What they’re saying about Notre Dame defeating Miami University 28-3
No. 17 Notre Dame improved its season record to 3-1 Saturday evening, knocking off Miami University 28-3. It was the team’s first home victory of the season, but it was bumpy at various points of the contest.
In this article, we’ll take a look around at what the media is saying about the Fighting Irish’s triumph against the RedHawks, including Blue & Gold’s Mike Singer and Tim Hyde giving their instant reaction to the game in a YouTube live show. You can watch the replay of the show in the video player below.
And now for what they’re saying…
Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold: How to make sense of the puzzling polarity of Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard
There wasn’t any mistaking what Notre Dame fans called out in unison from the north end zone of Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
One name. Four syllables. Rhymes with peanut butter and jelly.
“Steve An-gel-i!”. Clap, clap, clap clap clap.
If you didn’t hear it it’s because you chose not to. It was there, it was loud, it was biting.
And it was 100 percent a shot at senior starter Riley Leonard.
Leonard, the same quarterback who Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman put full faith in following the Fighting Irish’s 28-3 victory over Miami (Ohio) when he was asked about blue and gold faithful’s not-so-sweet calls for beloved junior backup and boo-birding of QB1.
“We don’t make decisions based off what the sentiment of the stadium is,” Freeman said. “So that’s the answer to that part of the question… We’ve got a lot of confidence in our quarterback that led us to a great victory today.”
Leonard accounted for three of the four touchdowns and ran for a career-high 143 yards. But just a month into the 2024 season it sure feels like there isn’t anything he can do with his legs to assuage intense distaste for what he cannot do with his arm, namely fire passes with the consistency that’s typically required of the starting quarterback at a place like Notre Dame.
Jack Soble, Blue & Gold: Five thoughts—How Notre Dame passing game showed progress in win over Miami University
After his two first-quarter misses, nothing senior Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard did for the rest of the game was going to matter in Irish fans’ eyes.
Those misses, to be clear, cannot happen. Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock schemed up easy sprint-out reads to get Leonard in a rhythm and he just botched the throws. He chalked it up to lackadaisical mechanics, which have to tighten up in the next seven days.
However, Leonard the passer showed significant progress in Week 4, even if the stat sheet doesn’t necessarily reflect it.
The hesitancy that plagued him in his first three games with Notre Dame wasn’t there. He was letting it rip, even taking several shots downfield. One hit — a 38-yard touchdown to senior wideout Beaux Collins — and three others might have if not for obvious Miami pass-interference penalties.
“It gave me a lot of confidence to know I can throw the ball down the field, and something good happened the majority of the time we did that,” Leonard said.
Confidence is a key word here. Trust is another. Notre Dame’s wide receivers are significantly better than they were last year. Leonard has to trust his guys and, crucially, trust himself.
He’s not all the way there, but he took a step in Saturday’s win.
“We know we can make plays like that, and it was just a matter of going and doing it,” Collins said. “That was definitely a big confidence-booster for us.”
Here are four more thoughts on Notre Dame’s Week 4 victory over Miami (Ohio).
Mason Plummer, Notre Dame on SI: Riley Leonard Has to Throw Better for Notre Dame to Beat Louisville
Yes, Notre Dame won by 25.
Yes, Riley Leonard ran well. Really, really well.
But several things can be true and in play at once.
After a rough showing from Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard against Miami University on Saturday throwing the ball, questions have to be asked about the Irish signal caller … again.
Louisville comes to town next week. That’s a test with an average quarterback, and as it stands, at least throwing the ball, Leonard has not even been that.
Through four games, Leonard simply hasn’t improved in his ability to be a consistent passer.
In Game One, sure, we all convinced ourselves that the gameplan was to not air it out and just to run it down the throat of Texas A&M early and often. The gameplan worked and allowed Notre Dame to escape College Station undefeated.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman
Opening statement from postgame press conference:
“Yeah, proud of the way our guys competed. You know, it wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t clean.
“But to beat that football team, 28-3, I told them, that’s a really good victory. I think they are going to be a really good team.
“I told (Miami) Coach (Chuck) Martin after the game, that’s a good football team. I’m really impressed with their offense, their quarterback. So to hold that offense to three points, man, was a huge, huge sign of how the way our defense had played. But battled.
“Again, we got down 3-0. Didn’t start the way we wanted to. We had too many penalties that we had to clean up; that we’ve got to clean up and see why they occurred, and make sure that we don’t continue to allow that to happen. That’s on coaches, and we’ve got to own it and make sure we drill it, and we fix it, and put our guys in positions to have success.”
Highlights
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