Late in the second quarter in the College Football Playoff semifinal, Notre Dame has turned to Steve Angeli due to an injury. Starting quarterback Riley Leonard has left the game and gone directly into the medical tent. Leonard took a massive hit from a Penn State defender before getting up and looking a little wobbly.
An official looked at Leonard before blowing his whistle and instructing him to head toward the sideline. Notre Dame trainers met Leonard and took him into the tent. Nothing official has come from the team but ESPN’s Sean McDonough speculates the quarterback is going through concussion protocol.
More than likely, the Fighting Irish will be without Leonard for the final moments of the first half. If we see Leonard again on Thursday night from the Orange Bowl, it will be coming out of the halftime locker room.
Leonard has completed six of 11 throws, going for 63 yards. A bad interception did set up Penn State with decent field position, eventually leading to a field goal to open the scoring.
How Notre Dame used Leonard in the ground game was a massive storyline in the quarterfinal against Georgia. But thus far, no such luck for offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock. Leonard has five attempts for just seven yards, sacks included. A few designed runs have been called and no success has been found.
Leonard heard plenty of negativity about his performance against NIU after throwing for 163 yards and tossing two interceptions. However, from that point forward, he has 32 total touchdowns, with only four picks.
ND head coach Marcus Freeman shared that one of the keys for Riley Leonard was to tune out the outside noise and just have fun playing football. He has done that, and the results have been impressive.
“I think what he was able to learn is that you can’t get your joy from what outsiders are saying about you. You get your joy from playing this game with your teammates,” Freeman said. “You play this game with confidence. And that’s where I’ve seen him grow the most is the confidence that he’s playing with.
“And that smile he has on his face, the way he plays this game, is just a reflection of the love he has for his team, the fun he’s having playing with his teammates.”
On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report
