This isn't an ND team. An ND team takes over on offense with 3 minutes left and their opponents out of TOs and runs it down their throats for a couple of first downs and heads to the locker room. Mitchell Evans is a really talented TE who was our most reliable receiver last season. He's out there now pounding sand watching Leonard dance and dunk. Your right. we're a one armed fighter that is vulnerable.
No doubt this team has a lot of warts. Young OL who is now playing 3 backups, a QB who is an excellent runner but a so-so passer. WR's who knows if you have a QB with accuracy issues. We have an excellent defense, but not a Nat'l Championship defense. But I still want to win and not ready to throw in the towel on the season because the team isn't a Lou Holtz level of squad. Certainly many Irish fans are frustrated with Freeman and of course with our OCoord and the QB to go along with that as well. But they will be here the whole year, so I'm just going to hope that we see progress over the season and win at least 9 games, 11 would be awesome because it means that we beat USC in L.A.
Out of FBS QBs, Leonard ranks 92nd in yards passing. In my WTF ranking that's unacceptable for an ND QB. I blame Freeman for our lack of talent at the most critical position. Think about it. 92nd after playing 2 MAC teams and Purdue. In 5 games he has 3 TD passes. Angeli who's played in maybe 1/5 the minutes Leonard has has thrown 2.
I don't think anybody will argue with you gip that Riley Leonard has been a bust as the QB so far this year. You can make a case though that he was the critical piece in our 4 wins, but you could also make the case that if we had a good QB who could pass the ball well that we'd still be 4-1 and maybe 5-0. I'm not expecting a repeat of 2018 when Kelly benched Brandon Wimbush after opening the season with 2 unimpressive wins with Ian Book who went on to win a lot of games for the Irish. Steve Angeli will remain the backup unless Leonard gets hurt. Irish fans will fume every week that he needs to be benched even if we go 11-1. Besides Riley fans have turned on OC Mike Denbrock as well and the calls for him to be fired are getting louder, he's "Kelly's" boy, it's the Kelly offense, etc. Marcus Freeman has also lost the bloom on his rose, lots of calls for him to be fired at the end of the season, most agree he's a nice guy, loves ND, want's to do things right, etc...but bottom line is he's a mediocre coach at best who can't get the Irish where the fans want to go. I've seen a couple of posts saying we need to have a conversation with Urban Meyer to see if he's ready to step back into coaching. Also if he's retained they need to hire Nick Saban to be a consultant and Matt Freemans take on Riley. Riley Leonard played lights out to start the game. That’s the quarterback Notre Dame brought into the program and Leonard flashed where this offense can go with him behind center. If Leonard can continue that path, Mike Denbrock’s playbook can expand and the Irish offense can start to apply pressure on defenses. The second half struggles need to get fixed. Denbrock deserves some of the blame, but he’s also working with an offensive line that’s a bit inconsistent, which is expected, given the injuries and lack of chemistry. Denbrock needs to find some answers during the bye week for third down. Notre Dame was just 2-for-10 on the third down on Saturday and it’s been an issue all year. The Irish averaged 6.3 yards to go on third down and that’s not a recipe for success. Notre Dame was 1-for-4 on third downs four yards or less and that absolutely needs to get cleaned up as they do have the personnel to thrive in those situations. That said, Denbrock dialed up money plays at the right time to get the win. The fake rub route to get Jayden Harrison wide open and then the throwback screen for Jeremiyah Love’s touchdown were beautiful calls at the perfect time.
The question I have as we look around the nation at transfer QB's who are doing very well, is how did we end up with Riley Leonard? I know one limiting factor is that ND doesn't take just any transfer they have mostly focused on grad transfers, academics being a limiting factor for undergrads. But watching the Louisville QB, who was really good. He has a great arm, touch, and just put the ball on the money all over the field. How did we not go after him? Of course he might not have been interested for sure, but what about Cam Ward? I've read that NIL money isn't a problem at ND we are in the market and can match the best offers. So why Riley Leonard who was coming off an injury and couldn't participate in the Spring. That kid at Pitt, Eli Holstein what about him? Of course he didn't play last year so nobody really knew he would do what he's doing so far although he had a great HS career. As others have said I look forward to growing our own QB's and not relying on transfers. The question will be going forward is Steve Angeli going to stay and be the starter, or is he leaving and CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey going to be the starter. Many think that if somehow we hang on to Deuce Knight who seems to spend all of his time at Auburn these days, that he's a Nat'l Championship QB we have been waiting for years.
The answer to your question about Leonard is simple, we didn't have a top QB on our roster after the last rent-a-QB left. I agree with your question about why talented QBs such as Ward weren't considered. I've lost confidence in Denbrock since that terrible pass call late in the NIU game. Like any OC he can be successful with Heisman talent QBs. Making chicken salad out of chicken crap is what talented coaches do. We're stuck with chicken crap.
I haven't lost faith in Denbrock to tell you the truth esp after one bad call although I'm not convinced it was a bad call but it certainly ended up being a terrible outcome. Since I have no other choice I remain hopeful that Riley will improve as the season progresses and that the OL play will also improve which will make everything on the offense work better.
Another big win for Coach Shrewsberry! During his official visit to Notre Dame this weekend, Tommy Ahneman decided he’d seen enough. On Monday, the 2025 Minnesota center announced his commitment to the Irish, choosing Notre Dame over offers from schools like Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State and Northwestern among several others. The 6-foot-10, 235-pounder from Cretin Derham-Hall caps an amazing recruiting week for the Irish.
Off topic I know but I know Terry stops by here regularly. Has anyone heard from Gator Bill. NC has been devastated in parts by Helene. Hope he and his family are OK. Tom McCord is OK he's had some flooding and lost a tree or two but nothing critical.
I really don't know what to expect today. We are 22.5 point favorites and Stanford is not a very good team so far this season . Did we get healthy and did the coaches figure out where to go with the offense? Freeman keeps saying they have to call the plays that Leonard does well, duh. Vannie has ND 35 -17 that would be nice. Doesn't cover. Main thing is does Leonard play a full game like he played the 1st half vs Louisville. Also no more injuries.
4th down stop by Irish defense followed by a nice drive and some nifty running by Leonard and a terrific TD pass by Leonard. Irish 14-7