Throughout the season, Notre Dame has gotten some pretty inconsistent quarterback play from Duke transfer Riley Leonard. Even with the Irish creeping back around the top 10 in the polls, there is still plenty of concern for the offense after the bye week. However, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock is sticking with his guy.
During his media availability earlier in the week, according to Tyler Horka, Denbrock said that “We’ve seen glimpses of what it can really turn into and become here. And we’re at about the point in the season where it’s time for that to kick into gear.”
Off To a Rough Start Throwing the Ball
So far this season, Leonard has only thrown for 750 yards and two touchdowns, doing most of his damage on the ground ranking in the top five for quarterbacks with 374 yards and seven touchdowns. The biggest issue for the Irish offense has been the passing game as there has been almost no downfield threat, which has mostly been because of Leonard’s inability to throw the ball down the field. Notre Dame brought in two wide receivers from the portal, Kris Mitchell from FIU and Beaux Collins from Clemson who have been impressive when called upon.
Mitchell was a 1,000-yard receiver last season with the Panthers and Collins was one of the biggest wide receiver names in the portal. Getting them going along with Mitchell Evans and Jordan Faison when healthy will be key if the Irish want to make a run down the stretch. This could be the most talented group of receivers Notre Dame has had in years, and it could be thrown away because Leonard struggles to find the open man.
A lot of criticism has come Leonard’s way because of this, with even fans and media calling for him to be benched after the Northern Illinois loss earlier this season. Junior backup quarterback Steve Angeli has been impressive when called upon, with three touchdowns in last season’s Sun Bowl win over Oregon State and two touchdowns in relief against the Purdue Boilermakers earlier this season. So with every mistake, the calls to bench Leonard become louder.
Is There Reason to Believe Denbrock’s Claim?
Although the stats really don’t look very good for Leonard, there could be some hope for Irish fans moving forward. Leonard looked much better last time out against Louisville, going 17/23 for 163 yards and two touchdowns leading the Irish to another big ranked win. He also led the team in rushing with 52 yards and a touchdown.
Leonard was also named the “Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week” with his performance. Denbrock has had success with scrambling quarterbacks in the past, even last season with Jayden Daniels who dazzled college football on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy. Daniels struggled in 2022 and then blew up with 40 touchdowns and only three interceptions last season. Not saying that Leonard is the same talent and athlete that Daniels is, but Denbrock has a record of doing this.
The criticism has been warranted for much of this season, however if there was any time to start believing in him, it would be now. The Irish need to be perfect the rest of the way to make the playoff and have some difficult tests coming up.
They still need to play Army and Navy, both undefeated and in the running for the Group of Five playoff spot, and USC at the end of the season, with some tough matchups like Georgia Tech and Virginia in between. Win out, and the Irish are in and maybe have a home playoff game. But one more loss now means they will miss out on the first 12-team playoff and plenty of questions will be asked of Marcus Freeman at the end of it all.
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