– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY — The Notre Dame redemption tour’s latest feature included turning one of the most disciplined teams in the country into a shell of themselves, along with more of the same ground-and-pound football that has only gotten more multi-faceted with the emerging passing talents of quarterback Riley Leonard.
Leonard threw two touchdowns and ran for another score, while running back Jeremiyah Love ran for 102 yards and a 64-yard score as No. 12 Notre Dame cruised to a 51-14 victory over No. 24 Navy inside NetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Saturday afternoon.
The Midshipmen, who came into the game committing just two turnovers and without a lost fumble all season long, committed six turnovers against the Fighting Irish, all on either lost fumbles or muffed punts, giving the Irish favorable field position all game long.
“We challenged the group that we have to play complimentary football today. That was a point of emphasis,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. “[Navy] was number two in the country in turnover margin, [and] I just told our guys we were plus six in the turnover margin. That’s huge. That’s straight reflection of complimentary football. I’m proud of all three phases, a lot of good. We want more, we want the best, but we’re going to enjoy today.”
After Leonard plunged into the end zone on a sneak to cap the first drive of the game, Navy saw its promising first drive end with running back Alex Tezca mishandling a pitch that was recovered by Adon Shuler and returned to the Midshipmen 7-yard line. Three plays later, Leonard threw his touchdown score, to Kris Mitchell from six yards out, to double Notre Dame’s lead.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographers Scotty Rausenberger and Yusuf Abdullah. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 22 pictures in total.
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