WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Riley Leonard has yet to throw a touchdown pass in his Notre Dame football career.
The Irish starting quarterback still found the end zone plenty Saturday with three rushing touchdowns in the first half of a 66-7 blowout victory at Purdue.
Leonard, an offseason transfer from Duke, led Notre Dame’s offense on five touchdown drives in seven possessions while building a 42-0 halftime lead. Then Leonard was able to watch his backups take the rest of the snaps in the second half.
A week after Leonard, threw two interceptions, including one that set up the game-winning field goal in a 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois, the fact the Leonard still hasn’t found the end zone through the air will continue to be held up by critics wanting to see more from Notre Dame’s passing attack.
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While the need to see Notre Dame throw the ball with better success in critical moments is real, it shouldn’t take away from what Leonard did in Ross-Ade Stadium. He rushed 11 times for 100 yards with touchdown runs of 3, 34 and 13 yards as Notre Dame built a 28-0 lead in the second quarter. He also completed 11 of his 16 pass attempts (68.8%) for 112 yards.
Leonard became the first FBS player to pass for at least 100 yards, rush for at least 100 yards and rush for at least three touchdowns in a first half since Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson reached those numbers against Syracuse on Sept. 9, 2016.
This performance came at the end of a week for Leonard that included reports of an MRI on an injured left shoulder and that backup quarterback Steve Angeli was receiving more first-team reps in practice. The idea that Leonard would be limited or not starting was dismissed publicly by offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock and head coach Marcus Freeman throughout the week.
If Leonard was dealing with an issue in his non-throwing shoulder Saturday, he certainly didn’t show it. He fought for extra yards on multiple occasions by lowering his shoulders.
“It’s just how I play the game,” Leonard said. “I got no fear in the world of getting injured. The second you play hesitant is when things get scary. So, I just play my game and trust in the Lord.
“I’m going to lower my shoulder. I’m going to get the first down for my guys. Obviously, I’m going to try to protect myself here and there. I need to be on the field. But whatever happens happens. I’m just going to play my game and not play hesitant.”
That Angeli had more success throwing the football in the second half against a Purdue defense that had little to play for at that point will only add to the curiosity of those wondering if Angeli could be the better option for Notre Dame. He finished 6-of-9 passing (66.7%) for 110 yards and two touchdowns before making way for sophomore Kenny Minchey and freshman CJ Carr in the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame’s running backs found plenty of room to roam while on the field with Leonard. Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love rushed for 90 yards on six carries in the first half. His 48-yard touchdown run gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead on its first offensive series. Love finished the game with 10 carries for 109 yards.
Junior running back Jadarian Price rushed five times for 77 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown run in the final minute, in the first half. He ended up with 86 yards on eight carries. By game’s end, the Irish tallied 362 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns on 44 carries. Those totals would have been even higher if Angeli wasn’t sacked three times.
“He was able to run it,” Freeman said of Leonard. “That means people were blocking. He was hitting holes that we were opening for him, and he had some success throwing. I don’t know the stats of throwing the ball, but I know that he hit some open receivers. More than anything, I think that we helped him.”
Leonard’s threat as a runner helps Notre Dame’s running backs as well. Love spoke in support of Leonard earlier in the week and called him a great quarterback.
What did Love think when he saw Leonard repeatedly running into the end zone Saturday?
“That’s that guy,” Love said. “That’s what I was thinking. Shoot.
“Coming off of last week, everybody’s hopes were down on us. But seeing Riley come out and persevere through all the bad comments and media and all that type of stuff, it really was something to see. Because people say a lot of mean things. To see Riley have a great performance, it was something. Shoot, he played to our standard today.”
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Leonard described last week as “tough” and “pretty awful,” but he was buoyed by the support of Freeman and Denbrock this week as they prepared for Purdue. Both expressed confidence and trust in Leonard as Notre Dame’s starter.
Before Saturday’s game, Denbrock sent Leonard an inspirational Bible verse.
“Those little things can go a long way in a player-coach relationship,” Leonard said.
Denbrock met with Leonard multiple times during the week to make sure the two were comfortable with certain play calls.
“I was open with him,” Leonard said. “What plays do I love? What plays they gotta go? You call that, I’m running it or something. Just being honest with each other, being vulnerable and having open conversations is something that every offensive coordinator and quarterback have to have.
“This week we nailed it. He called the game perfectly in my opinion. That’s what gives me and the guys all the confidence in the world.”
The message Freeman instilled upon the team all week was that they didn’t do a good job of handling success well in preparing for the Northern Illinois game following a big win in the season opener at Texas A&M. That meant Notre Dame needed to handle failure well and be laser-focused in rebounding from last weekend’s loss.
“For this game, I was extremely prepared all week,” Leonard said. “I was just itching to get out to the field again and be able to prove myself. It’s a long time, Saturday to Saturday, of just sitting around and thinking about the last game. You’re like, man, I just want another opportunity to get back out there. This game was not only big for me but big for the whole team.”
Even though Notre Dame’s starting offense scored on five of its first seven possessions, there’s plenty of room for improvement against a better defense than Purdue’s. The two non-scoring drives in the first half came on three-and-outs.
On the second drive of the game, Leonard rushed himself into a poor throw to Price, which resulted in an incomplete pass on first-and-10. Then Leonard played it safe on third-and-9 with a six-yard scramble.
Leonard scrambled again on a third-and-six early in the second quarter to end Notre Dame’s second three-and-out. While rolling to his left, Leonard may have been able to complete a pass to tight end Mitchell Evans and wide receiver Jaden Greathouse near the middle of the field, but that could have been a dangerous throw. And as the score showed, this wasn’t a game worth taking unnecessary chances to succeed. Leonard rushed out of bounds for a two-yard gain and let ND’s defense continue to dominate.
Notre Dame’s defense looked much more like the form it was expected to take this season in limiting Purdue to 162 yards, sacking quarterback Hudson Card four times and intercepting him twice — a pick-6 by defensive end Boubacar Traore and a deflection hauled in by linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa.
If Notre Dame wants to truly get back to its College Football Playoff aspirations, it will need Leonard’s passing attack to expand farther downfield. But not every missed opportunity belonged to Leonard. He could have hit wide receiver Beaux Collins for a 32-yard touchdown pass, but as Collins ran open, a defender pushed left tackle Anthonie Knapp into Leonard as he tried to throw what became an off-target pass.
Leonard’s longest completion of the day went for 23 yards, but it was a short throw to wide receiver Jayden Thomas with most of the damage done after the catch. The same was true on a 19-yard completion to Evans.
Notre Dame’s passing game needs to eventually be more imposing, but it didn’t need to be Saturday. Leonard can make incremental improvements as long as Notre Dame’s dictating the game with its rushing attack.
The Irish can’t worry on a weekly basis about needing an offense that can compete in the 12-team playoff right now. Doing so could allow another NIU-style upset.
Leonard’s most important passing stats against Purdue were that he didn’t throw an interception and he didn’t sacked. The touchdown passes will come eventually.
“I spent a lot of time this week just prepping myself immensely on trying not to do too much and just sticking to my game,” Leonard said. “Then my feet matching my eyes. I did an OK job with that. I can learn from it again.
“Just making the game simpler, as simple as possible. My job’s to get four yards a play. It doesn’t matter how I do it. I got away from that for a second, but I’m back on track and kind of understand my role. My job’s to win football games, so however I need to do it, I’ll do it.”
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