Game Recap: Irish Cruise Past Virginia To Move To 9-1 And Closer To CFP Birth

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The mantra was simple yet again for Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman: “Preparation is key.”

Since their loss to Northern Illinois, it’s been something Freeman has been extra diligent about game in and game out. That preparation paid off on Saturday as Notre Dame, ranked 8th in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, was able to get up big and maintain in a 35-14 win over Virginia.

“A great team victory,” Freeman said. “It’s what we aspire to on Senior Night, our last guaranteed opportunity for our seniors to play in this stadium. We have to continue to improve though.”

The afternoon started fast for the Irish, who would go up against a Cavaliers squad with one of Notre Dame’s own. Chris Tyree, a former Irish running back and fresh graduate of Notre Dame, transferred to Virginia in the off-season. He would take the opening kickoff from the Irish.

But, the ‘luck of the Irish’ showed up early as Tyree muffed the kickoff right into the hands of senior gunner Max Hurleman. The recovery automatically spotted the ball at the UVA 25-yard line. Wasting no time, Irish quarterback Riley Leonard trusted both his and Jeremiyah Love’s running ability, as the two tag-teamed their way into the endzone. It was the first of what would be two touchdowns for Love.

The rest of the first half proved to be a struggle for both squads. Their defenses ever ‘prepared’, Notre Dame and Virginia would exchange eight punts between them before the Irish caught yet another break late in the 2nd quarter. One of those punts was a fake punt that Notre Dame executed beautifully and resulted in a 73-yard TD run. But, the play was called back on a penalty. The officials said the Irish had illegal personnel in the backfield at the time, which resulted in an irate response from Freeman.

“It was really an interpretation of the rule,” Freeman said. “I talked with them post-game. We were in shotgun, which we assumed we were able to do. But, they said we couldn’t do that the special teams formation we were in. (The officials) have a job to do. I have nothing but the utmost respect for our officials.”

With UVA threatening to knot the game up, Cavs running back Kobe Pace fumbled on the Irish 12-yard-line, the ball scooped up by Xavier Watts. Rejuvenated, the Irish offense responded with a 9-play, 88-yard drive capped off with Leonard hitting Jayden Harrison in the endzone.

Notre Dame quickly scored again after picking off Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea. It was Leonard Moore who popped the ball up and then corraled it. One play later, Leonard threw a lob to Cooper Flanagan to make it 21-0.

Lightning struck twice that evening on Colandrea who was picked off again with 32-seconds left in the half. It was Watts, forcing his second UVA turnover and his third interception of the season. It was a pick he took back to the house to extend the Irish lead 28-0 heading into halftime.

The second half started sloppy for the Irish. After seven plays on the opening drive of the half, Leonard was picked off by Trey McDonald of UVA, but the Irish defense held the Cavs to three-and-out. Jeremiyah Love struck again on the subsequent drive scampering 76-yards to the endzone, extending the Irish lead to 35-0.

That would be the extent of the Irish offense for the game as Notre Dame called off the dogs, which allowed UVA to score two touchdowns in the second half, resulting in the 35-14 final score. As mentioned before, the name of the game for Freeman is continued improvement of his Irish.

“The defense did a heck of a job. The offense is doing a heck of a job,” he said. “But, we just got to eliminate those early game three-and-outs and situations where we are not moving the chains.”

Riley Leonard played another solid game despite the one interception. He racked up 214 yards passing and three three touchdown passes. He also carried the ball eight times for 32-yards. Jeremiyah Love had a career outing rushing for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

With a 9-1 record off eight straight victories, Notre Dame is right on course for a birth in the College Football Playoff. That means the possibility is there for the Irish to play one more game at Notre Dame Stadium in the near future. Freeman was asked what he thought of that possibility.

“It doesn’t matter what I think, let’s just go to work,” he said. “Let’s give this program a chance to play in this stadium one more time.”

Before that happens, the Irish must dispense of Army at Yankee Stadium next Saturday, Nov. 23. Then they must beat Southern California in Pasadena in their regular season finale on Nov. 30.

Game Recap: Irish Cruise Past Virginia To Move To 9-1 And Closer To CFP Birth was originally published on wibc.com