Jeremiyah Love led Notre Dame with a dazzling display of speed, power, and athleticism as the Fighting Irish dismantled Army by 49-14 on Saturday. Love notched three touchdowns while running for 130 yards on only seven carries and adding a scoring reception. Jadarian Price chipped in with two rushing touchdowns and Aneyas Williams ran one in from 58-yards. Quarterback Riley Leonard was sharp as well. He connected on ten of 13 passes for 148 yards and two scores.

Meanwhile, the Irish defense turned in another stellar effort. They set the tone by forcing a quick three and out on the opening series. Leonard took over and engineered a textbook drive that he capped by hitting Jordan Faison from 28 yards. Moments later, Bryce Young blocked a punt deep in Army territory. Leonard then tossed a flat pass to Love, who hurdled a defender and landed in the end zone.

Trailing 14-0, the Knights finally settled in. After Army secured its initial first down, Notre Dame added fuel to the drive by committing three defensive penalties. Quarterback Bryson Daily scored as the game moved into the second quarter to make it 14-7. Unfortunately for Army, that was their only offensive highlight until the game’s final seconds.

Leonard responded with another long march that featured big chunk runs and passes. The drive ultimately stalled inside the five yard line, where the Knights stopped four consecutive runs up the middle. Notre Dame quickly forced another Army punt and the offense moved right back inside the five. Love then burst up the middle untouched for 14 yards to extend the lead to 21-7.

The Irish came though with another defensive stop and took over near midfield. Leonard hit Kris Mitchell for 28 yards and Notre Dame was back inside the red zone. A few plays later, Price broke outside around left end for the touchdown and a 28-7 advantage.

With just 26 seconds remaining in the half, Daily tried to make something happen. It was a bad decision. He coughed up the football when cornerback Leonard Moore punched it loose and the Irish recovered. Time permitted only a long field goal attempt, however, and Mitch Jeter was wide right.

Notre Dame iced the game on the first play of the third quarter. Love took a handoff and streaked past Army’s defense for a 68-yard touchdown. The stunned Knights were unable to mount a comeback. They turned over the ball on downs on their next three possessions as Notre Dame padded its lead. Price ran for another score and Williams made it 49-7 as Marcus Freeeman cleared the bench.

Knight Coach Jeff Monken kept his starters in the game the rest of the way against the Irish reserves. This decision precluded many of his own players from participating in this unique venue. Daily rewarded Monken’s strategy by scoring a meaningless touchdown with 22 seconds left. Whatever.

The win moved Notre Dame to 10-1 on the season and will solidify their current position in the playoff picture. Everything is on the line next Saturday afternoon in California, where the Irish take on the USC Trojans. Coach Freeman was pleased following this dominant performance but indicated there is still room for improvement. This week, he will address the defensive penalties and red zone struggles by the offense. There might also be a little extra focus on kicking field goals.

Let’s review the answers to our pregame questions:

• Can the Irish defense get off the field on third or fourth down? Yes, the defense did a great job of this when it still mattered.
• Will Leonard and his wide receivers take advantage of Army’s secondary? It looked easy at times as receivers were open, the protection was good and Leonard thew crisp, confident passes.
• Can Notre Dame run the ball for 150+ yards? They passed that milestone on the first play of the second half and finished with 273. They also won total yardage by 462-233.
• Which team will win the turnover battle? Daily had not lost a fumble all season but gave one away to the Irish. The blocked punt was essentially another turnover by Army. Notre Dame had no turnovers.
• Can the Irish avoid drive-killing penalties on offense? Yes. Of the five total penalties, four were committed by the defense and one by special teams.
• Which team will be able to break off big chunk plays? Notre Dame, in a landslide.
• Which quarterback will face the most pressure in the pocket? Leonard and Angeli enjoyed a clean pocket while Daily faced pressure on most of his eight pass attempts.
• Can the Irish make a field goal if they need to? Not yet, and the time to fix the problem is running out.

There were no major injuries during the game for Notre Dame. Linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa went out with a sprained knee. We will hear more about that tomorrow. Howard Cross was held out entirely, most likely to ensure he will be ready next week. Several players turned in excellent performances. Junior Tuihalamaka stood out up front while every Irish linebacker and defensive back had a good night. Credit the offensive line and Leonard as well. The receivers did not drop any passes and all three running backs had highlight reel runs. Young’s blocked punt led to a touchdown but the field goal unit was brutal.

Notre Dame’s defense has been so consistently good that they are almost taken for granted. USC will test them with their athleticism and speed but they won’t have to win the game by themselves. Fortunately, the Irish offense proved it is no longer a liability. They scored 49 points tonight while being on the field for only 20 of the 60 minutes. More importantly, Freeman has been able to coax a consistently high effort from the team this season. It is hard to imagine they will suffer a letdown next weekend.

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