3 game balls for Notre Dame football after gritting it out over Louisville
A game that looked like it was going south early on turned out to be the kind of contest that could give Notre Dame football some serious confidence heading into the second half of the season.
The 31-24 win over Louisville wasn’t the most dominant, but enough members of the Fighting Irish stood up when it was needed and more importantly, it looks like Notre Dame has found its identity and decided what it wants to do on offense especially. And they did it against a Top 20 opponent.
Not only does win mean Notre Dame football is 4-1 on the season, but a win over a ranked team officially puts them back in the conversation for a playoff bid, even if it’s the kind of seed that will see them going on the road in the first round.
Among the many players who stood out, these three got our game balls on Saturday night.
Riley Leonard looked like the weapon Notre Dame football wanted
I will admit that I was among those who had lost all confidence in Riley Leonard during the first half of the Irish’s win over Miami. As much flack as Marcus Freeman and Mike Denbrock has taken the last few weeks for their defense of Leonard, maybe they were right?
Leonard entered Saturday just 1-for-8 when throwing deep (25+ yards in the air). He was 2-for-2 against the Cards, including a very pretty touchdown throw that could be the kind of throw that gives him some confidence to let it rip for the rest of the season.
https://x.com/NDFootball/status/1840119593488060809
Today, he completed 17 of 23 passes (74 percent completion) for 2 TDs and no interceptions. He also had 52 yards rushing on 13 carries and his seventh touchdown run already. His game ball is an easy call.
Xavier Watts is still really, really good
It seems as though the senior safety has been a bit under the radar this season, but today might have been his coming out party for the season. He did a little bit of everything on defense.
There was the interception when he was in the right place at the right time. He also had two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry, as well as three tackles.
And it will be overlooked but Watts was also the one who made the tackle for no gain when Louisville had a 4th and 1 on the Notre Dame football 15 yard line. That turnover on downs is huge in a 7-point game.
Leonard Moore steps up big for Notre Dame football
When Jaden Mickey announced he was redshirting and transferring earlier this week, Moore was immediately one of the guys I said would need to step up in his absence. So all he did on Saturday is lead the team in tackles with 7 and forced a fumble.
The freshman showed up in his first game, where he stepped into Mickey’s spot in the rotation, and that was even bigger for Notre Dame football, considering Christian Grey missed the game and Benjamin Morrison had to sit out a decent chunk.