Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2025 33 ters in the weeks after, all the way to the national championship game. A successful season would have been qualifying for and winning a game in the 12-team College Football Playoff. Free- man went above and beyond. These are the top storylines that allowed for such a special season. GETTING OVER NIU Riley Leonard, upon transferring to Notre Dame, totally anticipated his lone season as the Fighting Irish's starting quarterback spanning into the spring semester in South Bend. He arrived from Duke in January 2024 with the goal of playing multiple games in January 2025. As it turned out, he played every game possible in that month, from the Sugar Bowl to the Orange Bowl to the national championship game. So while all of his teammates returned to school Jan. 13, it wasn't weird that he didn't have to go with them. His work at Notre Dame was always going to con- clude a week from that date, whether he returned to Northern Indiana as the Irish's starting quarterback one final time with some hardware or not. That final trip in mid-to-late January is what he signed up for. "I thought this would happen," Leon- ard said. "It's why I came here. Even my girlfriend, I was talking to her the other day, and a bunch of people were texting her like, 'Oh my gosh! I can't believe you guys made it! This is crazy!' And even she was like, 'Riley, this isn't that surprising? We expected this.'" Well, in the beginning, sure. Some- time in the late evening hours of Sept. 7, though? Maybe not. Definitely not. Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois that day, in case you live under a rock and hadn't heard. The QB his peers treated with a paparazzi approach sud- denly was the lamest duck on campus. Nobody wanted a photo with the Notre Dame starter who threw 2 interceptions in a 16-14 home loss to NIU. "The student body kind of just is a reflection of the football team," Leonard said. "We're doing good, they're do- ing good. We're doing bad, they're right there with us. And that goes for teach- ers, too. Nobody was liking that week. "I remember walking into class and it was just dull. I was like, 'Bro, this is supposed to be an escape for me.' You know what I mean? My first time at the facility, no football, I was excited to learn about whatever, and they were right there with me." Leonard's gut instinct reaction to the mood? "Oh gosh," he said, "This could get bad." It didn't. Notre Dame did not lose an- other game all the way into the national title game. Thirteen wins in a row. Leonard didn't take any of them for granted. "Honestly, every single week, it didn't matter who we played — I was convinced that they were the best team in America that week," Leonard said. "Every single game. I remember Army and Navy, our coaches had me scared to death. I was like, 'Bro, these dudes are amazing.' Every game. It didn't matter who it was." Notre Dame beat Navy 51-14 and Army 49-14. No match. The only team that stayed within a single score of the Irish after NIU until the playoff was Louisville. The Irish beat the then- No. 15 Cardinals, 31-24. That's why "NIU" became a rallying cry instead of a won't-go-away night- mare. Notre Dame made sure what hap- pened Sept. 7 didn't define this team. It only made it stronger. THE INJURIES How many times can you lose a starter to injury in a single season and still not succumb to the scurrying and contingency planning that comes with it? If you're Notre Dame, at least 16, as evidenced in the lead up to the national championship game by my esteemed coworker Jack Soble. Blue & Gold Illustrated counted a dozen plus four instances in which a pro- jected or current starter went down with an injury and had to be replaced, start- ing with left tackle Charles Jagusah's torn pectoral muscle in early August and going all the way through quarterback Steve Angeli replacing Riley Leonard in the middle of the Orange Bowl. Graduate student defensive end Jordan Botelho played the best 10 quarters of football of his career before suffering a season-ending knee injury at Purdue Sept. 14, one of at least 16 instances the Fighting Irish lost a starter to injury during a game this season. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER