Notre Dame’s offense has been a work in progress this fall, but there have been signs of life during the eight-game winning streak.
On Saturday, Mike Denbrock’s offense wasn’t as sharp as it had looked in previous weeks and it started with quarterback Riley Leonard not playing as clean as he had over the last few games. Yet, Leonard still completed 67 percent of his passes and threw three touchdowns in the 35-14 win over Virginia.
The Irish offense started slow and it was hardly Leonard’s fault. The Irish started 0-for-4 on third down and the average distance to go was 12 yards. I’m not sure Joe Montana or Jayden Daniels would have success in those situations – and it was Notre Dame’s fault as penalties killed multiple drives on the day. For the game, Notre Dame finished 1-for-12 on third down with an averaged distance to go at 10.5 yards…