Leonard, Love steer the ship as Notre Dame cruises past Navy

Blink, and you’ll miss sophomore Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love hit the hole up the middle.

With the Irish up 14-7 in the early second quarter, Love made one cut at the line of scrimmage and saw daylight down the right hash. He zoomed up the field, eliminating a Navy cornerback’s tackling angle. And like that, he was gone, reaching the end zone after 64 yards.

Let your guard down on defense, and you might miss senior Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard scampering around the edge, too. Leonard finished with 10 rushes for 83 yards (8.3 yards per carry) and a rushing touchdown, while Love had 12 for 102 (8.5) and 2 scores.

Leonard added 178 yards through the air and 2 passing touchdowns to a banner day for No. 12 Notre Dame’s backfield duo. They steered the ship as the Irish cruised to a 51-14 win over No. 24 Navy on Saturday in East Rutherford, N.J., winning their sixth straight game and improving to 7-1.

“[Love’s] got a chance to create a big play every time he has the ball in his hands,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. “And that’s what, to me, you saw today. Some really good connections and executions between the wideout and quarterback, but also Jeremiyah Love being Jeremiyah Love.”

Leonard got the scoring started early, setting the tone for a strong afternoon of offensive execution.

Notre Dame found itself in third-and-6 from the Navy 46-yard line on its first possession. Leonard found a wide-open sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse for a 42-yard gain, extending the drive and leading to a 1-yard score on a quarterback sneak.

The Irish were not always sound offensively, but Leonard could usually bail them out by scrambling for chunk plays.

As Notre Dame led 31-14 in the third quarter, looking to put the game away, a dropped pass from junior tight end Eli Raridon and an illegal formation penalty wiped out two first downs in a row. No problem: Leonard escaped the pocket for a 24-yard gain to convert third-and-8, and four plays later, he found senior wide receiver Beaux Collins down the right side for a 37-yard touchdown.

“Do I feel 100 percent confident yet?” Leonard said. “No, but some things are starting to become second nature in our checks and the offense.”

While most teams have defended the Irish with heavy boxes to stop the run, the Midshipmen often opted to play two high safeties. Notre Dame punished them by hammering Love up the middle. The St. Louis native lowered his shoulder like a battering ram to gain extra yards, helped by an Irish offensive line that rarely let him get touched in the backfield.

“At the end of the day, they got 11 guys to cover,” Leonard said. “We just stuck to our game plan, did our thing.”

Navy helped Notre Dame’s cause with rare mistakes from its modernized triple-option offense. The Midshipmen lost five fumbles — none of which the Irish forced — and threw an interception. Despite junior quarterback Blake Horvath rushing for a 47-yard touchdown and later a 59-yard gain, Navy could not stop hurting itself with unforced mistakes.

Notre Dame scored 27 points off those 6 turnovers, including junior linebacker Jaylen Sneed‘s fumble recovery in the end zone to break the 40-point mark for the Irish.

“We were plus-six in the turnover margin,” Freeman said. “That’s huge. That’s a straight reflection of complementary football.”

On Navy’s first fumble, a Horvath pitch dropped by junior fullback Alex Tecza sophomore Notre Dame safety Adon Shuler recovered it and returned it 28 yards to the Navy 7-yard line. The Irish scored three plays later.

With his parents on the sideline pregame in his home state of New Jersey, Shuler helped turn a game many expected to be close into a rout. Notre Dame will enter its second bye week with a blowout win over a ranked opponent, and with four wins to go for a spot in the College Football Playoff.