Riley Leonard finally looking like the QB Notre Dame football needs to carry them to the playoffs
It wasn't a hot start for the Fighting Irish in South Bend on Saturday as Notre Dame's defense gave up the first touchdown of the game to Stanford while the offense couldn't get rolling until late in the first quarter. But the tables turned in the second quarter with both sides of the ball responding […]
It wasn't a hot start for the Fighting Irish in South Bend on Saturday as Notre Dame's defense gave up the first touchdown of the game to Stanford while the offense couldn't get rolling until late in the first quarter.
But the tables turned in the second quarter with both sides of the ball responding in an almost unrecognizable fashion.
"It was a terrible first series on all three phases," head coach Marcus Freeman said after the win. "… I said, 'Okay, let's see how this group responds.' From the second series on, they played lights out."
And by the end of the game, Riley Leonard finally started looking like the quarterback Notre Dame football needs to make a playoff run.
For the first time this season, Leonard threw for over 200 yards in the Fighting Irish's 49-7 win over the Cardinals.
He finished the blowout victory completing 16 of 22 passes (72.7%) for 229 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions. His longest pass was a 53-yard deep ball to wide receiver Beaux Collins. He also added another 31 yards and a score on six rushes.
Notre Dame (No. 11) advances to 5-1 on the season so far with their only loss coming against Northern Illinois. Because of that loss, the Irish will need to keep winning if they plan to make it to the playoffs and they're going to need more than Leonard's legs to get them there.
However, seeing Leonard successfully use his arm today against Stanford has to only give him more confidence, but also Marcus Freeman more confidence to draw up more deep ball plays moving forward.
The defense also did their part, holding Stanford to 200 yards and 3.4 yards per play.
Next up for Notre Dame and Leonard is a road match in Atlanta where they will take on Georgia Tech at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Georgia Tech is 5-2 after beating North Carolina, 41-34, on Saturday afternoon.
Notre Dame football has wide receiver recruiting answers potentially coming in the near future
Notre Dame could add a lot of talent to the wide receiver room soon
