SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Maybe the most remarkable aspect of Leonard Moore’s rise from a midseason Plan B to becoming the nation’s best college football freshman on the defensive side of the ball is how oblivious he is to the potential distractions around him.
Which seem to get more brazen and blaring with each passing day.
“It hasn’t been tough for me, because I know what’s ahead of me,” the Notre Dame freshman cornerback said earlier this week ahead of Friday’s team arrival in Atlanta for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
“I know what’s ahead of us and this defense. We got big things to prepare for this week. We’re trying to not come up short.”
Related Content
► Opponent Outlook: What to expect from Ohio State football in CFP title game
► A hug, a promise kept, a rerouted dream embody Notre Dame LB Sneed's path
► Notre Dame DT Brenan Vernon prepares for important offseason
► Cam Williams commits freshman season to learning with Notre Dame football
► Film Analysis: How play-calling, execution put ND's offense back on track
Strictly business, Leonard is.
About replacing All-American-in-the-making Benjamin Morrison in October, about the scrutinizing spotlight baked into the Monday night title matchup at Mercedes-Benz Stadium between the seventh-seeded Irish (14-1) and 8 seed and heavily favored Ohio State (13-2).
About facing perhaps the best freshman on offense in the nation, even though he wasn’t named as such by the FWAA, in 6-foot-3, 215-pound Buckeye wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
“Obviously, when we’re playing a big game, you can’t just change technique or change anything,” the 6-2, 191-pound Moore said. “You’ve just got to go in there trusting your training and trusting your technique.
“You know you’re going to get the best out of another group, because obviously it’s the national championship. What else do you expect? You’ve got to go in there ready for a challenge.”
How ready has Moore been for the challenges thrown at him preceding this one? Pro Football Focus’ analytics rank him Notre Dame’s best defensive player with an elite season score of 88.9, just ahead of Irish two-time All-America safety Xavier Watts.
Smith, who has 71 catches for a team-leading 1,227 yards and 14 TDs for the nation’s No. 3 most efficient passing offense, is OSU’s top-rated offensive player with a score of 89.2. In the broader view, they’re PFF’s top two-rated freshmen at any position with 250 snaps plays this season or more.
Moore, in just the regular-season finale at USC on Nov. 30 and first three playoff games alone, has blown past that minimum, having not come off the field for a single defensive play in that run.
Meanwhile, in Moore, Watts, safety Adon Shuler, cornerback Christian Gray, and nickel Jordan Clark, Smith will be going up a secondary Monday night that’s part of the nation’s No. 1 pass-efficiency defense.
Against the nation’s No. 2 pass-efficiency defense, Texas, Smith had just one reception for three years in a 28-14 Buckeye victory last Friday night in the Cotton Bowl/CFP semis. OSU head coach Ryan Day struck the shockingly modest numbers for Smith on poor offensive execution, rather than anything Texas did or Smith didn’t do.
And yet that one catch for three yards is more than Penn State’s wide receiver corps amassed in total in ND’s 27-24 Orange Bowl/CFP semifinal win over the Nittany Lions on Jan. 9.
“I knew at the end of the game,” Moore said of the zero production, “because the receiver was talking a little trash to me. So, I let him hear it at the end. I told him he had zero catches.”
Which is the only part of Morrison’s teaching template Moore hasn’t followed to the letter. And the minimal trash-talker and projected first-round NFL Draft choice if he declares (he has a four-day window following the title game to do so) has been very involved in the development of Moore and the other defensive backs since suffering a season-ending hip injury Oct. 12 against Stanford.
Morrison was a force for the Irish in the last meeting between the Irish and Buckeyes, a 17-14 waning-seconds home loss for Notre Dame on Sept. 23, 2023. In that game, the sophomore version of Morrison helped mitigate former OSU two-time unanimous All-America wide receiver and current Arizona Cardinals rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. to the two of three benign catches for 32 yards.
The committed recruit version of Moore, meanwhile, was on the Irish sidelines on a recruiting visit to take it all in.
“Obviously, getting out there and even just watching Ben play against Marvin Harrison, that was huge,” Moore said. “He was definitely elite in that game.”
As Morrison is helping Moore do now.
“He’s played a big role,” Moore said of the Irish captain. “He’s been a role model and mentor for me. He had me prepared for the stuff that comes with being a starting cornerback, especially on a team like this. So, that’s been big.”
Moore played five snaps as a reserve in Notre Dame’s season-opening 23-13 road win at Texas A&M on Aug. 31 and moved into a larger rotational role the very next week, one that helped coax junior Jaden Mickey to a September decision to redshirt and enter the transfer portal (he has since landed at Cal).
The very next game after Mickey left the roster, Gray had an injury ahead of a big home matchup against Louisville on Sept. 28 and made his first collegiate start against the Cardinals’ high-powered passing attack.
The next game Morrison suffered his injury, and Moore’s rise came into full view. His season stat line entering Monday night’s game consists of 43 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, a team-leading 10 pass breakups, a QB hurry and two forced fumbles.
“I definitely knew I always had it in me,” Moore reflected. “I knew I always had the ability and the technique to be able to do this, but it’s definitely crazy to see it happen so fast.
“Obviously, as a freshman going in behind an NFL cornerback, you don’t expect to be thrust into the spotlight so soon, but you’ve got to be prepared and ready for everything.”
With the mental part of that preparation something that just seems to come naturally.
“Everybody knows we probably should have won that game,” Moore said of the 2023 Ohio State loss, “but we’re not worried at all about any of that. That’s not any extra motivation for us, because it’s the national championship. We don’t need any more motivation than that. We’re trying to make history here.
“Whatever happens happens. However many points the offense scores, the offense scores. But as a defense, we’re going to try to take care of our business.”
As usual.
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND and @TJamesND.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports
