Who leads the Irish heading into the final regular-season contest?
Notre Dame has its fate in its own hands for the College Football Playoff. All it needs to do is defeat USC, and a first-round game at Notre Dame Stadium appears to be a certainty. Who would have thought the Irish would be in such a good position after the loss to Northern Illinois threatened to derail their season early?
The Irish can’t afford to get complacent though. The Trojans have not had a great season, but dealing the Irish a loss that could threaten their playoff chances would make up for everything that has gone wrong for them. That’s why the Irish will need to prepare for them like they would for any ranked team, and the talent they have should allow them to emerge victorious.
Here are the major statistical leaders the Irish are taking into their regular-season finale. Not all of them will be available, but they’re fun to see nonetheless:
It officially became a blowout when [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] called off the dogs. But even that wasn’t enough to keep Notre Dame from continuing to dominate as a curtain call to a 52-3 victory over Florida State.
[autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] completed a 26-yard pass to Jaden Greathouse, then handed it off to [autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag] for a 1-yard touchdown run.
When the Irish’s offense retook the field after another Seminoles three-and-out, which featured a [autotag]Junior Tuihalamaka[/autotag] sack, [autotag]Steve Angeli[/autotag] took over at quarterback. Even he got in on the scoring action when he threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to [autotag]Deion Colzie[/autotag].
As a final humiliation for the Seminoles, [autotag]Luke Talich[/autotag] intercepted Brock Glenn and returned the ball 79 yards for the game’s final touchdown and the first score of his collegiate career with 1:23 remaining. It was so unnecessary and yet so beautiful to see, especially with the Seminoles on the verge of scoring for the first time since the first quarter.
Irish fans were right to be cautious about this game because it had all the makings of a trap game. But the Seminoles came in with an offense that proved to be as putrid as advertised, and they now have the most losses of any preseason top-10 team.
Meanwhile, the Irish still have a College Football Playoff dream to chase. They have all the makings of a team that belongs there.
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Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love keeps his TD streak alive.
(This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo.)
Despite No. 10 Notre Dame blowing out the Florida State Seminoles tonight, Fighting Irish running back [autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag] has been relatively quiet.
Sure, his fellow running back [autotag]Jadarian Price[/autotag] has a rushing touchdown and quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] hastwo. Love had under 10 carries when took the ball in for a rushing touchdown in his ninth consecutive game.
The 1-yard touchdown run followed a 26-yard catch by [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] and ended a 7-play, 65-yard drive that took 3:51 off the clock.
Notre Dame leads the Seminoles 38-3 as it looks for a statement win.
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (4) runs the ball down the sideline on his way to score a touchdown during a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Stanford at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in South Bend.
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Former college quarterback and current analyst Greg McElroy is back in on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after the Irish beat Louisville 31-24 on Saturday.
A lot of pundits are still not seeing the Irish as a top-10 or playoff team, but McElroy thinks the Irish could be — if they get back to playing to their potential, and if they can do it for a full game.
“The boobirds were out after Week 2, weren’t they?” McElroy said on his podcast. “You go, and you lose to Northern Illinois. They look great against A&M in the fourth quarter of the football game, and then Northern Illinois comes to town, and you get beat up along both lines of scrimmage.”
“Sometimes, you can point to upsets, and you say, ‘All right, well, little flukey, right. (It’s) unlikely that that happens again,'” McElroy said. “Well, that wasn’t the case against Northern Illinois. Northern Illinois just flat-out beat them along both lines of scrimmage.”
Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish long snapper Rino Monteforte (39) prepares to snap the ball on an extra point in the fourth quarter against the Louisville Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
That was the bad. Here’s the good.
“You look at it, Riley Leonard, it’s his fifth game as the starting quarterback of the Irish, and this was his first with multiple touchdown passes,” McElroy said. “All right. He hit (Jaden) Greathouse on the one, and then I love the designed screen throwback to (Jeremiyah) Love, which was a big touchdown down the left side. So, there’s an awful lot to like about what we saw from Mike Denbrock.
“I really liked what we saw from Mike Denrock the offensive coordinator, a highly, highly compensated offensive coordinator,” he added. “Bring him up from LSU, and this is the type of performance that you would anticipate. My goodness, they have improved drastically. That was a good defense that they played against. That was a really good defensive line. I think that’s a group that has talent in the back end, and I thought Notre Dame’s offensive performance was rock solid.”
McElroy praised quarterback Riley Leonard’s growth and development. He then went on to speak highly of the defense, especially with the injuries it has been dealing with.
He ended by pointing out that the Irish have been playing well in 15-minute chunks.
“I’d love to see it for 60 minutes because we haven’t yet seen it for 60 minutes from Notre Dame,” McElroy said. “We’ve seen it in really 15-minute increments, whether it’s the fourth quarter against Texas A&M, whether it’s the one quarter of dominance and brilliance against Louisville in the first quarter. I’d love to see it for 60 because if they can do it for 60, they could play with anybody.”
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After one quarter of play, it looked like Notre Dame football was going to run Louisville out of Notre Dame Stadium.
After running back [autotag]Devyn Ford[/autotag] fumbled the opening kickoff and the Cardinals found the end zone, the Irish responded with three straight touchdown drives.
Running back [autotag]Jeremiah Love[/autotag] got it started with a 6-yard plunge, then quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] found wide receiver [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] for a 34-yard score. To cap off the flurry, Leonard ran one in from 4-yards away after Notre Dame recovered a botched snap on a punt.
Then the Irish’s offense went extremely quiet during the next two quarters, just a [autotag]Mitch Jeter[/autotag] 48-yard field goal, which kept the Cardinals in the game. Early in the fourth quarter, they cut Notre Dame’s lead to 24-17, but another response happened.
The Irish would march 75-yards on just 5-plays capped by a Love 32-yard touchdown reception from Leonard. The lead went back to two scores, which gave them a solid cushion.
Sep 28, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) celebrates with wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (1) after a touchdown against the Louisville Cardinals in the first quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
The Cardinals would come back and score a touchdown, to pull within a score once again. Notre Dame would need a big drive to seal the deal, but they couldn’t get it done. The defense saved the day as they made a final stop to end the game.
The Irish would win 31-24, improving to 4-1 on the year with a bye next week. They return to the field on October 12th to take on the Stanford Cardinal.
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Notre Dame had as bad a start as it could against Louisville, fumbling the opening kickoff and giving up an early touchdown. Many fans had to think this was the beginning of a long day in South Bend. Fortunately, the Irish showed they aren’t going to give up that easily.
When the Irish’s offense finally did take the field, it came out looking ready to play. Led by [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag], the Irish ran an equal amount of runs and passes, moving the ball almost every time. It culminated in a 6-yard touchdown run by [autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag] that tied the game at 7.
The game didn’t stay tied for long though. After the Cardinals got the ball back, they appeared to get an opening when Tyler Shough ran 46 yards into the Irish territory. However, [autotag]Leonard Moore[/autotag] knocked the ball out of his hand, and [autotag]Jaiden Ausberry[/autotag] pounced on the fumble.
The Irish took advantage of that when Leonard hit [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] for a 34-yard touchdown, giving them their first lead.
Then, the Irish knocked the ball further down field on a botched punt snap, setting themselves up only 4 yards from the goal line. Leonard immediately punched the ball in to give the Irish a 21-7 lead.
If you somehow have kept up with all of that to this point, here are some of the reactions we found on social media regarding that action-packed first quarter:
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard hits a big touchdown pass against Louisville.
Shortly after the Notre Dame Fighting Irish recovered a huge fumble against the Louisville Cardinals, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard found a wide-open Jaden Greathouse for a 34-yard touchdown pass.
This capped a 4-play, 53-yard touchdown drive that also featured a 16-yard run from Irish running back Jadarian Price. The drive took 2:05 off the clock.
The score gave the Fighting Irish a 14-7 lead with 4:59 remaining in the first quarter.
Notre Dame needed a fast start after struggling early in every game except the blowout over Purdue, and so far the Irish have achieved that.
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The great thing about Notre Dame’s dominant win over Miami (Ohio) is that a few more players got a chance to shine. Consequently, we have a few new names popping up in our weekly statistical leaders listicle heading into the game against Louisville. That should force the Cardinals to be a little more aware of the players they’ll be going up against.
This goes without saying, but the Irish always can benefit from new players appearing in these categories. It highlights just how deep the team’s talent is, and anyone can step in at any point. It might take some players longer to crack the leaders lists than others, but that’s the beauty of a regular season that runs through the end of November.
So who are the players standing out the most going into the Irish’s last game before their first bye week? Take a look for yourself here:
Expect to see more of Jaden Greathouse going forward.
Talented Notre Dame wide receiver Jaden Greathouse didn’t have a ton of reps against Purdue in Week 3.
Concerning for a Fighting Irish team that has been looking to get its passing game untracked? Nah.
According to head coach Marcus Freeman it was a combination of the specific game plan against Purdue, and the choice to rest starters after halftime in the 66-7 blowout win over the Boilermakers.
“We wanted to probably be in a little bit more 12-personnel to start the game versus Purdue, just the way to try to attack their defense that we thought would give us the best chance to have success. And then, (Greathouse) didn’t play much in the second half, just because of the lead, and I wanted to give some other guys some opportunities,” Freeman said. “But he did a great job again with the opportunities he had in the first half. I know he had the 25-yard catch that was negated by the holding penalties. So, Jaden did exactly what we asked out of him.”
Sep 14, 2024; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (1) pushes Purdue Boilermakers defensive back Ayden Murray (44) out of the way during a run in the second quarter at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
In other words, Irish fans who have been expecting to see more of Greathouse needn’t worry, at least not based on his usage against Purdue. If Greathouse isn’t used more later in the season, that will be a different story, especially if the passing game struggles.
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They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that’s especially true when it comes to football. In fact, there’s a college football award that revolves entirely around players with some connection to the Lone Star State. And a Notre Dame receiver could win it this year.
Irish receiver [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] has been named to the watch list for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. To be eligible, a player must play on the offensive side of the ball and either was born in Texas or played football at a high school, junior college or university based in the state. The player must also share characteristics with the Hall of Fame running back the award is named for.
This award first was given out in 2013. So far, only quarterbacks and running backs have won it, and only one winner has played for a college team based north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Time for Greathouse to make some history.
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