{"id":68415,"date":"2024-11-17T15:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T20:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=68415"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:14:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:14:19","slug":"turnovers-key-for-notre-dame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/11\/17\/turnovers-key-for-notre-dame\/","title":{"rendered":"Turnovers Key for Notre Dame"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Senior Day in South Bend, Notre Dame seniors led the way for the Fighting Irish in a romping 35-14 victory over Virginia (5-5). In Saturday\u2019s regular-season home finale, No. 8 Notre Dame (9-1) capitalized on five Virginia turnovers. With the win, Notre Dame is now 5-0 all-time against Virginia<\/a> and 2-0 at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish improved to 103-25-5 all-time on Senior Day (3-0 under head coach Marcus Freeman) and they have won the last eight final homes of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great win, a great team victory,\u201d Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said to open his post-game press conference. \u201cIt is what we aspired to do all week for our seniors on Senior Night. This was the night that we said was Senior Night, the last guaranteed opportunity for our seniors to play at this stadium. It was important that we achieved team glory. I told them in the locker room, \u2018Well fix the film. There are always plays to fix. We\u2019ll evaluate it and figure out the whys, but enjoy this victory and heal up.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to continue to improve as we go through the season,\u201d Freeman continued. \u201cThat\u2019s the ultimate challenge. We can\u2019t look at outcomes. We have to evaluate everything and continue to find ways to improve and get ready for our next opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notre Dame\u2019s Dominating Defense Leads The Way<\/h3>\n

The Irish started fast for a change courtesy of its special teams unit and former Notre Dame wide receiver Chris Tyree<\/a>, who transferred to Virginia. Tyree muffed the opening kickoff, which was recovered by the Irish at the 25-yard line. The turnover led to a Jeremiyah Love<\/a> touchdown five plays later.<\/p>\n

The Notre Dame defense forced five turnovers that led to four touchdowns. Among the highlights, Xavier Watts<\/a> intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble, while Adon Shuler<\/a> and Leonard Moore<\/a> also snagged interceptions for the Irish. It was the third interception of the year for Shuler and second for Moore.<\/p>\n

Al Golden\u2019s defense held Virginia quarterback Anthony Colandrea<\/a> to just 8-of-21 passing for 69 yards. The Irish defense intercepted Colandrea a total of three times. Tony Muskett<\/a> started the second half at quarterback for the Cavaliers. Muskett completed 9-of-14 throws for 103 yards and was sacked twice. Malachi Fields was the leading receiver for Virginia. He caught four passes for 81 yards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen your defense is playing as well as we\u2019re playing, it allows you to still be in the game and be in a position to win, maybe when you weren\u2019t having the success you want offensively to start the game,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cAnd, so, the defense is doing a heck of a job, and the offense is doing a good job, man,\u201d<\/p>\n

Irish Offense Clicking Except For The Lapses<\/h3>\n

Despite sluggishness, too many three-and-out drives (four straight in the first half), and dropped balls downfield, the Irish offense raced to a 35-0 lead.\u00a0 Senior quarterback Riley Leonard<\/a> was efficient through the air, completing 22-of-33 for 214 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw one interception. With the game never in question, Notre Dame utilized a balanced attack to defeat Virginia. Leonard\u2019s three touchdown passes came in the first half. He hit Jayden Harrison<\/a> with an 8-yard strike. He found Cooper Flanagan<\/a> with a 2-yard toss into the end zone. And he connected with Mitchell Evans<\/a> on a 16-yard scoring pass.<\/p>\n

All told the Irish offense amassed 448 yards of total offense to 300 total yards for Virginia. Notre Dame racked up 21 first downs to Virginia\u2019s 15.<\/p>\n

Jack Kiser Makes History<\/h3>\n

Senior linebacker Jack Kiser<\/a> cemented his name in the Notre Dame record books on Saturday. Suiting up for his 63rd<\/sup> appearance in a Notre Dame uniform, Kiser passed Houston Griffith (62, 2018-22) for the Notre Dame record of career games played.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy,\u201d Kiser said of the record at his post-game press conference. \u201cThere are a lot of people that go into me stepping on the field 63 times. The trainers, family, teammates, strength coaches, other coaches, there\u2019s a lot of people that play into that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBring able to suit up and play with your brothers, that\u2019s important,\u201d Kiser added. \u201cTo do it that many times is an extreme honor. That\u2019s the best thing about the record. It\u2019s not a me thing, it\u2019s a we thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the performance of the defense against Virginia, Kiser said, \u201cGuys were flying around, guys were seeing their keys and making plays. It makes playing ball fun and it makes you hungry to get back out there. When those short series happen, you want to get right back out there. We were flying around and having a lot of fun out there tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love Leaves Cavaliers In The Dust<\/h3>\n

Love posted his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and of his collegiate career. He finished with a career-best 135 yards on 16 carries. Love scored two touchdowns, punctuated by a highlight-reel 76-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The dynamic runner has now scored in every game (10) this season. Love\u2019s streak matches Autry Denson\u2019s run of 10 straight games with a rushing touchdown in 1998. The Notre Dame record is 11 by Wayne Bullock from 1973-74.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just trusted my O-line,\u201d said Love of his electrifying 76-yard scoring run at his post-game press conference. \u201cI trusted they would get the job done. Once I saw the hole, I hit it. I have breakaway speed, (so) it was a track meet after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In commenting on the offense\u2019s early struggles after scoring on the first drive, Love said, \u201cWe stay patient. We take it one play at a time. If a play doesn\u2019t work out well and we don\u2019t execute, It\u2019s on to the next play. We do that whether it\u2019s a good play or a bad play. It\u2019s in the past. Every series, that\u2019s how we go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Work to Do, Notre Dame Eyes Undefeated Army<\/h3>\n

Having comfortably secured their eighth straight win, the Irish will spend the next week preparing to face undefeated No. 16 Army (9-0) in New York. Against Virginia, the Irish defense once again proved to be a formidable force. They stifled Virginia and forced turnovers. The offense, led by a balanced attack, controlled the trenches and efficiently moved the ball down the field. As Notre Dame turns its attention to the Black Knights, a tough, disciplined team, the Irish will need to bring their A-game to Yankee Stadium in yet another must-win game.<\/p>\n

Notre Dame\u2019s dominating victory over Virginia sent the team\u2019s senior class out on a high note. The win showcased the explosive potential that has defined Notre Dame\u2019s season. However, as the Irish look ahead, it\u2019s clear that consistency remains a challenge. To secure a coveted home playoff game and ultimately an opportunity to pursue a national championship, the Irish must harness their offensive firepower to deliver peak performances against Army and USC to close out the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go to work,\u201d Freeman said at his press conference. \u201cLet\u2019s give this program a chance to play in this stadium one more time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Senior Day in South Bend, Notre Dame seniors led the way for the Fighting Irish in a romping 35-14 victory over Virginia (5-5). In Saturday\u2019s regular-season home finale, No. 8 Notre Dame (9-1) capitalized on five Virginia turnovers. With the win, Notre Dame is now 5-0 all-time against Virginia and 2-0 at Notre Dame […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4854,"featured_media":68423,"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":[10906,8,11,2,35676,2056],"tags":[1512,34402,79,9508,7898,6850,259,3402,9152,34403],"class_list":["post-68415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cfb","category-fbs","category-independents","category-featured","category-notre-dame-fighting-irish","category-top-25","tag-al-golden","tag-autry-denson","tag-college-football","tag-fbs-independents","tag-houston-griffith","tag-marcus-freeman","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-top-25","tag-virginia","tag-wayne-bullock"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68415","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=68415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80163,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68415\/revisions\/80163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}