Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1531388
24 FEBRUARY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT In a season with numerous wire-to-wire Irish blowout wins — which at times made finding a turning point difficult — the decisive sequence against Indiana was obvious in the 27-17 Notre Dame win Dec. 20. The game was scoreless and the Hoosiers had possession early in the first quarter following an interception of Irish quarterback Riley Leonard. When Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke threw into double coverage, he was in turn intercepted by Notre Dame graduate student safety Xavier Watts at the Irish 2-yard line. That interception flipped possession, and Notre Dame responded on its next offensive play when sophomore tailback Jeremiyah Love went over the left side for a 98-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead that was never threatened. In a game where Notre Dame could've fallen behind 7-0, Watts' turning-point interception flipped the scor- ing script and set the tone for a lopsided Irish win. STATS OF THE GAME The top storyline heading into this game was how Indiana's top-ranked rushing defense in the country would handle Notre Dame's top-10 rushing offense. The Indiana rush defense entered the game allowing only 70.8 yards per game, but the Irish went for 193 rushing yards — 56 more yards than any other Hoosier opponent posted this season. To Indiana's credit, take out Love's 98-yard touch- down run in the first quarter, and Notre Dame managed only 95 rushing yards on its other 34 carries (2.79 per attempt). Back-and-forth interceptions in the first quarter ended up the only two turnovers of the game, and Notre Dame parlayed its takeaway into a touchdown while Indiana was held scoreless on its turnover. Indiana went only 4 of 12 (33.3 percent) on third downs. Notre Dame was 7 of 13 (53.8 per- cent), leading to a 35:43 to 24:17 Irish advantage in time of possession. SHUTTING 'EM UP Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti — the 2024 National Coach of the Year — joined the set of ESPN's College GameDay a few hours before his kickoff against Notre Dame and proclaimed that his players don't just beat top-25 teams, they "beat the s--- out of them." That pregame claim fell flat, to say the least, considering the brash Hoosier coach, his players and staff had no answers for the suffocating Irish defense. Notre Dame built a 27-3 lead before giving up two late meaningless scores with its benches cleared. The Hoosier play-calling was ultra-conservative because the overwhelming Irish defense forced Indiana into an average of 8.3 yards to gain on its 12 third-down conversion attempts. With 10 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 quarterback hurries and unrelenting pressure, Notre Dame kept Indiana on its heels until the last two minutes of the game. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TODD D. BURLAGE QB RILEY LEONARD The Irish senior completed 23 of 32 passes for 201 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception through the air against the Hoosiers, and added 30 rushing yards with another score on the ground. After throw- ing an ill-advised interception in the first quarter, Leonard calmly led Notre Dame to two touchdowns and a field goal in the next four possessions to stake the Fighting Irish to a 17-3 halftime lead. Leonard's rushing touchdown was his 15th this year, which set a single-season record for an Irish quarterback, surpassing Brandon Wimbush's 14 in 2017. RB JEREMIYAH LOVE The sophomore tailback managed 108 rushing yards on only 8 carries for a 13.5-yard average and his fourth 100-yard rushing game in the last five outings. Love's touchdown run came on a 98-yard side- line scamper in the first quarter that gave the Irish a 7-0 lead and set a dominating tone for the rest of the game. Love's performance pushed him over 1,000 rushing yards for the season, and boosted his rushing average to 7.4 yards per carry, which was tied for second in the country. The touchdown run also gave Love at least 1 rushing touchdown in 13 consecutive games — all this season — a Notre Dame record. S XAVIER WATTS The Irish graduate student played one of the best games of his All-America season against Indiana, recording a career-high 10 tackles (5 solo), 0.5 tackles for loss, and his sixth interception this year. Watts made the biggest play of the game in the first quarter when he intercepted Indiana quarter- back Kurtis Rourke at the Irish 2-yard line. The play flipped possession and momentum. And on Notre Dame's ensuing offensive play, Love went 98 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Irish lead that was never threatened. Watts' interception in this game was his third pick in four outings. GAME BALLS BY TODD D. BURLAGE Senior quarterback Riley Leonard accounted for 231 total yards and 2 touchdowns (1 passing, 1 rushing) against the Hoosiers. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER