Virginia will give a glimpse into whether the Notre Dame passing attack has actually turned a corner
It has been a long process, but we have finally seen the Notre Dame passing attack start to head in the right direction. Led by former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard, there were more than a fair share of struggles early on. After a clunker against Northern Illinois, Leonard has really started to turn the corner […]
It has been a long process, but we have finally seen the Notre Dame passing attack start to head in the right direction. Led by former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard, there were more than a fair share of struggles early on. After a clunker against Northern Illinois, Leonard has really started to turn the corner the last several weeks.
Since that disastrous performance against Northern Illinois, Leonard has thrown for nine touchdowns against just one interception. He has also completed nearly 66 percent of his passes, and has added another 12 touchdowns on the ground. It hasn’t always been pretty but Leonard has by all accounts showed great improvement during that 7-game stretch.
In order for Notre Dame to be the best version of themselves down the stretch, and hopefully during a deep playoff berth, Leonard will have to continue improving. The Irish have another opportunity on Saturday to continue that progression, facing off against the Virginia Cavaliers at home.
While the Cavaliers have a tremendous safety in Jonas Sanker, the pass defense is extremely underwhelming. On the year, they have surrendered 262.9 yards passing through the air, which is one of the worst totals in college football. Virginia is also surrendering a completion rate of 60 percent, and has allowed a total of 14 passing touchdowns this season.
That is obviously a huge advantage for Notre Dame on paper, and it will have to be as such this weekend. Virginia also hasn’t been overly productive at getting to the quarterback, only collecting 14 sacks as a team this season. On top of that, Leonard is also extremely hard to sack, having been taken to the ground just nine times.
In reality, this should be a field day for Leonard and this passing offense. If it isn’t, there is a much larger issue at hand.
While Notre Dame is always going to be a heavy run team, they will need to be balanced in order to make any sort of run when the College Football playoffs begin. This is another opportunity to continue getting better, and show that you are turning a corner.
During the bumps in the road in the early position of the season, a lot of Irish fans turned on Leonard. Many called for him to be benched, and move toward the future instead. His rebound is proof of the resiliency that Leonard boasts, and is now set up to potentially be a difference maker on their run toward a national championship.
