{"id":63109,"date":"2024-08-29T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=63109"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:14:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:14:30","slug":"riley-leonard-eager-to-showcase-growth-against-texas-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/08\/29\/riley-leonard-eager-to-showcase-growth-against-texas-am\/","title":{"rendered":"Riley Leonard Eager to Showcase Growth Against Texas A&M"},"content":{"rendered":"

Notre Dame transfer quarterback Riley Leonard is eager to make a statement in his first game as a starter for the Fighting Irish. Leonard is facing off against his former head coach at Duke, Mike Elko, and the Texas A&M Aggies<\/a> in Saturday\u2019s Week One showdown. The road game provides Leonard with a golden opportunity to showcase his growth and prove that Notre Dame is a force to be reckoned with this season.<\/p>\n

Elko recruited Leonard to Duke. After winning 14 games together at Duke, Leonard departed for Notre Dame through the transfer portal last December. Additionally, Elko is in his first season at the helm of Texas A&M after taking over for Jimbo Fisher. In speaking at a press conference this week, Elko touched on the unique dynamic of the matchup and his respect for the Notre Dame offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts with the quarterback, who I have some familiarity with,\u201d Elko said. \u201cHe (Riley Leonard) is a dual-threat quarterback. I think he can hurt you with his arm and with his legs. He presents a huge challenge. In the backfield, they have always had a lot of running backs and can roll through guys. Similar to us, they have a revamped wide receiver room. They have some guys that have really stepped up in their program and the additions of transfers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the unique things as you\u2019re watching film on openers is you\u2019re watching film from like eight different colleges as you get ready for this (Notre Dame) offense,\u201d Elko continued. \u201cYou have Duke film (Riley Leonard), FIU film (Kris Mitchell<\/a>) on there. You\u2019ve got Clemson film (Beaux Collins<\/a>), Notre Dame film, LSU film (offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock)<\/a>. It’s one of the unique things going through this opener.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riley Leonard vs. Mike Elko<\/h3>\n

Leonard has firsthand experience going up against Elko\u2019s defensive schemes from their days together at Duke. The familiarity with Elko\u2019s strategies provides Leonard and his teammates a unique advantage as Notre Dame prepares for Saturday\u2019s contest. At a Notre Dame press conference on Aug. 27, Leonard expressed both excitement and anticipation in squaring off against his former coach and his new team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I have a really good feel for the defense, obviously,\u201d Leonard shared. \u201cI\u2019ve been playing against it at practice every day for the last two years. He obviously has a good feel for my game and my tendencies as well. I think they do a good job of disguising everything. Everything looks similar pre-snap. If I\u2019m able to figure it out, we\u2019ll be alright.<\/p>\n

\u201cA year ago, who would\u2019ve thought we\u2019d be in this situation,\u201d Leonard added. \u201cWe\u2019re both very competitive. We like to talk a little trash, too. It\u2019s not just him. A lot of their coaching staff came from Duke. To be able to play against all those guys, I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be scheming me up. I\u2019m excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Hostile Environment<\/h3>\n

Playing at Kyle Field will be a daunting task for Leonard and the Fighting Irish. The Aggies\u2019 passionate fan base is known for creating a hostile environment for opposing teams. A deafening crowd can disrupt even the most experienced signal callers. Notre Dame has prepared for the raucous crowd by piping in band and crowd noise from speakers at practice. Leonard believes the Irish are equipped to block out the distractions and take care of business on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a huge crowd, something you always dream about as a kid,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cYou want to play in these moments. I think it\u2019s really cool and a great opportunity. My mindset is to be a kid again and enjoy this. Obviously, I\u2019ve played in a bunch of big games and with a bunch of loud crowds. We\u2019ve been practicing with the speakers. I think I\u2019m very prepared for it. I\u2019m really just excited more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Returning To The Field<\/h3>\n

After nearly a year of setbacks due to an ankle injury, Leonard is finally healthy and ready to take the field for his first live drive since last season. Despite being hampered throughout the offseason due to a pair of surgeries on his ankle, Leonard has worked tirelessly to regain his strength and form.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first drive, it\u2019ll be great to be back out there,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cI didn\u2019t appreciate how much I love and care about football until it was taken from me for the majority of the offseason. It\u2019ll be great to be back out there healthy, and feeling good. Taking hits will be a lot of fun for me. I can\u2019t wait.”<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s College Gameday will be in College Station for the highly anticipated season opener between the two ranked teams. Without question, facing the No. 20 Aggies will be a major test for Leonard and his new teammates. To set the tone for a successful season and a run at the College Football Playoff, Leonard and the seventh-ranked Fighting Irish will need to overcome a rowdy environment on the road to escape Week 1 with a win.<\/p>\n

“The closer I get to the game, the more I realize it is us versus them,” Leonard said. “We’re going against A&M at the end of the day. I don’t want it to be about us (Riley Leonard and Mike Elko). Hopefully, that’s not the narrative. If it is, I get it. It makes sense, but I’m excited for our team to prove what we can do.”<\/p>\n

\"Riley
Photo courtesy: MANDATORY CREDIT GREG SWIERCZ \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Notre Dame transfer quarterback Riley Leonard is eager to make a statement in his first game as a starter for the Fighting Irish. Leonard is facing off against his former head coach at Duke, Mike Elko, and the Texas A&M Aggies in Saturday\u2019s Week One showdown. The road game provides Leonard with a golden opportunity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4854,"featured_media":63123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10906,8,11,35676,2056],"tags":[9150,311,5596,6781,8010,259,64],"class_list":["post-63109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-cfb","category-fbs","category-independents","category-notre-dame-fighting-irish","category-top-25","tag-duke","tag-duke-blue-devils","tag-espn-college-gameday","tag-mike-denbrock","tag-mike-elko","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-texas-am-aggies"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4854"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80184,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63109\/revisions\/80184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}