, three, the way it's been all year long for that trio. Significant hat tip to the Notre Dame offensive line, too, which created running lanes for Irish ball carriers all game long. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: C A rare off day for this phase of Notre Dame's game. The Trojans piled up 360 yards and 3 touch- downs through the air against the Irish, and it was as exhaustive as those numbers sound. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava diced up Notre Dame's young corners, sophomore Christian Gray and freshman Leonard Moore. Gray was especially torched at times, and even graduate student Jor- dan Clark lost some man coverage battles. When the opponent attempts 49 passes like USC did, that's bound to happen. The Notre Dame pass rush could have stood to pressure Maiava a bit better, which would have helped out the back end of the defense. You've got to give credit to Gray and graduate student safety Xavier Watts for their interceptions returned for touchdowns in the closing minutes to seal the game, though. Even when the Irish have a bad day against the pass, they have the type of defensive backs who are difference makers. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: B USC averaged 7.5 yards per rush accounting for sacks, but yes, this phase was still better than what Notre Dame did against the pass. Hear us out. Quarterback Jayden Maiava finished with only 5 rushes for 11 yards. This was one of those games that could have gone haywire if the Irish did not stop the quarterback run, but they did. USC was dealt a blow when top tailback Woody Marks went out after 6 carries for 33 yards, but the fifth-year Mississippi State transfer was replaced nicely by freshman Quinten Joyner, who carried 10 times for 83 yards, and fellow freshman Bryan Jackson, who had 67 of his 71 yards in the final two minutes when the game had already been decided. That's another reason why the numbers don't tell the whole story in this phase. SPECIAL TEAMS: B You cannot miss 27-yard field goals like South Carolina transfer Mitch Jeter did. He's now missed four of his last five attempts. A short-range miss is grounds for a drop in letter grade. The grade is salvaged, though, by James Rendell's 2 punts for an average of 51.0 yards and a long of 60. And it's also salvaged by a 23-yard pass on a fake punt from none other than former Notre Dame and Alabama quarterback Tyler Buchner to senior tight end Mitchell Evans. Coordinator Marty Biagi went deep into the bag of tricks, again. COACHING: A+ Ten wins in a row. A win in Los Angeles, which isn't ever easy for Notre Dame. Never falling be- hind on the road, always immune to the impend- ing doubt that would have come with doing so. It wasn't a conventional game, especially for an Irish team not used to giving up 35 points and 557 total yards, but it was a 14-point win in a rivalry game. Big props to the Irish coaching staff for all of that. REPORT CARD BY TYLER HORKA Junior running back Jadarian Price had 12 carries for a career-high 111 yards, which included a 36-yard touchdown run. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER