Notre Dame beats Miami University for season's first home win

When Notre Dame senior quarterback Riley Leonard completed a simple 3-yard spot route to senior wideout Jayden Thomas for a first down in the second quarter, a smattering of Irish fans began to cheer.

They weren’t happy with the play, not by a long shot. They were sarcastic cheers.

Before that, they were boo’s, which began after Leonard badly missed two sprint-out throws in the first quarter. They grew loud after a botched snap cost Notre Dame three points when that drive stalled, and even louder after the ensuing possession resulted in a three-and-out. It looked like the Irish were in for another slugfest, trailing 3-0 to yet another Mid-American Conference opponent in Miami (Ohio).

But soon enough, they turned into real cheers. Leonard and the Notre Dame offense marched down to score after his short throw to Thomas. He punched it in for an 8-yard touchdown scamper, his fifth rushing score of the season. Later in the second quarter, he completed his first touchdown pass with the Irish on a 38-yard deep ball to senior wideout Beaux Collins.

That, combined with another shutdown performance for the Notre Dame defense, was enough. The Irish beat Miami (Ohio) 28-3, moving to 3-1.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. “It wasn’t clean. But to beat that football team 28-3, that’s a really good victory.”

Notre Dame has plenty to work on after its first home victory of the season, and the passing game is still on that list. Leonard finished 16-of-25 for 154 yards and that touchdown, although he did rush 12 times for a career-high 143 yards and 2 scores as well.

“The misses are just on me being lackadaisical and just not finishing with my mechanics and things like that,” Leonard said. “The hits obviously come when you trust your guys around you. It think our best drives were when I was just giving it to our playmakers and letting them go.”

Even Leonard’s work on the ground wasn’t perfect, though. Early in the third quarter, he broke free for a 43-yard gain — but he lost the football as the RedHawks took him down.

Leonard’s fumble was one of several mistakes that hurt Notre Dame throughout the afternoon. Sophomore wide receiver Jordan Faison‘s muffed punt after Miami’s opening drive was the first. A needless unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on sophomore safety Adon Shuler enraged head coach Marcus Freeman and cost the Irish a chance to add points before halftime.

“We had too many penalties that we have to clean up and see why they occur, and make sure we don’t continue to allow them to happen,” Freeman said.

Even the defense didn’t put forth its best effort, allowing 5.8 sack-adjusted yards per carry to a Miami team that averaged 1.4 in its first two games. But when Notre Dame needed a big play, defensive coordinator Al Golden‘s unit stepped up.

After Faison’s muffed punt, sophomore cornerback Christian Gray jumped a slant route near the goal line and deflected the ball into the hands of junior vyper Junior Tuihalamaka. Gray later came down with an interception of his own, with led to sophomore running back and fellow St. Louis native Jeremiyah Love‘s touchdown run to put the Irish up 21-3.

“We had some drives, we had some yards, but we stuck our cleats in the ground and didn’t let them get into the end zone, which is a huge credit to Coach Golden and our defense,” Freeman said.

Leonard ended any remaining hope Miami had with a 50-yard touchdown run up the middle with 5:39 left in the fourth quarter. Once he crossed the goal line, the Irish turned their attention to their Week 5 rematch with Louisville.

“We’re a mature group and everybody’s feeling the same thing,” Leonard said. “Let’s get back out there on the next drive and try to prove it.”