Marcus Freeman: 'No consideration' to pull Riley Leonard for Steve Angeli vs. NIU

The Notre Dame offense struggled throughout the team’s loss to Northern Illinois. Despite those struggles, head coach Marcus Freeman says he never considered making the switch at quarterback from Riley Leonard to Steve Angeli.

Freeman reiterated his support for Leonard and his belief that he’s the right quarterback to run the Irish offense.

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“No, there was no consideration of that,” Marcus Freeman said. “We have a lot of belief in Riley and him running our offense.”

The offense only scored 14 points in the loss to Northern Illinois, and in the end, that low-scoring effort was a major reason why the team won on a late field goal. For the game, Riley Leonard completed 20 of 32 passes for 163 yards and two interceptions. He also ran for 16 yards and a touchdown.

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For the season, which to this point is just two games, Riley Leonard has completed 61.3 percent of his passes for 321 yards and the two interceptions. He’s yet to throw a touchdown, though he has rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Riley Leonard came to Notre Dame as a transfer from Duke. While there, he had plenty of success but his 2023 season was cut short due to an injury. That injury carried over into the offseason and he missed time, particularly during winter workouts and spring ball.

For his part, backup quarterback Steve Angeli came to Notre Dame as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2022, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the 33rd-ranked quarterback in that recruiting cycle. Since getting to South Bend, he’s played in 10 games and has completed 34 of 44 career pass attempts for 504 yards and seven touchdowns to an interception.

Now, the Notre Dame offense needs to find a way to bounce back from that tough loss when the Irish make a road trip to Purdue on Saturday. It’s a game where it sounds like Riley Leonard will be the man under center for Marcus Freeman and the Irish coaching staff.