The Irish entered Saturday’s game against Miami (Ohio) following a dominating, 66-7 victory against Purdue. The disappointing home opener just two weeks prior against Northern Illinois left a sour taste in the mouth of Irish fans hopeful for a playoff berth. Despite starting slow offensively and falling to an early 3-0 deficit, the Irish went on a 28-0 run to beat Miami and improve to 3-1.
Reflecting on the game, head coach Marcus Freeman said, “It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t clean, but I'm proud of our guys to hold their offense to three points.”
The Irish defense aimed to set the tone for this game against a high-powered Miami offense averaging over 280 passing yards per game. They forced a punt on the first RedHawks drive that was muffed by sophomore wide receiver Jordan Faison, who just returned this week after suffering an injury against Texas A&M. However, sophomore cornerback Christian Gray deflected a pass that was intercepted by junior linebacker Junior Tuihalamaka to give the Irish back the ball.
On offense, Notre Dame sputtered early. Punctuated by two penalties on sophomore left guard Sam Pendleton in the first quarter, the Irish were stifled by the RedHawks defense to go scoreless in the first quarter. To begin the second quarter, Miami would go on its longest drive of the game for 59 yards, capitalized with a Dom Dzioban field goal to take a lead.
Following this field goal, the Irish would score 28 unanswered and assume control starting with the defensive side of the football. The Irish began their offensive onslaught with a 10-play, 87-yard drive capped off by a Riley Leonard 8-yard touchdown run. Irish fans only needed to wait one drive longer to see the senior quarterback’s best throw of the season and first touchdown pass in blue and gold. It was a 56-second touchdown drive ending in a 38-yard touchdown throw from Leonard to graduate transfer wideout Beaux Collins.
Reflecting on Leonard’s play in the game, Freeman said, “We have a lot of confidence in him making the right decision in the run game and the pass game.”
The Irish began with the ball to open the second half and attempted a reverse play out of the kickoff that was called back for a block in the back penalty. Following two blocked field goals against Northern Illinois, the Irish fans had hoped for a wake-up call on special teams. With a muffed punt, a bobbled snap on graduate kicker Mitch Jeter’s 51-yard field goal attempt and the block in the back, the Irish once again struggled to convert necessary plays on special teams.
“The block in the back on the reverse was unacceptable,” Freeman said. “We have to own these mistakes as coaches.”
The Irish fought their way out of difficult field position to extend the first-half lead, but a huge, 35-yard run from Leonard ended in a fumble to open up the second-half offense. The Irish defense would be once again tasked with picking up the offense and special-teams mistakes. The RedHawks continued to target Gray in the secondary, proving to be a challenge throughout the game. Gray, however, earned his first interception of the year with 7:17 left in the third.
“It felt amazing,” Gray said of his pick. “We knew as a sophomore group … we were going to step up. It’s our time.”
Another sophomore, Boubacar Traore, ended with five tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble filling in at defensive end. Despite battling injuries at defensive line and linebacker, the Irish defense has only allowed three touchdowns in the season. The red-zone defense is proving to be a strong suit of the physical and athletic Irish defense. The Irish secondary ended with 17 coverage wins by seven different players.
Referring to the secondary, Marcus Freeman said, “That is who we are.”
Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love punched in a 15-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 21-3. Love ended with 11 carries for 60 yards. The Irish showcased a dominant rushing attack, building on their 300-yard performance against Purdue by piling up another 270 yards on the ground against Miami.
Freshman defensive lineman Bryce Young blocked a field goal with 8:13 left in the fourth quarter to give the Irish great field position. Following the block, Leonard ran for a 50-yard touchdown with 5:39 left in the fourth quarter that sealed the game for the Irish on fourth down. Leonard would finish with 12 carries for 143 yards and two touchdowns rushing along with 154 yards and a touchdown passing.
“It was a redemption game for me,” Leonard said.
The Irish will certainly face one of the biggest challenges of the season at home against No. 19 Louisville next Saturday. This will be the annual “Irish Wear Green” in Notre Dame Stadium as the Irish hope to avenge last year's green-out loss in the final seconds against Ohio State. With Northern Illinois losing to Buffalo this weekend, all hope of an Irish playoff appearance rides on ranked victories against Louisville and USC in the coming weeks.
