Tag: jayden thomas

Notre Dame Week 7 highlight: Riley Leonard fakes run, passes to Jayden Thomas for TD

Riley Leonard had a nice pass to Jayden Thomas.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard has run for one touchdown so far and thrown for another against the Stanford Cardinal in South Bend.

This time, Leonard faked a handoff to Jeremiyah Love on a run-pass option and then found Jayden Thomas for a 15-yard touchdown pass that capped off a 7-play, 52-yard drive that took 3:20 off the clock.

The Fighting Irish started the drive at midfield after Howard Cross sacked Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels on fourth-and-5.

Notre Dame now leads the Cardinal 14-7 early in the second quarter.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard warms up before 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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Notre Dame statistical leaders through four games

Who’s on the board going into the next game?

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:

Jayden Thomas compares teammate Riley Leonard to two NFL superstars

Let’s hope that Thomas is correct

This is the time of year when superlatives are thrown around, and Notre Dame football wide receiver [autotag]Jayden Thomas[/autotag] wasn’t shy about what he thinks quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag]’s, ceiling is.

When the senior spoke with the media on Friday, Thomas compared his new quarterback’s game to NFL stars [autotag]Lamar Jackson[/autotag] of the Baltimore Ravens and [autotag]Josh Allen[/autotag] of the Buffalo Bills.

Those are huge shoes to fill, but as a runner, it’s hard to say Leonard isn’t close to their skill levels. While Jackson is the fastest of the three, each possesses elite running capabilities from the quarterback position.

As you can see from LeVon Whittaker’s social media post, their frames are almost identical. If the Irish can get Leonard to play to the standards of those two stars, then Notre Dame will be in great shape this fall.

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ESPN: Receiver is Notre Dame’s biggest question mark

Hope the Irish can make strides in that this season.

No matter how good a college football team is, there always is a weakness the opposition looks to exploit. Notre Dame is no exception.

ESPN has determined what it believes to be the biggest question mark for each team in its post-spring Top 25. Notre Dame was fifth on that list, and David Hale is the writer who listed receiver as the most pressing issue for the Irish. He elaborated this way:

“There’s room for optimism with this receivers corps, which includes the addition of transfers [autotag]Beaux Collins[/autotag] (Clemson) and [autotag]Kris Mitchell[/autotag] (FIU), along with holdovers [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayden Thomas[/autotag]. But last year’s leading wideouts, Chris Tyree and Rico Flores Jr., both transferred, and it was a unit that struggled often even with them. No wide receiver caught more than 27 passes in 2022 or 2023. Notre Dame hasn’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since [autotag]Chase Claypool[/autotag] in 2019.

With [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag]’s legs, a big O-line and a talented backfield (not to mention a burgeoning star in tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag]), there’s not a ton of pressure on the receivers to put up earth-shattering numbers, but genuine progress will be critical to an Irish offense that lost three games last season – all scoring 23 points or less. In those three games, the wide receivers combined for just two touchdown grabs and none had more than four catches in any one game.”

It’s a fair assessment, and the Irish have taken steps to address receive with five freshman receivers new to the program in 2024, including [autotag]Cam Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Micah Gilbert[/autotag]. Results might not happen right away, but at least the Irish were aware of this Achilles’ heel with their offense. It will be a fun group to watch develop.

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Notre Dame Football: See Benjamin Morrison’s Insane Spring Practice Interception

He did what?!?

Those in attendance as Notre Dame opened spring football practice on Thursday couldn’t give enough praise to Fighting Irish rising junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison.

Morrison is among the top cornerbacks in all of college football and recently drew major praise from his former teammates at the NFL Combine.

Morrison is back for his junior season and started spring practice with a bang on Thursday.  The Notre Dame Football Twitter account released a video of Morrison making about as spectacular of interception as you’ll ever see as he was defending wide receiver Jayden Thomas in practice.  Check it out in full below:

The catch Thomas makes while being covered very well by Morrison in the second highlight is no light task, but with Morrison’s flat-out ridiculous play before its easy to overlook that.

Welcome to spring football 2024!

Social media reacts to Jayden Thomas’ touchdown on Irish’s first drive

Nice start.

Notre Dame is off and running in the Sun Bowl. After the defense forced Oregon State to punt on the game’s opening drive, the offense took over at the 4-yard line. While the Irish mostly ran the ball, [autotag]Steve Angeli[/autotag] completed a 55-yard pass to [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag] and also a pass for 8 yards to [autotag]Jayden Thomas[/autotag]. The latter of those passes was good for a touchdown and an early 7-0 Irish lead:

 

The Irish has shown early that they’re ready to play in spite of missing so many familiar names from this season, especially on offense. While there obviously is a lot of game to go, you can’t discount how good both sides have looked so far. Even if things somehow flip the Beavers’ way, the Irish at least can take this part of the first quarter with them.

Here are some of the best reactions to Thomas’ score on social media:

 

Notre Dame statistical leaders through 11 games

Hopefully, these players can end the regular season on a high note.

Notre Dame has one game left in the regular season against Stanford. Good luck finding a way to watch it on the Pac-12 Network, but that’s a topic for another day. Right now, let’s focus on who is most likely to help the Irish beat the Cardinal.

Statistically, here’s who is likely to factor in whether the Irish can get revenge for last year’s defeat in South Bend:

Notre Dame statistical leaders through 10 games

Here’s who to look for against Wake Forest.

Notre Dame has two games left to improve the quality of the bowl it will play in. That might not mean much given that the New Year’s Six bowls are out of play, but it still is something to shoot for. The first of these contests comes against Wake Forest.

Here are the players statistically leading the Irish going into their home finale, one of which knows the Demon Deacons very well:

Notre Dame statistical leaders through nine games

Here’s who to watch for in the next game.

Notre Dame is riding high after winning its past couple of games. Now, it will visit a Clemson team that looks nothing like it did the past few years. The Irish have to feel pretty good about their chances. Wouldn’t you?

Here are the statistical leaders for the Irish heading into November:

Notre Dame statistical leaders through eight games

In case you forgot after the week off.

Notre Dame has had an extra week to enjoy the blow it dealt to USC’s season. Now, it’s back to business with Pittsburgh coming to South Bend. With the gauntlet portion of the schedule behind the Irish, this hopefully will be the easiest game they’ve had to look forward to in a month.

For those who need refreshing after the week off, here are the Irish’s major statistical leaders: