After devastating early loss, Notre Dame is in CFP title game thanks to its ‘men in the arena’

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Riley Leonard expected the worst.

As he entered coach Marcus Freeman’s second-floor office for their standing Sunday sitdown, roughly 24 hours after a stunning home loss against Northern Illinois, Leonard braced himself for bad news. After all, he’d thrown two costly interceptions in a game that seemed to dash all hopes for Notre Dame making the College Football Playoff.

Is he going to tell me that I’ll never touch the field again?

Was that my last game at Notre Dame?

What happened next was a bit weird, wholly unexpected and, for Leonard, one of the most resonating things he’d ever witnessed. A smiling Freeman embraced his quarterback with a dap, asked about his family and talked pleasantries like the day before never even happened.

During their conversation, coach made something clear to quarterback.

“In those lowest moments, Riley Leonard had to learn that I believe he is our quarterback,” Freeman recalls to Yahoo Sports from his office. “People might say you are awful and boo you. I as the head coach believe in you. And I need him to believe in me when we’re at the lowest moments. The lowest moments are when you find out who you really are.”

Riley left the meeting with no better feeling, he now says — a turning point in the coach-quarterback relationship and, perhaps, the catapult he needed to recover from the first two-pick game of his college career.

Four months later, the Irish haven’t lost again. They have won 13 straight, including three College Football Playoff games, and nine of the wins during the streak were by at least two touchdowns. Despite a run-heavy offense, Leonard has thrown for more than 2,600 yards and 19 TDs. He’s second to Jeremiyah Love in rushing yards with 866 and Love has just one more rushing touchdown than the quarterback (17 to 16).

And he’s playing…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/after-devastating-early-loss-notre-dame-is-in-cfp-title-game-thanks-to-its-men-in-the-arena-173124993.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2025-01-15 17:31:00

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