Notre Dame Dominates Virginia, Celebrates Senior Day with Defensive Showcase
Notre Dame celebrated its 29 seniors in dominant fashion Saturday, taking down Virginia behind an elite defensive performance in a 35-14 victory.
“It was a great win, a great team victory,” head coach Marcus Freeman said. “What we aspired to do all week for our seniors.”
Deep in the second quarter, the Irish were letting the Cavaliers hang around. While the defense hadn’t given up a point, the offense was struggling to gain traction with a handful of drives ending after long third down conversions coming up short.
South Bend was waiting to explode and it almost had its chance — twice.
“You can definitely feed off the emotions of the crowd,” Freeman said. “It’s contagious.”
To set the scene, Rod Heard came up big against a driving Virginia offense, popping the ball loose deep in his own territory as Xavier Watts was able to secure the loose ball.
Quarterback Riley Leonard delivered a highlight-reel toss, zipping the ball up the middle and into the hands of Jayden Harrison. The speedy wide receiver sprinted down the field in a rumbling Notre Dame stadium for what would have been a 78-yard touchdown, but it was called back as Pat Coogan was called due to a costly hands to the face penalty.
Freeman tried to get it all back only two plays later as a fake punt was directed towards Jordan Faison. The wide receiver made multiple Cavaliers miss as he galloped down the field for what everyone assumed would be a 73-yard touchdown. It was called back — again — this time because of an illegal formation penalty on the Irish.
“It was an interpretation of the rule,” Freeman said. “We were in shotgun, which we were assuming we could do and they said no. They got a job to do and I may have disagreed in the moment but I have the utmost respect for our referees.”
Notre Dame took the penalty and punted the ball away, but the sense of anger among the Irish was palpable. It all boiled over as Adon Shuler read the eyes of Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea and went up to snag an interception, taking it all the way down to the two-yard line.
Leonard faked out just about everyone in South Bend, tucking the ball and tossing it over the line of defenders and into the hands of Cooper Flanagan to stretch the lead to 21.
On the following Virginia possession it appeared the Irish defense was feeling themselves and Colandrea was ice cold. His pass found the hands to Leonard Moore, who made a juggling catch to ignite South Bend once again.
“When your defense is playing as well as we’re playing, it allows you to still be in the game and be in a position to win, maybe when you aren’t having the success you want offensively,” Freeman said.
Leonard used the momentum to his advantage and had a ton of time to float around in the pocket before finding a wide open Mitchell Evans, who snagged the ball and went head-over-heels to stretch the ball over the goalline for the team’s fourth touchdown.
The Irish had made the Cavaliers pay for their costly turnovers, scoring touchdowns following all four turnovers in the first half. Virginia wasn’t done turning it over either as Colandrea threw his third pick in as many drives, this time to Watts at midfield.
“To be one of the best players in the country is a testament to his god-given ability, but also the work he’s put into it,” Freeman said.
Notre Dame wasn’t able to capitalize this time as the clock became its enemy. Mitch Jeter missed a 54-yard kick wide-left as time expired, sending the Irish to the locker room up 28-0 at the half.
As the second half began, Leonard was looking to carry over the momentum and bury Virginia, but the Irish’s third-down blues continued. The signal caller tried to fit the ball in too tight of a window and was picked off by Trey McDonald.
Virginia’s backup quarterback Tony Muskett was inserted into the game to try and turn the tide off the interception, but he didn’t have much luck either. Defensive coordinator Al Golden and Notre Dame defense dialed up some third-down pressure and Muskett had no choice but to toss the ball away.
On the next Irish drive, Love gave the fans the explosive touchdown they were craving in the first half, exploding up the middle for a 76-yard touchdown to push his rushing total over 100 yards on the day.
But the Cavaliers weren’t going to go down without a fight, and Muskett seemed to begin to settle into the game. The quarterback found Malachi Fields down the field for a big 38-yard catch. Fields appeared to bobble the ball going to the ground, but Virginia was able to get the snap off before play could be stopped.
Later that drive, Muskett showed some flair, capping off a 75-yard drive by perfectly reading a quarterback-option, tucking and running for an 18-yard touchdown.
Notre Dame was finally able to convert a third down on the following drive. Leonard hit Harrison on a 25-yard post route to move the chains for the first time all afternoon on third down. The Irish were able to drive the ball all the way down to the Virginia five-yard line before stalling out on fourth-and-goal. Leonard had Evans all alone on the back line of the endzone but Virginia’s Dorian Jones got a hand on it and it hit the ground before reaching the tight end.
“We can’t put our offense behind the sticks,” Freeman said. “The percentage of converting those aren’t good, no matter who you are. What we have to do is a better job of putting our offense in better third-down situations.”
The one question that the Irish left unanswered Saturday was in the kicking game. Both kickers missed a kick, Marcello Diomede a 54-kick, and Zac Yoakam a 36-yard kick. Yoakam was a perfect 5/5 in extra points. It should be something to watch as Freeman splits certain kicks between Diomede and Yoakam.
Before time expired, Muskett was able to lead his squad on one last scoring drive as he found the endzone for his second rushing touchdown on the day.
Before the action got started Saturday, head coach Marcus Freeman referred to the Cavaliers as a “confident” football team coming into South Bend after taking down then-ranked Pitt last weekend.
That confidence seemed to not last too long as Chris Tyree — who played four seasons with the Irish — muffed the opening kickoff which was recovered by Max Hurleman deep in Virginia territory.
Love picked up 10 early yards to move the chains, but Notre Dame’s offense was stalling out in prime field position as Leonard couldn’t connect with Beaux Collins in the endzone. The Irish were bailed out by a roughing the passer call on Kam Robinson following the incompletion, keeping Notre Dame on the field. Love capitalized on the Cavalier mistake, sprinting out to the right and across the goaline for a touchdown in his tenth-straight game.
While the Irish defense was doing their part keeping the Virginia offense at bay, Leonard and Co. were having trouble moving the ball following the early score. A mix of penalties and negative plays had found Notre Dame facing long third downs, and it ultimately went 0-5 on third-down conversions in the first 30 minutes.
Not helping matters, Hurleman returned the Tyree’s muff himself, as his attempted fair catch bounced off his chest and right into the hands of Jonas Sanker.
Notre Dame is back in action Nov. 23 against Army in Yankee Stadium. Kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.