Notre Dame football's Riley Leonard is finding the weapons he needs for offensive success

SOUTH BEND — As Notre Dame football concludes its regular season at USC, that means a trip to the home parish of the patron saint of diva receivers: Keyshawn Johnson.

It was the ’90s Trojan who titled his autobiography “Just Give Me the Damn Ball!”

And that, mind you, came from the nation’s leading receiver in 1995 (90 catches for 1,218 yards) and the NFL’s top pick in the following draft.

You won’t find such theatrics on the fifth-ranked Irish’s sideline this season, even as quarterback Riley Leonard has struggled at times with accuracy issues and a natural tendency to pull the ball downfield and run.

“We haven’t had a player (bad) temperament on the sideline all year,” Leonard said recently. “You won’t notice that on us. You don’t have to babysit or do anything on the side.”

Despite Leonard’s arrival as a senior transfer in January and an offseason overhaul of the wide receiver corps that brought in three graduate transfers, the passing game has gotten better as the leaves have fallen.

Clemson transfer Beaux Collins leads the team in receptions (34) and receiving yards (427), but those totals are hardly an indicator of alpha status. Five different players are tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns with two players, and a dozen players have split the modest bounty of 17 players receiving touchdowns this year.

In terms of overall goals, Collins sits ahead of runners-up Jaden Greathouse and Mitchell Evans by a comfortable 54-33. Still, Collins’ total represents just 19% of the 283 total footballs that filled the air in 11 games.

Eight different players have 20 or more targets for an Irish passing attack in which 21 different players were targeted at least once. Fellow transfer receivers Kris Mitchell (27 goals) and Jayden Harrison (20) are also part of this group, as are holdover wideouts Jayden Thomas (22) and Jordan Faison (22).

As a byproduct of that diversity, an Irish passing offensive player who spent the first part of the season in the same statistical neighborhood as Iowa, the Mendoza Line of modern college football offenses, is ranked 34th in the FBS in passing efficiency, according to the FBS advanced professional football focus.

Notre Dame’s cumulative passer rating ranks 48th in the FBS, and the Irish are 71st with 7.2 yards per attempt. But only five teams have thrown fewer interceptions than Notre Dame, which has four.

The same share-the-ball approach works in the backfield. While Jeremiyah Love has scored at least one goal in all 11 games this season, he only scored seven goals against Army, leaving Jadarian Price and freshman Aneyas Williams plenty of room to reach the end zone.

Veteran offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock doesn’t mind when it comes to Notre Dame’s many reliable weapons.

“That definitely makes it interesting,” Denbrock said. “I mean, it’s hard to say, ‘Hey, you’ve got someone to talk to,’ and I think that’s a good thing in a lot of ways.”

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Riley Leonard “knows where all the pieces are” for Notre Dame

While some of this relative anonymity might prove challenging in other situations, particularly with NIL playing such a large role in today’s college football, it actually appears to be a liberating factor for Leonard and company.

“He knows where all the pieces are,” Denbrock said. “And if he gets in trouble, ‘Where can I go with this?’ ‘ Or, ‘If I have to move in the bag, where is everyone?’ It evolved over the season and he got a better feel for where all the pieces were.”

Although Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy for LSU in 2023, two Tigers receivers (Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr.) accounted for 54.6% of all pass targets in the Denbrock-led attack.

LSU led the nation in passing efficiency and offensive points (45.5 points per game), but only five players scored more than 17 times and three Tigers scored all but six of their 44 receiving touchdowns (86.7%).

Unlike Daniels, Leonard distributes the ball much more often.

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“I think he has a lot of faith in all the guys that are out there doing their job,” Denbrock said, “that, ‘If I give them a chance, they’re going to make it.’”

With USC ranking 65th in pass efficiency defense and tied for 53rd in yards per attempt allowed (7.0), the Irish are hoping to use another balanced attack to secure their 10th straight win and a spot in the College Football Playoff to achieve.

In Leonard’s breakout 2022 season at Duke, two players (Jalon Calhoun and Jordan Moore) accounted for 47.7% of the 371 total pass targets. Only five players were targeted more than 20 times all year, including one tight end (Nicky Dalmolin).

Six Blue Devils shared the 20 receiving touchdowns that year, which was Leonard’s only full season at Duke in which he remained healthy.

“In the past, I might have predetermined certain routes and certain concepts and thought a little bit in advance: ‘Oh, he’s really good on this route; “Maybe I have to force it in there,” Leonard said this week. “Now it’s just, ‘You’re going to be in the right place at the right time.’ “Let me just keep an eye on the defense, analyze my stats and let go whenever I need to.”

All of this means Leonard doesn’t have to soothe bruised egos or make in-game promises to get a specific teammate the ball.

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