ATLANTA — Riley Leonard threw 93 passes between interceptions.
The last time Notre Dame’s starting quarterback threw an interception prior to Saturday, it led to the Irish losing to Northern Illinois in embarrassing fashion on Sept. 7. Leonard’s next interception came on his fourth pass in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Georgia Tech. Neither interception was thrown very close to its intended target on deep passes down the field.
This time wide receiver Beaux Collins was meant to be on the receiving end of Leonard’s long heave. Fortunately for No. 12 Notre Dame, it didn’t prove to be as costly in a 31-13 win over the Yellow Jackets.
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What Leonard didn’t realize, he said after the game, was Georgia Tech (5-3) dropped into Cover 3, which left a safety in the middle of the field where Collins was meant to run his post route. Collins appeared to recognize that he shouldn’t be the intended target, because he slowed down his route before Leonard even let go of the pass. Cornerback Warren Burrell managed to track down the pass near the goal line and returned it 27 yards for an interception.
“It was just a bad read,” Leonard said. “I can’t just throw the ball up like that.”
The play worked in practice several times throughout the week for Notre Dame (6-1), but it provided Leonard with a reminder that he still needs to recognize what the defense does in the moment.
“We ran that play five times in practice, and I threw that ball five times to Beaux,” Leonard said. “Well, that doesn’t mean anything. That’s completely irrelevant to what’s going to happen in the game. So pre-snap I’m thinking, ‘OK, muscle memory. Do what we do in practice. If I have just an inch, pull the trigger.’
“Well, that inch closed pretty quickly. It just came down to practice and understanding that in the game it can be completely different.”
Leonard looked completely different after his interception. After starting the game 2-of-4 passing for 8 yards, Leonard completed his next 12 pass attempts. Each of those consecutive completions gained at least eight yards. As Leonard started to heat up, so did Notre Dame’s offense. The Irish trailed 7-0 after the first quarter with two scoreless offensive possessions. They scored touchdowns on their next three meaningful possession, which excludes a one-play kneel to end the first half.
Leonard credited his improvement in the second quarter to settling down, trusting his eyes and trusting his coaching.
“Don’t be a dummy,” Leonard said. “If they give you a hitch, take a hitch. It’s hard to do, but it’s really not that hard. Just take what the defense gives you and move the ball down the field and stay in front of the chains. After that, I was just like, ‘All right, settle down. Play your game.’”
Leonard used his legs to help bring the offense to life, too. He converted a pair of third downs with one-yard runs on Notre Dame’s first scoring drive. The second conversion resulted in a touchdown to tie the game with seven minutes left in the second quarter.
The offense started to hum on its second scoring drive. The Irish strung together five consecutive plays of at least 11 yards on a five-play, 68-yard touchdown drive. Leonard hit running back Jeremiyah Love for 25 yards and wide receiver Kris Mitchell for 14 yards. Following a false start penalty on tight end Mitchell Evans, Leonard completed two passes to Collins for 11 yards each. Then Leonard found a big hole on the right side of Notre Dame’s offensive line for a 12-yard touchdown run. A pair of Georgia Tech defenders followed Evans’ running a fake route rather than stopping Leonard.
Leonard kept the momentum rolling on Notre Dame’s first drive of the second half. He connected with wide receiver Jaden Greathouse on a slot fade for 28 yards to start the drive. He later found Collins for a 15-yard completion to set up Love’s one-yard touchdown run to give Notre Dame a 21-7 lead with 11:01 remaining in the third quarter.
Notre Dame’s offense limped to the finish line a bit. The Irish needed a successful fake punt — a forward pass in the backfield by Davis Sherwood to Jayden Harrison which was then given to Love on a reverse — to keep a drive alive in the fourth quarter that led to a 42-yard field goal by Zac Yoakam, the first of his career as he filled in for injured Mitch Jeter.
Notre Dame had to settle for a field goal attempt on its next drive as well but only after wide receiver Tyler Buchner took a snap as the incognito holder and dove near the sideline for a four-yard gain to barely pick up the first down. But Notre Dame ended up with worse field position following the next few plays. That left Yoakam with a 46-yard attempt, which he missed to the right.
The Irish defense picked up the scoring with a 36-yard touchdown on the next play when safety Adon Shuler returned an interception for a score. Notre Dame led 31-7 with 2:37 remaining before a late score by Georgia Tech.
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Leonard finished 20-of-29 passing (69.0%) for 203 yards, but he had plenty of help in surpassing the 200-yard mark for just the second time this season and for the second consecutive game. More than half of Notre Dame’s receiving yards — 120, according to the official box score — came on yards after catches. Love led the Irish in receiving yards with 57 on three catches with 34 of those yards coming after those catches. Collins caught a team-high five passes for 51 yards, 20 of which came after those catches. All but two of Evans’ 26 receiving yards on four catches came through the air.
Notre Dame’s rushing attack continued to be a three-man production with Leonard and running backs Jadarian Price and Love. Price wound up being the most productive with eight carries for 69 yards. Leonard rushed 10 times for 51 yards and two touchdowns. Love was limited to 36 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries.
The bulk of Price’s yards came on the three longest runs of the day for Notre Dame — a 19-yarder in the first quarter, a 23-yarder in the third quarter and a 19-yarder in the fourth quarter.
“Every time the ball gets in his hands, something good can happen,” Leonard said of Price. “We trust him no matter what. In the pass game, in the run game, he’s a great guy to just have in the backfield with. You feel comfortable. You feel confident every time he steps out there. Also, a huge part to this offense.”
Love drew praise from Leonard for helping clear the way on some of Leonard’s runs.
“This dude on the quarterback counter is a freight train,” Leonard said. “You’re talking about a guy who has every right to probably be a little hesitant — our most athletic guy. He could care less. He’s a huge team glory guy. He’s not going to say much. He’s not going to complain at all if he gets a concussion from hitting these linebackers head-to-head. He doesn’t care. If that’s what he’s called to do, he’s going to do it. So, a lot of respect for him.”
The blueprint for Notre Dame’s offense has become clear through seven games. The Irish are going to try to run the ball, find matchups to exploit in the passing game and limit turnovers. It may never be the flashy version this year that seemed possible when Notre Dame added Leonard and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock in the offseason.
It likely won’t have to be either, at least until a potential College Football Playoff appearance. With what lies ahead on Notre Dame’s schedule, including next week against No. 25 Navy (6-0) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (12 p.m. EDT on ABC), grinding out victories may have to be accepted.
So long as Leonard’s making the right decisions, he doesn’t have to make incredible throws for the offense to roll.
“He reloaded and came back with the right mindset,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said of Leonard’s response to throwing an interception. “Those things happen. Didn't read it the right way and made a bad decision. But he's confident. That's a part of the game, that you’ve got to be confident in your decisions, even if sometimes they can be wrong. Because there are other times you made a wrong decision, and it ended up being a great play, because he made it fast.
“And so, he's a confident individual because of the way he prepares. And he did a great job after that interception of leading our offense.”
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