What they’re saying about Notre Dame’s 35-14 win over Virginia
In a whacky game with a few turnovers and questionable refereeing decisions, Notre Dame won comfortably against the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday. The final score of 35-14 doesn’t do it justice how much the Irish controlled the game, even in spite of slow periods offensively.
In this article, we’ll take a look around at what the media is saying about the Fighting Irish’s triumph against the Cavaliers, 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.
Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold — ‘Ball don’t lie’: How Notre Dame overcame tough call on fake punt touchdown
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman doesn’t lose his cool often. He lost it entirely on the sideline in South Bend Saturday evening.
The fumes of Freeman’s berating of an Atlantic Coast Conference officiating crew were felt in the press box. In Notre Dame Stadium seats. Through television sets. It was a chilly mid-November day in Michiana but the Fighting Irish’s skipper was red hot.
As it turns out, probably for good reason.
Notre Dame had a 73-yard fake punt touchdown called back because of a penalty. It appeared to be a successful “fumblerooski” — Jack Kiser took a direct snap and secretively handed the ball to Jordan Faison, who was hiding behind Notre Dame’s towering offensive linemen at the onset of the play. Faison shot around the left edge and into the end zone on fourth-and-6.
It’ll go down in the game book as an “illegal formation” penalty, though, because the referees claimed Kiser took a hand-to-hand snap. Notre Dame lobbied — vehemently and vociferously, in Freeman’s case — that it was a shotgun snap, which would make the subsequent handoff to Faison a legal one.
“Most of the time, I was trying to get the interpretation of, ‘Hey, this is what we did. What’s your interpretation?’” Freeman said.
Jack Soble, Blue & Gold—Five thoughts: Despite 21-point win, Notre Dame leaves unsatisfied
Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden was the first to break formation at the conclusion of Notre Dame’s alma mater.
As the band played, “Love thee, Notre Dame,” Golden took his arm off defensive backs coach Mike Mickens’ shoulders and started walking toward the locker room. His stoic expression didn’t change as he made his way into the tunnel.
In the prior three hours and change, Golden’s unit was excellent. The Irish held Virginia to 4.4 yards per play and forced 4 turnovers (not including a muffed kickoff from former Notre Dame wide receiver Chris Tyree). But the veteran assistant coach wasn’t pleased.
Perhaps the Cavaliers’ 16-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that turned a 28-point win into a 21-point win left a sour taste in his mouth. In any case, while the Irish try to enjoy every win, they left Notre Dame Stadium anything but satisfied.
“We can’t look at the outcomes,” head coach Marcus Freeman said. “We can’t. We’ve got to evaluate everything and continue to find ways to improve and get ready for our next opponent.”
Notre Dame is a veteran team who knows it didn’t play its best, despite the game being over before halftime. That’s bad news for Army, who will face Golden’s wrath on Nov. 23.
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Austin Hough, South Bend Tribune: Despite wild second quarter, Notre Dame football gets desired result against Virginia
SOUTH BEND — A bizarre game also ended in a familiar way for Notre Dame football: a dominant win.
Despite two long touchdowns being called back within three plays in the second quarter, the No. 8-ranked Fighting Irish didn’t let it phase them. If anything, it woke them up even more, sparking an onslaught over the final 33 minutes of the game to win, 35-14, against Virginia in the home regular-season finale.
Here are four instant observations from the Irish’s eighth-straight win, improving them to 9-1 on the season.
The fake punt touchdown callback sparked Notre Dame’s defense
It looked like the Irish had run the perfect fake punt for a touchdown, with sophomore Jordan Faison taking a handoff from senior Jack Kiser and bolting 70 yards untouched for a score. After a near-five-minute discussion, the referees called an illegal formation on Notre Dame, taking the touchdown off the board.
Todd Burlage, Blue & Gold: Virginia vs. Notre Dame game balls
QB Riley Leonard
After spending most of this season showcasing his running talents more than his passing prowess, the senior Irish quarterback has flipped the script in recent weeks.
Against Virginia, Leonard did little on the ground, finishing with 32 yards on 8 carries.
But through the air, the Duke transfer completed a season-high 22 passes on 33 attempts for 214 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
It marked the fourth time in the last 6 games that Leonard has thrown multiple touchdown passes in a game.
In fact, during those 6 games, Leonard has 11 touchdown passes and just 2 interceptions.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman
Opening statement from postgame press conference:
“Any win — it was a great win. A great team victory. It’s what we aspired to do all week for our seniors on a Senior Night. This obviously isn’t the end of our season, but this is the night we said was going to be Senior Night and our last guaranteed opportunity for our seniors to play in this stadium.
“So it was important for us to make sure that we achieved the team glory that we aspired to have. I told them in the locker room, ‘We’ll fix the film. There’s always plays to fix. We have to evaluate it and figure out the whys, and we will.’
“But enjoy this victory. Heal up. We’ve got to continue to improve as we go throughout the season. That’s going to be the ultimate challenge is we can’t look at outcomes. We can’t. We’ve got to evaluate everything and continue to find ways to improve and get ready for our next opponent.”
Full press conference transcript
