Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (4) scores a touchdown over Army cornerback Donavon Platt … [+]
After Notre Dame’s stunning home loss to Northern Illinois on Sept. 7, head coach Marcus Freeman didn’t mince words. He wasn’t about to hide his disgust.
“This is as low as it gets,” he said.
On Saturday night, 11 weeks later, that disappointing defeat seemed like a distance memory. In front of a pro-Notre Dame crowd at Yankee Stadium, the Fighting Irish defeated Army, 49-14, winning their ninth consecutive game. Notre Dame (10-1) handed Army (9-1) its first loss this year and snapped the Black Knights’ Football Bowl Subdivision-leading 13-game winning streak.
Entering Saturday, Army was one of the feel-good stories of the season. Despite only having one transfer on its roster (a backup center) and forgoing Name, Image and Likeness deals, the Black Knights won their first nine games by an average of more than 23 points and achieved their highest ranking in the Associated Press poll since 1962. But they did so against the second-easiest schedule in FBS, according to ESPN. And on Saturday, there was a wide gulf between Army and Notre Dame, a team that is hitting its stride at the right time.
With one regular season game remaining next Saturday at unranked USC, Notre Dame is in prime position to secure one of 12 berths in the College Football Playoff.
The Fighting Irish are No. 6 in the CFP rankings and should move up a spot when the rankings are released on Tuesday because No. 5 Indiana lost earlier in the day at Ohio State. The Fighting Irish, one of three independent programs in FBS, aren’t eligible to receive a top-four seed and first round bye because those spots are reserved for conference champions. But they are hoping to get seeded from fifth through eighth, meaning they would host a first round game at Notre Dame Stadium on Dec. 20 or 21.
It is a stunning reversal for a program that was reeling two months ago. After an impressive season-opening victory at Texas A&M, Notre Dame looked like a different team the next week, losing to Northern Illinois, a 28-point underdog. It was reminiscent of two years ago when Notre Dame lost to Marshall and Stanford at home in Freeman’s first season as head coach at any level.
“It’s the entire program that underachieved today,” Freeman said after the Northern Illinois game.
Perhaps that loss motivated the Fighting Irish to not overlook their opponents. Or maybe they are just living up to their potential. Whatever the case, they have for the most part been dominant.
Since that Northern Illinois loss, the Fighting Irish have won their last nine games by an average of 32.6 points per game. Saturday’s victory was arguably the best of the season against an Army team that had only trailed for just over five minutes all season, when it fell behind North Texas, 3-0, two weeks ago. Notre Dame scored on its first possession against the Black Knights and never trailed the rest of the way.
Quarterback Riley Leonard, a first-year transfer from Duke, completed 10 of 13 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 30 yards on eight carries. With the Fighting Irish ahead 35-7 late in the third quarter, backup Steve Angeli replaced Leonard, giving the senior some much-needed rest.
Since throwing two interceptions in the Northern Illinois loss, Leonard has completed 66.5% of his passes for 14 touchdowns and one interception and run for 592 yards (6.7 yards per carry) and 12 touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Jeremiyah Love ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries, including a 68-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the second half to give the Fighting Irish a 35-7 lead. Love has run for a touchdown in 11 consecutive games, tying a school record that has stood for 50 years.
Jadarian Price added 53 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while true freshman Aneyas Williams had a 58-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Before Saturday, Army had held its opponents to 82.6 rushing yards per game (3.2 yards per carry) and yielded just three rushing touchdowns. But the Fighting Irish had 273 rushing yards on 29 carries (9.4 yards per carry) and ran for five touchdowns.
Notre Dame’s coaches have been judicious with their running backs, not giving anyone too much of a workload. Love has 850 yards on just 121 carries, while Leonard has rushed 112 times for 671 yards and Price has 77 carries for 540 yards.
“Everybody in the running back room trusts in the plan that (running backs coach Deland McCullough) has for us,” Love said. “He’s a great coach. He’s going to do what’s best for us.”
Love was asked how the offense has evolved since September.
“I would say we’ve grown a lot in our mentality, man,” he said. “Everybody on the offensive side of the ball is really dogs, man. Coach Freeman calls us savages, man. That’s really what we are. We’re just continuing to grow every single week and get better.”
Notre Dame’s defense has been just as impressive. In its first nine games, Army had an FBS-best 334.9 rushing yards per game (6.2 yards per carry) and 35 rushing touchdowns. But the Black Knights had only 207 rushing yards on 58 carries (3.6 yards per carry).
Notre Dame’s defense entered the game allowing 11.4 points per game (third in FBS) and 277.1 yards per game (sixth in the nation) even though junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison, a potential first round pick in next year’s NFL draft, sustained a season-ending hip injury on Oct. 12 against Stanford. Defensive linemen Boubacar Traore and Jordan Botelho are out with season-ending injuries, too. And defensive tackle Howard Cross III missed his second consecutive game on Saturday.
In recent years, Army at times has held its own against major programs. The Black Knights lost in overtime against then-No. 5 Oklahoma in 2018 and then-No. 7 Michigan a year later. Still, Army had no answers on Saturday against Notre Dame, which improved to 12-0 in the Shamrock Series, a tradition that began in 2009 in which the Fighting Irish play an opponent in a neutral field setting.
“They are really athletic and extremely well-coached,” Army coach Jeff Monken said. “I mean, in every phase, they outclassed us.”
With one more regular season game remaining, the Fighting Irish have proven to be among the nation’s best teams and have a chance to secure a likely first round CFP playoff game with a victory over USC next Saturday. Of course, a road game against a talented opponent like the Trojans is not a given win. Still, Notre Dame has shown since the Northern Illinois loss that it does not overlook opponents any longer.
“We’ve improved, but what we’re starting to be is more consistent,” Freeman said. “That’s the sign of great teams, great businesses, great people, is the consistency…That’s what I think we’ve seen the past couple of weeks. We’ve had to improve. We had a lot to improve from that Northern Illinois performance, and we have been. Now you’ve seen a consistent football team, and we’ve got to continue to be that.”
