Riley Leonard threw three touchdown passes, and Notre Dame’s defense forced five turnovers in a 35-14 win over Virginia on Saturday. Leonard completed 22 of 33 passes for 214 yards, helping Notre Dame (9-1) jump to a 35-0 lead and extend its winning streak to eight games.
Leonard’s touchdown passes came in the first half. He connected with Jayden Harrison on an 8-yard pass, Cooper Flanagan for a 2-yard score, and Mitchell Evans for a 16-yard touchdown.
The Notre Dame defense was dominant, forcing five turnovers in the first half alone. Xavier Watts intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble. Adon Shuler and Leonard Moore also had interceptions, while Max Hurleman recovered a fumble, and Rod Heard II forced a fumble.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman praised his defense for setting the tone early. “When your defense is playing as well as we’re playing, it allows you to still be in the game and be in a position to win, maybe when you weren’t having the success you want offensively to start the game,” Freeman said.
He added that he hopes Notre Dame will get a chance to host a College Football Playoff game, with Saturday being the last regular-season home game.
The game started with a Virginia mistake when former Notre Dame player Chris Tyree muffed the opening kickoff. The ball bounced into the hands of Hurleman, who gave the Fighting Irish possession at the Virginia 25-yard line.
Notre Dame took advantage, and Jeremiyah Love capped the short drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. Love also had a 76-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, finishing with 137 yards on 16 carries. “I just trusted my ‘O’ line,” Love said. “Once I saw a hole, I hit it. I have breakaway speed, so … track meet after that.”
Notre Dame had two touchdowns called back due to penalties. A 78-yard pass from Leonard to Harrison was negated by a hands-to-the-face penalty. On the next play, a fake punt that resulted in a 73-yard touchdown by Jordan Faison was wiped out due to an illegal formation penalty.
Virginia (5-5) made a quarterback change to start the second half, replacing Anthony Colandrea with Tony Muskett. Muskett led a five-play, 75-yard drive that ended with an 18-yard touchdown run. He also added a 2-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the game.
Virginia head coach Tony Elliott praised his team’s resilience despite the rough first half. “They’re not going to quit,” Elliott said. “They’re going to fight.
That’s part of our DNA. You have to have the resilience to just keep battling regardless of circumstances. Proud of the effort to play all the way to the end.” Elliott also noted that he will evaluate both quarterbacks, Colandrea and Muskett, to decide who will start against SMU.
Virginia’s Malachi Fields caught four passes for 81 yards, and Jonas Sanker had eight tackles, including a sack and a fumble recovery.
