Newsstand: Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard named to October Comeback Player of the Year watch list
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was named to the October Comeback Player of the Year watch list, the Irish announced Tuesday. The Irish hopes he fulfills the promise of a successful second month after a tumultuous September.
The award recognizes college football players “for overcoming injury, illness or other circumstances.” Leonard missed most of October and November in 2023 with ankle and foot injuries, and he endured an upset loss to Northern Illinois that brought calls for his job throughout his first stretch of games with the Irish.
“I have a lot of confidence in Riley,” head coach Marcus Freeman said. “Nobody plays perfect, but I thought he did a really good job in terms of his preparation, in terms of his execution in the game and we’re going to continue to build on that.
Leonard has gone 82-of-126 so far this season for 750 yards, averaging 6.0 yards per attempt. He’s accounted for 10 total touchdowns — 3 through the air and 7 on the ground — and he’s rushed for 376 yards on 59 carries (6.4 Y/C).
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Leonard and the Irish return to action after their Week 6 bye with a Week 7 matchup against Stanford at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend.
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Jerome Bettis went on Notre Dame nickel back Jordan Clark‘s podcast.
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Quote of the day
“Last week and the week before, the way he practiced and threw the ball with confidence and the way people went, ‘Wow, that’s a dude.’ You know what I mean? That whole aura that’s surrounding him right now is really positive, and I think everybody’s feeding off that.”
— Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock on Leonard
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