ND NOTEBOOK: Leonard’s rise is a lot like his team’s evolution

Dec. 18—SOUTH BEND — Through six quarters of football at Notre Dame Stadium, Riley Leonard wasn’t winning over a sizable chunk of fans.

From notoriously bitter fan forums and social media accounts to even a sizable chunk inside the stadium, the less-than-impressed football judges had declared Leonard unfit for the starting quarterback spot just four weeks into the season. Some even before that.

His knee-jerk reaction to smile and respond “were they?” in response to a question relating to early boos from the home crowd in the first half against Miami (Ohio) in Week 4 wasn’t because he wanted to egg on his detractors. Rather, it sent a message that he heard it, but was moving on.

“You don’t really understand the magnitude of this place until you lose,” Leonard said, just days before he’ll lead the Irish out of the tunnel in South Bend for the final time. “I say that all the time, but like, that’s when I really felt like ‘Oh dang, this place, there’s a lot more magnitude that I hold and weight that I hold when I play the game than I expected.'”

* “Those boos and stuff early, like, definitely didn’t, you know, like them, but I also remind myself, that’s 10% of the crowd,” Leonard said. “When 10% of the crowd is booing, it’s enough for me to hear it and get kind of poff, but I guess it kind of motivated me to kick me into gear.”

Through his first, and only season in South Bend, Leonard has experienced the lion’s share of the Notre Dame football experience. He led the Irish to a satisfying win on the road to start the season. Then followed it up with a dreadful performance against Northern Illinois.

Since then, even through the 10-game win streak and College Football Playoff berth, Leonard and the Fighting Irish are still preceded in conversation by their lone loss.

They’ve heard it, and have continued to move on.

“It’s…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nd-notebook-leonards-rise-lot-031600922.html

Author : Goshen News, Ind.

Publish date : 2024-12-19 03:16:00

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