Leonard Moore Discusses Miami Matchup, Malachi Toney and Notre Dame's Preparation
The nation will get one of the premier matchups of the college football season when No. 1 Miami travels to South Bend to face No. 4 Notre Dame in a Saturday night clash.
It's a big game, but the game within the game is just as intriguing, as two of the sport's best will have an opportunity to go head-to-head in Miami receiver Malachi Toney and Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore.
Notre Dame isn't giving any hints about how the Irish plan to defend Toney and the Hurricanes offense, but it's safe to assume the two will cross paths at some point Saturday night.
Moore is eager for the opportunity to face Toney and Miami's receiving corps as every competitor wants to test himself against the best.
“I'm always excited, especially at big games like this,” “That's what you live for. They got a lot of good receivers over there, so I'm looking forward to us matching up with all of them, putting our hands on them.”
A year ago, Moore moved to nickel for a game to shadow USC receiver Makai Lemon.
To say Chris Ash's decision to have Moore follow Lemon around the field worked might be an understatement. Moore held the Biletnikoff Award winner to just two catches for 28 yards.
But for Moore, the success was a product of an elite week of preparation. If Notre Dame asks him to take on a similar assignment this week, he knows the level of preparation will have to be even higher.
“The coaches let me know on Sunday or the previous week what we were gonna do,” Moore said of the scheme to stop Lemon. “It's just like any other week when I'm preparing for receivers, just understanding how they're trying to get him the ball, what releases he likes to do, what routes he likes to run, and what I gotta do to stop that.
“You gotta prepare at a high level every week. But when you're dealing with elite teams like Miami, the margin for error is slim, so you gotta prepare at an even higher level.”
The elephant in the room is that Toney is a different kind of challenge than Lemon. The Miami star is one of the most electric players in college football and a legitimate threat to score every time he touches the ball.
“Real explosive dude,” stated Moore. “He's very, very shifty and he's super good after the catch. That's something that's giving people a lot of trouble, so that stands out about him.”
As for the Miami offense, the Hurricanes have some familiar personnel from a year ago, but the overall philosophy remains the same. Miami wants to establish the run while creating explosive opportunities for Toney.
“A lot of the stuff they do is similar,” Moore said. “Obviously, you got some similar playmakers out there. The offense runs through Toney. So you're going to see some of those similarities. You got a good quarterback. You got a good running back. You got good receivers around it. So similar offense, but they're giving Toney the ball a lot more this year than they were at the beginning of last year.”
The spotlight will be even brighter Saturday, with College GameDay and Barstool Sports bringing national shows to campus. Notre Dame also learned Tuesday that it was ranked No. 11 in the first College Football Playoff rankings.
But Moore has been around long enough to know none of that matters.
Moore has been there and done that, so there are no distractions in his mind despite the circus around South Bend.
“We don't pay attention to rankings,” Moore explained. “That's one thing that if we've been here, you ought to learn that by now. Rankings really don't matter until all 12 games are finished, so we're not worried about that. We're worried about getting better on this day, so Tuesday, then next day, Wednesday, going on to Saturday.”
As for his health, Moore made it clear he's not 100 percent, but that's hardly unusual for a player eight games into a college football season.
“I was a little dinged up from the BYU game,” said Moore. “Something happened in the BYU game, so the coaches made a decision. I was available, but they made a decision not to play me unless needed.
“I am good. Where I need to be.”
Want the latest scoop on Notre Dame Football and Recruiting? Become an ISD Premium Subscriber and never miss the inside information. Sign Up for ISD
