ATLANTA — No. 12 Notre Dame extended its winning streak to five games with a 31-13 victory Saturday over Georgia Tech at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Fighting Irish fell behind 7-0 for the second consecutive game, but just like last week against Stanford, they took control shortly after and cruised to a comfortable win.
Quarterback Riley Leonard played well once again, completing 20 of 29 attempts for 203 yards while adding 51 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Here are some takeaways from another Notre Dame win:
Irish defense bottles up Yellow Jackets
Even with starting quarterback Haynes King sidelined by injury, Georgia Tech still figured to test Notre Dame with its running game considering the 100-plus starts along the Yellow Jackets line and the offense’s blistering production the past two weeks — 97 total carries for 616 rushing yards in wins over Duke and North Carolina.
Georgia Tech didn’t come close against Notre Dame, finishing with 29 carries for 64 yards, both season lows.
Notre Dame was missing three key defensive linemen, never mind starting cornerback Benjamin Morrison, but Georgia Tech couldn’t keep the visitors honest on defense. Backup quarterback Zach Pyron opened 9-for-9 for 81 yards but offered little the rest of the way. Georgia Tech scored on its second drive and barely threatened from there.
Notre Dame has allowed nine touchdowns in seven games, including only three on the ground — none longer than 1 yard. Despite mounting injuries, the Irish still rank among the nation’s best in virtually every defensive category.
There’s no doubt King could have pushed Notre Dame’s defense more than Pyron did, maybe enough to make this game feel competitive into the fourth quarter. But all the Irish could do was defend the quarterback in front of them, which they had little issue doing.
Leonard delivers, his way
There were a few things Leonard didn’t do well against Georgia Tech.
He didn’t throw a touchdown pass. He didn’t protect the football, throwing one interception and flirting with another as Notre Dame was trying to run out the clock. But what Leonard did well is a reminder of why he’s Notre Dame’s quarterback without question and has been all season. His two rushing touchdowns remain a red zone cheat code for offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock. And Leonard’s 12-for-12 stretch after that brutal interception in the first quarter was a signal of what Notre Dame’s offense can be when everything is clicking.
This was hardly Leonard’s best performance. But it wasn’t his worst, either, even with that first-quarter pick that looked like he was throwing the ball up for grabs to Beaux Collins from close to midfield on first down.
The Irish are willing to keep playing this way because Leonard the runner is a brutal proposition to defend. He finished with 10 carries for 51 yards and those two scores and is now four rushing touchdowns behind Brandon Wimbush’s single-season record for quarterbacks. No matter how obvious it is that Notre Dame will lean on Leonard as a runner, opponents can’t seem to get a handle on the Duke transfer. Leonard leads all Irish players in third- or fourth-down conversions, doubling up his closest competition.
This Irish offense is hardly perfect. But with Leonard at the controls, it is a difficult problem to solve, even if it doesn’t always hit its aesthetic marks.
(Photo of Xavier Watt: Brett Davis / Imagn Images)
