Notre Dame football player Riley Leonard finds depth of weapons for offensive success

On December 1, 2024By Littum

SOUTH BEND — As Notre Dame football closes out its regular season at USC, that means a trip to the home parish of the patron saint of diva receivers: Keyshawn Johnson.

It was the ’90s Trojan who titled his autobiography “Just Give Me the Damn Ball!”

And that, mind you, came from the nation’s leading receiver in 1995 (90 catches for 1,218 yards) and the NFL’s top overall pick in the subsequent draft.

You won’t find any such histrionics on the sidelines Irish in fifth place this season, even as quarterback Riley Leonard struggles with periodic problems with accuracy and a natural tendency to pull the ball down and run.

“We haven’t had a (bad) temper by a player all year on the sideline,” Leonard said recently. “You won’t see that from us. You don’t have to babysit or anything on the sidelines.”

Despite Leonard’s January arrival as a senior transfer and an offseason overhaul of the wide receiver corps that brought in three graduate transfers, the passing game has improved as the Leafs have dropped.

Clemson transfer Beaux Collins leads the team in receptions (34) and receiving yards (427), but those totals are hardly indicators of alpha status. Five different players are tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns with two, and a dozen players have shared the modest bounty of 17 receiving touchdowns on the year.

In terms of total goals, Collins leads runner-up Jaden Greathouse and Mitchell Evans by a comfortable margin, 54-33. Still, Collins’ total represents just 19% of the 283 total footballs that have filled the air through 11 games.

Eight different players have 20 or more targets for an Irish passing attack, with 21 different players being targeted at least once. Fellow transfer receivers Kris Mitchell (27 goals) and Jayden Harrison (20) are among that group, as are holdover wideouts Jayden Thomas (22) and Jordan Faison (22).

As a byproduct of this diversity, an Irish passing offense that spent the early part of the season in the same statistical neighborhood as Iowa, the Mendoza line of modern college football offenses, has climbed all the way to 34th in FBS passing efficiency, according to Pro Football Focus.

Notre Dame’s cumulative passer rating is 48th in the FBS, and the Irish are tied for 71st at 7.2 yards per carry. attempt. But only five teams have thrown fewer interceptions than Notre Dame, which has four.

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The same share-the-ball approach works in the backfield. While Jeremiyah Love has rushed for at least one score in all 11 games this season, he played just seven times against Army, leaving plenty of room for Jadarian Price and freshman Aneyas Williams to reach the end zone as well.

Veteran offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock doesn’t mind the spin-the-wheel nature of his play-calling when it comes to Notre Dame’s many reliable weapons.

“It certainly makes it interesting,” Denbrock said. “I mean, it’s hard to say, ‘Hey, you’ve got a go-to guy,’ and I think that’s a good thing in a lot of ways.”

Riley Leonard ‘knows where all the pieces are’ for Notre Dame

While some of that relative anonymity might prove challenging in other situations, especially with the NIL so prominent in modern college football, it actually appears to be a liberating factor for Leonard and Co.

“He’s the one who knows where all the pieces are,” Denbrock said. “And if he gets in trouble, ‘Where can I go with it? ‘ Or, ‘If I’m going to move in the pocket, where is everybody?’ It’s developed as the season has gone on, where he’s gotten a better sense of where all the pieces are.”

Even when Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy for LSU in 2023, two Tigers receivers (Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr.) accounted for 54.6% of all passing targets in the Denbrock-led offense.

LSU led the nation in passing efficiency and scoring (45.5 points per game), but only five players had more than 17 targets, and three Tigers accounted for all but six of the 44 receiving touchdowns (86.7%).

Unlike Daniels, Leonard spreads the ball around with far greater frequency.

“I think he has a lot of confidence in all the guys that are out there doing the job,” Denbrock said, “that if I give them a chance, they’re going to play a game.” “

With USC ranked 65th in pass efficiency defense and tied for 53rd in yards per carry. attempts allowed (7.0), the Irish hope to ride another balanced attack to their 10th straight win and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

In Leonard’s breakout 2022 season at Duke, two players (Jalon Calhoun and Jordan Moore) accounted for 47.7% of the 371 total passing targets. Only five players were targeted more than 20 times all year, including one tight end (Nicky Dalmolin).

Six Blue Devils shared the 20 receiving touchdowns that year, marking Leonard’s only full season of health at Duke.

“In the past, certain routes and certain concepts, I would maybe predetermine and get in my head a little bit pre-snap: ‘Oh, he’s really good at this route; I might have to force this one in there,'” Leonard said in this week. “Now it’s just, ‘They’re going to be in the right place at the right time. Just let me keep my eyes on the defense, make my reads and let it go.’ “

All of which means Leonard doesn’t have to soothe bruised egos or make in-game promises to get a certain teammate to turn the ball over.

He appreciates that very much.

“This is an extremely unselfish group of skilled players we have on offense,” Leonard said. “I have a lot of rushing touchdowns or whatever. Maybe you hear from (another) receiving group, ‘Ah, here we go again. Rushing touchdown from the quarterback.’ “

He shook his head and laughed.

“These guys don’t say anything,” he said. “They’re the first ones in the end zone to celebrate with me. It shows the integrity of this group. I really like them a lot. They’re great.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.