The beauty of Notre Dame’s naval restraint is its unfinished business
Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard, 13, is scheduled to play downfield Saturday against Navy. (Photo by Adam Hunger, Associated Press)
Perhaps Saturday’s seminal moment in a game that is an outlier every year when it comes to X’s and O’s was a postgame adjustment on how to keep it out of the box.
As an arrival of sorts.
Ah, the ceiling. This is a highly complete brush. A good reason to keep College Football Playoff plans percolating.
But 12th-ranked Notre Dame’s 51-14 victory over 24th-ranked Navy in the second standings game between the annual rivals since 1978 certainly hints at what’s possible. It was something. But in the Irish locker room at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, third-year coach Marcus Freeman insisted that work is still starting to get there. Ta.
“Hopefully, that’s the mindset we all have in dealing with success,” Freeman said during the team’s second bye week of the season, the first in his administration to win six straight games. “So we won, but it’s more than that.
“Let’s enjoy this thing. The results are what you wanted, but the mental approach we take this week is critical to how we improve. And it should be difficult. I just told them, “You won’t get better if you do the same thing you did the week before.”
“Human nature, gravity takes over. You’re going to get even worse. So if we really want to grow and improve, we have to be mentally and physically difficult for the next opponent.” I have to prepare.
“And that’s our mindset and hopefully that’s also why we’ve had success overall over the last few weeks.”
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Notre Dame (7-1) will next play Florida State (1-6, with a night game against No. 6 Miami). It will take place on Nov. 9 at Notre Dame Stadium, four days after the first CFP rankings were released and the team embarked on its first undefeated streak. September, October, or November of the third year of the Freeman administration.
“You better understand that if you don’t prepare properly, anyone can lose,” said Freeman, who still uses it as intermittent motivation after a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois on Sept. 7. He spoke, citing the match he lost in. “And I never want to forget that.”
But there were some memorable moments on Saturday — for the better. And they’re probably more translatable and easier to extrapolate to the remaining four games of the regular season than the typical ND vs. Navy matchup.
It was another calm and productive day for Irish quarterback Riley Leonard.
Against a defense that has made a living by creating turnovers en route to Navy’s first 6-0 start since 1979, seven years before Freeman was born, Leonard has been a force on the ground, and on Saturday, the Irish He played in a game that helped keep the Reds off the podium and recorded the second-best passing efficiency rating (164.5) in an Ireland shirt.
“There’s a lot of factors involved,” Leonard said of the gradual improvement. “It starts with everyone around me. When you look at guys like (2023 Irish starting quarterback) Sam Hartman, he gave me a call and asked me to play quarterback at Notre Dame. He spoke seriously about the opportunities he would be given as a member.
“Look at Tyler Buchner back here. It was so helpful to go out to dinner with him and get his perspective on everything. He deserves all the credit.” He’s putting a lot into this program right now. It’s really helped me a lot.
“All my teammates who held me accountable, not just on the football field, but in my faith as well.”
And here’s how we expressed confidence in Saturday’s actions. With 10 rushes for 83 yards, Leonard recorded his 11th rushing TD of the season, three shy of Brandon Wimbush’s single-season school record. The Irish defeated Navy, which ranks fourth in the nation in rushing offense, 365-222.
Before being relieved by backup Steve Angeli early in the fourth quarter, Leonard completed 13 of 21 passes for 178 yards, including TD tosses to fellow transfer Chris Mitchell and Beau Collins.
The Irish led 31-7 at halftime, at which point they had gained 302 total yards and 466 yards.
“Am I still 100% confident? No,” Leonard said. “But some things are starting to come naturally in my checking on offense.Obviously, I missed spring ball and a little bit of summer.
“It’s hard to run a college offense these days, even if I’m just there for that. There’s a lot going on. I’m still trying to figure out if I got it. Having a little fear that there’s always more in the tank really helps us and helps me.
“Obviously, this is a work in progress, but we are getting better every week.”
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The same goes for the offensive line, with junior Billy Schlaus returning to the lineup for the first time since injuring his ankle early in the 66-7 road rout at Purdue on Sept. 14. Freeman and Irish O-line coach Joe Rudolph made the selection. He moved Schlaus back to left offensive guard and placed him next to freshman left tackle Anthony Knapp.
Schlaus’ long-term successor, senior Rocco Spindler, remained at Schlaus’ old right guard spot, while solid sophomore Sam Pendleton played on the second-team o-line.
Whether or not Pendleton finds his way back into the starting lineup at some point, Schlaus’ return will raise the O-line’s ceiling.
“Just the attitude he plays with, the toughness he plays with,” Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said earlier this month about what the Irish lost without Schlaus. “It just makes us better. It just happens.”
Same goes for healthy sophomore wide receiver Jordan Faison, who had a season-high four receptions Saturday against the Mids, tied his season total for points through the first seven ND League games, and had a team-best 52 yards. obtained. If his right ankle is finally 100%, he could become the deep threat Den Brock has been craving since arriving on staff last December.
The continued re-emergence of tight end Mitchell Evans and the presence of multiple tight end sets is another first to ND’s ambitious future. And using sophomore running back Jeremiah Love more on third down, where he rushed for 102 yards and two TDs, probably bodes well, too.
The unit, which was continually adjusted by defense and third-year coordinator Al Golden, ranked 10th nationally in total defense and 5th in scoring defense.
There were almost as many encouraging signs individually as there were signs as a whole.
Same as junior linebacker Jalen Sneed, who had a career-high nine tackles with a fumble recovery for a touchdown after a few weeks of regression. Or Junior Tuihalamaka’s career-high seven tackles and fumble recovery at defensive end.
Or freshman cornerback Leonard Moore, who made his first career interception, coming off an interception from quarterback Blake Horvath, a junior who had only thrown one all season.
In total, the Irish defense had three fumble recoveries to go along with Moore’s pick. He also has two more fumble recoveries on special teams for a total of six Navy perks. The Mids had two committed all season coming into the game.
And Navy went 23-of-23 on offense and scored 22 TDs, compared to 1-of-3 against the Irish. Horvath has a passing efficiency rating of 210.5, which would be an NCAA record if he maintains that and records enough attempts per game to meet the minimum eligibility criteria.
The Irish posted a 95.3 rating on Saturday, the first time this season he had less than 100 passing yards (88).
“In the past, when we played triple-option teams, the defense was completely different,” Freeman said. “But once they get into (the shotgun formation), it’s similar to what we see every week. So we needed the ability to play a triple-option defense with the same personnel.
“And when they move to offense, they get to play some of the normal defense that we’ve been doing. And they still did a good job. They — I think about Navy. But Coach Golden had a great game plan. 14 points is too much for greedy guys like us, but they did a great job against an offense that hasn’t been able to stop much this year. Ta.”
I’m happy but hungry. Although it is improving, it has not reached its peak. That’s exactly where the Irish want to be heading into November, but where will they go?
Leonard’s ideas are perhaps the most eloquent.
“Everyone thinks of Notre Dame as just a powerhouse,” Leonard said. “I was always a little overwhelmed when I first committed. But when I get in here and start meeting these guys, they’re just regular guys like me.”
That includes former Notre Dame quarterbacks, whose experience will be put to good use in transferring to Duke.
“They all just told me, ‘Don’t take it for granted, don’t have any regrets,'” Leonard said. “I think regret only occurs when you miss an opportunity, not when you miss an opportunity. If you want to throw it but don’t and it breaks, you’ll regret it. But , if you throw it and something bad happens, that’s it. At least you tried.
“They all told me that: Really find yourself and find your peace. I’m so honored to wear this blue and gold. Every day I wake up and think, I really live by that. I wake up every day, whether things are going well or bad, and I don’t take it for granted.”
Notre Dame 51, Navy 14: Box score
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