Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1531388
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2025 47 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: B+ It's not often you can definitively say the Notre Dame passing attack was better than the Irish's running game, but that was the case in this one. Notre Dame wouldn't be in the national title game without the way it threw the ball against the Nittany Lions, beginning with backup Steve Angeli briefly taking over for the injured Riley Leonard at the end of the first half and Leonard coming back into the game to finish it. Leonard completed 7 of his final 9 pass attempts, includ- ing a 54-yard touchdown to sophomore receiver Jaden Greathouse. Greathouse put forth the best effort of any Notre Dame pass catcher all season with 7 receptions for 105 yards and the touchdown. Freshman running back Aneyas Williams (66) and senior tight end Mitchell Evans (58) had 5 catches apiece and com- bined for 124 receiving yards. Notre Dame quarterbacks were sacked 5 times and Leonard threw 2 interceptions, including one that looked like it might cost the Irish the game in the fourth quarter, but it didn't. And he responded with the touchdown to Greathouse. The B+ effort was more than enough. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: B- A total of 138 sack-adjusted rushing yards on 3.7 yards per carry aren't Notre Dame's usual num- bers. The Penn State defensive front was even more menacing than many probably expected, though, which was a lot, so considering the cir- cumstances the output still deserves something in the "B" range. Riley Leonard and Jeremiyah Love gutted out a touchdown apiece, the latter's particularly impres- sive. The crowd of 66,881 people at Hard Rock Stadium won't ever forget the time Love took on the whole Penn State defense, or so it seemed, and somehow extended the ball over the goal line for his score. He had 11 carries for 45 yards. Leonard had 18 for 35. No other Notre Dame player hit 20 yards. It wasn't a complete stalemate, though — the Irish made winning plays in this phase. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: A Penn State quarterback Drew Allar started the game 4 of 12. He went on a streak of 8 completions in 11 attempts, but one of those passes that wasn't completed was the most consequential throw in the football game. Junior linebacker Jaylen Sneed pressured Allar and forced him to sling the ball from an awkward angle, and sophomore corner- back Christian Gray broke on the errant overthrow and picked it off. The game-winning field goal oc- curred 20 or so seconds of game time later. Allar threw for 135 yards. Over half of those, 75, were to tight end Tyler Warren. It was a one- dimensional passing game, and you can't play that way against this Notre Dame passing defense. NOTRE DAME RUNNING DEFENSE: C Let's face it. Penn State ran right at Notre Dame, and too often there wasn't anything the Fight- ing Irish could do about it. They surrendered 212 sack-adjusted rushing yards on 5.2 yards per carry. The Penn State tailback tandem of Nicholas Sin- gleton and Kaytron Allen had 84 and 82 rushing yards, respectively, and the former had 3 touch- downs. But it was the Penn State offensive line that deserves most of the credit here. That unit did its job and gave the Nittany Lions a dang good chance to win the football game. SPECIAL TEAMS: A+ Mitch Jeter. Enough said. Notre Dame's graduate transfer kicker from South Carolina has found himself again in the Col- lege Football Playoff. He's made 7 of 8 field goal attempts in the postseason, the latest of which was a decisive 41-yarder in the final seconds of the Orange Bowl. Jeter was automatic as a Gamecock. He's been anything but that with the Irish, but that's because he was injured. He's healthy now, and he sure looks it. He sure is kicking like it. One side note — Notre Dame punter James Ren- dell downed all of his punts inside the 20, including one that was fielded and fair caught by Penn State at the 2-yard line. COACHING: A+ Marcus Freeman is 7-0 in games in which Notre Dame's opponent has been ranked at the time of kickoff this season. He's become as automatic in big games as Jeter is with his leg right now. Just a week before the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame played college football's most recent dynasty in the Georgia Bulldogs in an emotional Sugar Bowl kicked off 36 or so hours after a deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans. Somehow, someway, he got the guys ready for an even more physical fight against another blue blood of the sport in Penn State. The Nittany Lions punched the Irish in the mouth early. The Irish got 'em back with more devastating blows late. The guy in charge of the entire operation deserves credit for that. REPORT CARD BY TYLER HORKA Senior tight end Mitchell Evans, who had 5 catches for 58 yards, and the Irish passing attack proved to be a strength of the offense in the national semifinal game. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER