Virginia Notre Dame Football

Notre Dame tight end Cooper Flanagan (87) celebrates after scoring with tight end Eli Raridon (9) and running back Jeremiyah Love (4) during the first half against Virginia on Saturday in South Bend. 

 Associated Press

SOUTH BEND app Notre Dame's senior class was sent out in style Saturday as the No. 8 Irish forced five turnovers, starting with a fumble on the game's opening kickoff, and rolled to a 35-14 victory in the team's 2024 regular-season home finale at Notre Dame Stadium.

The Irish have won their last seven Senior Day games by an average of 34.4 points.

"It's a great win, a great team victory, it's what we aspired to all week for our seniors on Senior Night," Irish coach Marcus Freeman said. "This isn't the end of our season, but it's our last guaranteed opportunity to play in this stadium, so it was important to make sure we achieved the team glory we aspire to have.

"We gotta continue to improve. That's going to be the ultimate challenge for the season. We have to evaluate everything and continue to find a way to improve."

On a day Notre Dame's defense was tested by the absence of All-American defensive tackle Howard Cross III, who was dealing with an ankle injury, the unit dominated the Cavaliers, limiting the visitors to 300 total yards and picking off three passes on three consecutive possessions in the second quarter from dual-threat quarterback Anthony DZԻ.

"It's a lot of fun when you can have a lot of havoc on the ball," Irish linebacker Jack Kiser said. "Certainly tonight we were able to do that. Guys were flying around, seeing their keys and recognizing stuff and making plays on it. It just makes playing ball a lot of fun and makes you hungry to get back out there. We were flying around having a lot of fun, for sure."

You're still here?

Jack Kiser, a sixth-year senior who received one of the loudest cheers of any recognized player during the Senior Day festivities prior to the game, set Notre Dame's all-time record for games played with his 63rd app surpassing the mark set in 2022 by defensive back Houston Griffith. The 2018 Indiana Mr. Football had a huge day on the stat sheet, as well, breaking up a pass on fourth down, making three total tackles and collecting his first sack of the season.

"It's not easy, there's a lot of people that go into me stepping on the field 63 times," said Kiser, who mentioned trainers, family, teammates and strength coaches. "That's the best thing about this record, it's not a 'me' thing, it's a 'we' thing. Being able to suit up and go on that field and play with your brothers out there, that's really important."

Playoff implications

The victory was the eighth in a row for the Irish (9-1) following their upset loss to Northern Illinois in September. They are in the thick of the College Football Playoff race and will almost certainly make the field if they can notch wins in their final two games, against undefeated, No. 24 Army next week at Yankee Stadium and on the road at USC in two weeks.

Gotta love it

Running back Jeremiyah Love was the offensive star for Notre Dame, carrying 16 times for a career-high 137 yards and two touchdowns, including a 76-yard sprint to paydirt in the third quarter that saw the Irish execute perfectly up front and Love outrun the angle in the secondary to make it 35-0.

"It was a mid-zone," said Love, who has scored a rushing touchdown in every game this season and has 12 in all. "I just trusted my O-line, trusted they would get the job done and once I saw the hole I hit it. I've got breakaway speed, so it was a track meet after that."

The sophomore has run for 100 yards three times this season. He gained 8.6 yards per carry Saturday despite losing 10 yards on one of his rushes. His 10 straight games with a touchdown are tied for the second-longest streak in program history.

Notre Dame rolled up 448 yards in all despite having two 70-plus-yard touchdowns called back by penalties in a three-play span in the second quarter. 

Virginia received the opening kickoff and put former Irish running back/receiver Chris Tyree back to field it. The kick was short and Tyree sprinted up to try to grab it on the run, but had it go off his pads and bounce directly to Irish senior Max Hurleman. Hurleman would have had a touchdown, but fumbled kickoffs are not advanceable by rule.

Instead, the Irish got the ball at the Virginia 25 and took four plays to punch the ball in. Love made a man miss in the backfield and strolled in from 4 yards out to give his team a 7-0 lead just 1:52 into the game.

Notre Dame's special teams made a miscue of their own in the second quarter when Hurleman muffed a punt and Virginia recovered at the Irish 42. That was the Cavaliers' best chance to tie the game and they moved into the red zone, but defensive back Jordan Clark forced a fumble, putting his helmet directly on the football, and All-American safety Xavier Watts recovered.

Ball hawk

Watts also had three tackles, a pass breakup and an interception. The pick was his fourth of the season and 11th of his career, the latter tying him with Todd Lyght and Shane Walton for ninth on the all-time Irish list. The defensive back came to Notre Dame as a receiver and switched positions in 2021.

"I didn't know he would be the player he is now, but you saw some flashes (in 2021)," Freeman said. "Tracking the ball, closing space, a lot of times it's natural instincts and he's a guy that showed, man, he can track the ball and make some plays athletically. To see the development to where he is now, one of the best players in the country, it's a testament to his God-given ability, but it's also the work he's put into it. He's put a tremendous amount of work in."

The Irish took advantage of Watts' fumble recovery with their best offensive possession of the day, going 88 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. Quarterback Riley Leonard hit receiver Jayden Harrison over the middle for an 8-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 with 6:34 left before halftime. Harrison, a Marshall transfer, hauled in three passes for 41 yards and had a 78-yard touchdown called back because of a holding penalty.

Down the stretch of the first half, the Irish defense made Colandrea's life miserable as safety Adon Shuler, cornerback Leonard Moore and Watts each picked off a pass. Shuler's interception was returned inside the Virginia 5, setting up a 2-yard pass from Leonard to tight end Cooper Flanagan. Moore's pick presaged a 16-yard pass from Leonard to tight end Mitchell Evans along the sideline that saw Evans dive across the goal line for a 28-0 halftime lead.

Quarterback producing

Leonard completed 22 of 33 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, which came when he locked on a receiver over the middle early in the third quarter and did not see a linebacker creeping under the route. The quarterback also ran eight times for 32 yards, but he saw his streak of eight straight games with a rushing TD come to an end. He has multiple total touchdowns in eight straight games. He nearly had a fourth touchdown pass, but his fourth-and-goal throw to a wide-open Evans in the back of the end zone in the final minutes was tipped away, leaving the quarterback visibly frustrated.

"He's just dude, all around dude, on the field, off the field," Irish wide receiver Jordan Faison said of the QB. "He's one of the most competitive on the field. If something happens, he's bouncing back, he's getting the rest of us bouncing back and that's just a good feeling to have from a leader. He just goes out there and does his thing and we're going with him."

Love's sprint through the entire Virginia defense provided Notre Dame's only points of the second half. The Irish were stopped in Cavaliers territory twice, once on Leonard's missed pass to Evans and later on a missed 36-yard field goal.

Defensive dominance

Virginia's only score until the closing minute was a 19-yard touchdown sprint from backup quarterback Tony Muskett. The play was set up by a 38-yard pass over the top to receiver Malachi Fields against the coverage of cornerback Christian Gray. The pass was clearly incomplete on replay, but Virginia hustled to the line and snapped the ball before the decision could be reviewed, much to the chagrin of Gray, who hopped up and down in dismay at the call on the field.

Muskett scored again on a 2-yard scramble around the left side with 18 seconds left. 

Still, Notre Dame's defense has only surrendered three touchdowns in a game once this season. The Irish are No. 1 nationally in pass efficiency defense and are likely to remain in the top 5 in scoring defense. The defense stood tall in the first half, holding Virginia scoreless and maintaining the 7-0 lead despite the offense punting on four consecutive possessions after its opening touchdown.

"When you're playing as well as we're playing (on defense), 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 to start the game," Freeman said. "The defense is doing a heck of a job."

Fake punt 

Midway through the second quarter, with Notre Dame leading 14-0 and facing a fourth and 6 at its own 27, the Irish lined up to punt and ran a fake, snapping the ball to the up man, Kiser, who then handed it to Faison. The receiver went around the left end, made two players miss in space and went 73 yards for a touchdown.

The play was called back, however, because of an illegal formation penalty relating to the jersey numbers Notre Dame had along the line for what turned into an offensive play. Freeman was livid app the call wiped out a play the Irish had been practicing for months. He admitted he should have done a better job at keeping his cool.

"They got a job to do and I might have disagreed at the moment, but I got the utmost respect for the officials," the third-year Irish coach said. "You tell your players you gotta reload. No matter what happened the previous play, you gotta move forward and I probably took a little bit longer than I should've. It's not a great example for your players. You have to emotionally get yourself under control because you have a job to do."

Starting in place of Cross, who is expected to return next week to face undefeated Army, was redshirt sophomore Donovan Hinish, brother of former Irish standout defensive tackle Kurt Hinish. The younger Hinish had four tackles, a sack and a QB hurry in his first career start.

Miscues

Notre Dame was somewhat sloppy despite the victory, committing nine penalties for 89 yards in addition to its two turnovers. Most of the penalties were on the offense, with myriad holding penalties wiping out nice gains.

"We can't put our offense behind the sticks, behind the chains," Freeman said. "That's the thing that stuck out to me more than anything, we were in a lot of third-and-long situations. We gotta do a better job of putting our offense in better third-down situations. That means no penalties, that means continuing to have positive plays and not negative-yardage plays."

The big picture

This was not a perfect performance from the Irish. They got off to a slow start offensively, got pushed around up front on offense at times and didn't finish the game as strongly as they would have liked. 

And yet, they won easily, the latest in a series of lopsided triumphs that has them within reach of their third College Football Playoff appearance in seven seasons. It could be argued that breezy-yet-mistake-filled victory is the best outcome Notre Dame could have asked for heading into next week's critical matchup with the Black Knights at Yankee Stadium. It will ensure a strong week of preparation before the Irish face their final ranked opponent of the regular season, knowing they have plenty to fix.

Saturday's was Notre Dame's last scheduled home game of the season. The Irish could play another game in South Bend if they win their last two contests of the regular season and the CFP committee awards them a top 8 seed and the first-round home game that goes with it. Asked point blank after the game whether he believes his team will play at Notre Dame Stadium again this year, Freeman smiled, but demurred.

"What I think doesn't really matter," he said. "Let's go to work. Let's give this program a chance to play in this stadium one more time. It doesn't matter what I think."

Then, he laughed.

"He tried to set me up."

Freeman wasn't taking the bait, and, to this point, neither have the Irish. They have remained focused on the task at hand and the results have been dominant: five wins in the last six weeks by an average of 33.4 points. True, the schedule has not been particularly challenging, but ripping apart inferior opponents is impressive in its own way. That's especially true for an Irish program that had developed a reputation under Freeman for losing games it shouldn't. That reputation is fading and the Irish can erase it entirely with two more wins.

Odds and ends

Tyree, who played four seasons for the Irish, caught one pass for three yards. ... The Irish have won at least nine games eight years in a row after doing so just three times in the previous 10 years. ... Freeman is the first coach in Notre Dame history to win at least nine games in each of his first three years leading the program. ... The Irish ran for 234 yards on 6.2 yards per carry. ... Among those in attendance at the game were former Irish quarterbacks Sam Hartman and Ian Book and offensive lineman Robert Hainsey.

dsinn@jg.net