The Notre Dame football team had one goal and one goal only coming into Saturday’s Senior Day clash against Virginia: win convincingly.
It’s the same motto the Irish have had all year long following a shocking, 16-14 loss against Northern Illinois during the home opener. Since that day, the Irish have outscored their opponents 343-85, soared back into the top 10 of the College Football Playoff rankings and have performed at an elite level.
This Saturday was no outlier. The Irish comfortably steamrolled past the Cavaliers, 35-14.
“The first postgame press conference was a lot different than this one,” said head coach Marcus Freeman in Saturday's postgame press conference. “It’s just a testament to the work this group put in. The outcome of that game made us feel a certain way in terms of what we have to do to improve, but we've got to continue to look at the whys and what happened, and that’s what this group has been doing.”
After winning the coin toss, the Irish elected to defer. Notre Dame needed only four seconds to regain possession after Cavalier kick returner and former Irish player Chris Tyree muffed the reception, allowing graduate cornerback Max Hurleman to scoop up the ball and return it to the end zone. The play evoked an eruption at Notre Dame Stadium, which was quickly drained out as the touchdown was called back, forcing the Irish to begin their opening drive deep in Virginia territory.
The ruling didn’t affect the end result. The Irish swiftly marched inside the 10-yard line, inspired by a sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love first down and a roughing the passer penalty. Love then finished the drive by bouncing to the right of his linemen and powering forward to score the first touchdown of the game.
The Irish’s first seven points came only 111 seconds into the game. It took another 21 and a half minutes for the Irish to find the back of the end zone again.
The scoreless stretch of the game featured a series of rapid three-and-outs from both offenses. Meanwhile, the defenses were stingy throughout. Graduate linebacker Jack Kiser, in his record-breaking 63rd game played for Notre Dame, dictated the Irish’s physicality while Virginia’s safety, Jonas Sanker, was a constant pest for the Irish offense.
Then, with just under seven minutes of action left in the first half, graduate safety Rod Heard II forced a fumble that was recovered by graduate safety Xavier Watts. The Notre Dame offense came onto the field with something to prove and did just that, marching 88 yards down the field for a touchdown. Senior quarterback Riley Leonard’s touchdown pass, an 8-yard bullet over the middle, was reeled in by graduate wide receiver Jayden Harrison. From that moment onwards, the Irish never looked back.
Notre Dame produced two more touchdowns in the half, both stemming from interceptions. Sophomore safety Adon Shuler and freshman cornerback Leonard Moore were the difference makers on the defensive side of the ball for the Irish. Tight ends sophomore Cooper Flanagan and senior Mitchell Evans — in hurdling fashion — put the nail in the coffin offensively.
Throughout this time, the Irish also had a clever fake-punt play that led to a 73-yard touchdown for sophomore wide receiver Jordan Faison, called back due to illegal formation. Marcus Freeman was visibly frustrated on the sideline, mirroring the disappointment of the 77,622 Irish faithful packed into Notre Dame Stadium.
“It was definitely an awesome play. It was super fun to do,” Faison stated. “We’ve had it installed since the last bowl game, so we’ve been practicing it a lot. Just to execute it very well out there on the field, it was amazing. Like Jack [Kiser] said, we didn’t know the call. You score, you see a flag, and it’s like, ‘What happened,’ but you can’t control any of it so just bounce back and make the extra play.”
A rock-and-roll concert later courtesy of the band Chicago and the Band of the Fighting Irish, Notre Dame came out of the tunnel pumped up for the second half.
The offensive line fed off the energy, dominating in the trenches, catapulting Love’s explosive, 76-yard rushing touchdown five minutes into the half.
“I just trusted my o-line that they would get the job done. Once I saw a hole, I hit it. I got breakaway speed, so it was a track meet after that,” said Love in his postgame press conference.
Virginia responded on the next drive with a touchdown of its own as backup quarterback Tony Muskett led the Cavaliers downfield before rushing it in himself.
Other than its lone scoring drive, the Cavaliers offense had trouble producing much. Notre Dame outgained Virginia 210-70 in the third quarter and held the ball for 11:58, a far cry from Virginia’s 2:55 time of possession.
The fourth quarter was much of the same. Although Notre Dame didn’t hold the ball for as long, the Irish defense did what it needed to do and saw out a 35-14 win, with Virginia picking up one more touchdown in the dying embers on another quarterback keeper.
Currently standing at No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings, Notre Dame firmly puts itself in the driver's seat to control its destiny with two games remaining. Picking up two wins will most likely place Notre Dame in a home-field advantage position for the first round of the Playoff.
When asked if he believes Notre Dame will host a playoff game come December, Coach Freeman chuckled, “What I think doesn’t really matter.”
Coach Freeman’s assessment is inherently true. The College Football Playoff Committee has many big decisions to make, and with yet another big win at home, Notre Dame has only strengthened its case to play in the postseason. For now, the Irish’s attention will be on carrying their momentum forward in pursuit of picking up their fourth ranked win of the year as they tango with No. 16 Army next Saturday at the historic Yankee Stadium.
