Tag: Jaden Greathouse

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State: Fourth-Quarter Analysis

So close, and yet, so far.

For a fleeting moment, Notre Dame still had a chance in the College Football Playoff title game. In a season where the amazing has happened repeatedly, why not one more such occurrence?

We’ll never know the events that occurred in another universe, but in this one, Ohio State is the national champion after beating the Irish, 34-23.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Emeka Egbuka was on his way to a long reception, but [autotag]Drayk Bowen[/autotag] knocked the ball out of his clutches, and [autotag]Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa[/autotag] recovered it. Suddenly, the Irish had the ball in a 31-15 game.

[autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] completed a 30-yard pass to [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag], and a couple of defensive holding calls against the Buckeyes set the Irish up with a first-and-goal. Three plays went nowhere, and instead of going for it on fourth down like most teams in such a situation should, the Irish opted to send [autotag]Mitch Jeter[/autotag] out for a 27-yard field-goal attempt. The kick doinked off the left upright, and the chance for points off turnovers was gone.

The Irish’s defense then forced the first Buckeyes punt of the game, and the offense badly needed points to still have a chance. It got them when Leonard fired another 30-yard pass to Greathouse, this time with Greathouse making a great catch in the end zone. Leonard then flipped the ball to [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag], who fired to [autotag]Beaux Collins[/autotag] to complete the two-point conversion and make it a one-score game.

Again, the Irish placed the Buckeyes’ offense in a tough spot, third-and-11 to be exact at their own 34-yard line. But that’s when Will Howard decided to air it out and fire a 56-yard pass to an open Jeremiah Smith, who caught the ball before being stopped at the Irish’s 10. Any real hope the Irish had was snuffed out on a play that Buckeyes fans will reminisce about forever.

The Buckeyes ran the ball a few times, milked the clock, and the matter officially was put to rest with a Jayden Fielding 33-yard field goal with 26 seconds left. The Irish were left to wonder what could have been, and the party in Columbus was underway.

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Watch Jaden Greathouse get a second touchdown to keep Notre Dame alive vs. Ohio State

Notre Dame isn’t dead yet.

Notre Dame is not going down without a fight.

The Fighting Irish are hanging in there versus the Ohio State Buckeyes thanks to a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] to wide receiver [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag].

The pass capped off a 6-play, 80-yard touchdown that took 2:10.

It’s Greathouse’s second touchdown tonight.

Wide receiver [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag] then passed the ball to fellow receiver [autotag]Beaux Collins[/autotag] on a trick play for the two-point conversion to bring the Irish within 8.

Jan 20, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (1) catches a pass against Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Cody Simon (0) in the second half in the CFP National Championship college football game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame vs. Ohio State: Third-Quarter Analysis

It’s not over yet, but the Irish better do something quickly.

If Notre Dame wants to win the College Football Playoff title game over Ohio State now, it better make its move quickly. Only 15 minutes remain, and the third quarter showed the Irish are no closer to slowing down the Buckeyes. They trail, 31-15.

Any hopes of the Irish seizing momentum after halftime were snuffed out on the second play of the quarter, which saw Quinshon Judkins run for 70 yards. Three plays later, Judkins had his fourth touchdown since the Irish had gotten a first down when he ran into the end zone from right next to the goal line.

On the Irish’s first possession of the second half, they promptly turned the ball over on downs after [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag] couldn’t handle a fourth-down pass from [autotag]Steve Angeli[/autotag]. That set the Buckeyes up in good field position, but to the Irish’s credit, they allowed only one first down this time. Still, the Buckeyes added onto their lead when Jayden Fielding kicked a 46-yard field goal.

The Irish finally broke their first-down drought when they took the ball back, albeit on a third-down pass interference call. But that proved to at least momentarily spark something within the Irish’s offense as it moved the ball better than it had since the opening drive.

This particular drive culminated with [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag]’s pass to [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag], who had enough space to score a 34-yard touchdown. Leonard then threw a short pass to [autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag] for the two-point conversion. Just like that, the Irish had life again.

The momentum was snuffed out on the next possession though when [autotag]RJ Obe[/autotag]n was penalized for roughing the passer. The Buckeyes already were starting to drive, and this put them in Irish territory. That’s where we stand, and the Irish are in trouble.

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Watch as Notre Dame WR Jaden Greathouse scores a big TD against Ohio State

Notre Dame gets a much-needed TD from Jaden Greathouse.

Notre Dame has been struggling to score against Ohio State all night in the national championship game, but wide receiver [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] may have just given the Irish life.

Greathouse took what looked like a routine pass and broke some tackles to scamper 34 yards to the end zone to cap off a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took 4:49. Quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard [/autotag]hit a shovel pass to running back [autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag] for the two-point conversion.

Notre Dame is still down a bunch, 31-15, and searching for a stop or turnover to get a comeback truly started.

Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (1) celebrates a touch down the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame WR Jaden Greathouse breaks down his huge touchdown vs. Penn State

Greathouse set him up

One of the biggest plays that helped Notre Dame advance to the College Football Playoff Championship game against Ohio State was wide receiver Jaden Greathouse’s 54-yard touchdown reception.

During the play, the sophomore juked on Penn State player immediately, caught the pass from quarterback Riley Leonard, then proceeded to juke another Nittany Lion and coast into the end zone.

It was the best play all season for Greathouse, and one that will be remembered for a very long time in South Bend. What made this even more impressive, was that the wide receiver set up the PSU defensive backs.

When asked by The Athletic to breakdown the play, Greathouse noted that he had been working on different releases against the Penn State defenders, and knew exactly which one he was going to use. It turned out to be the perfect one, as it turned into a highlight reel play for the Irish.

Jan 9, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Jaden Greathouse (1) runs the ball in for a touch down in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame statistical leaders through 11 games

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:

Notre Dame vs. Florida State: Fourth-Quarter Analysis

A perfect end to a perfect night.

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 Week 11 highlight — Jeremiyah Love gets in on the act

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] has two. 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.

Jeremiyah Love had a 64-yard touchdown run against Navy.
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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At least one pundit is back in on the Fighting Irish

At least one pundit believes in the Irish.

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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Notre Dame starts fast, then holds off Louisville for the victory

The Irish get a top-25 home win

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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