The time has come for the ‘Google Me’ man, Curt Cignetti, to show who he and his program are. Already the ticket prices of the upcoming Indiana Hoosiers and Notre Dame face-off have reached $1000. So you can guess how thrilled the fans must be to witness another Cignetti masterpiece. But looks like the Hoosiers HC needs to take into account certain things.

That is to be more concentrated on their rival, Fighting Irish QB Riley Leonard. There is no chance that Indiana can take the senior quarterback easily. After all, Leonard has done some serious work on himself this season. 

Heads up for Indiana Hoosiers before the Notre Dame face off

Cignetti had been coming off pretty strong with an undefeated streak. But that’s when Ryan Day’s Buckeyes gave the Hoosiers a reality check. On November 22, Indiana lost to Ohio State in a 38-15 heartbreaking feat. Fans could easily notice that the Buckeyes robbed away Indiana’s impressive early composure. Ohio State sacked Cignetti’s QB Kurtis Rourke not once, not twice, but FIVE TIMES! Plus, the signal-caller failed to develop a rhythm.

If the same thing gets repeated against the Fighting Irish, Freeman’s squad will get a free pass now that their QB Leonard has improved the Notre Dame offense. Here’s why on the Yahoo Sports podcast, analyst Pat Forde raised an alarm for Cignetti and Co. “It’s going to be a long night for Indiana but Indiana’s pretty good against the run and so I think if you can force Riley Leonard to have to do a lot that might play into Indiana’s hands there,” suggested the analyst. 

He further gave them a heads-up, reminding the Hoosiers about their Buckeyes mishap. He pointed out, “The other thing of course I mean Indiana’s offensive line and quarterback did not handle pressure at all against Ohio State. They’ve got to do better in that area because Notre Dame with Al Golden’s not a big pressure guy but you know you watch the film and he’s going to dial it up.” So basically, it’s ‘Mission: Limit Riley Leonard.’ The Notre Dame QB only took his first five games to showcase his forte in rushing. Remember when the signal-caller got all the limelight for a 143 rushing-yard performance against Miami (Ohio)?   

As another analyst, Ross Dellenger, pointed out, even after taking a 7-0 lead, later on, the Hoosiers struggled to block anybody. That’s when he raised his concern about the climate as well. He said, “Given the weather right, snowy and so cold, throwing the ba-l in this sort of climate in weather can be an issue, so that would be certainly one of my concerns.” Dellenger also expressed concern about “their passing game and the footing for receivers,” which ultimately led him to give the nod to Notre Dame. And honestly, you can see why. Here are some of Leonard’s stats that are going to haunt Cignetti’s boys further. 

How Riley Leonard bounced back in style

The senior transferred to Notre Dame, bidding farewell to Duke in December 2023. From then on, the young man has been watched under a microscope. Definitely, luck did not favor Leonard at the beginning of the season. But suddenly, after facing defeat against Northern Illinois, Leonard started to buckle up. Since week 2, we got to see a totally different version of the layer. His best three performances came after Freeman’s squad got their first bye.

The numbers started to look pretty darn good! Within the first five weeks, Leonard had a completion rate of 65.1%, 750 passing yards, and 374 rushing yards. But the stats after the bye are something that Notre Dame must be proud of. The completion rate significantly improved to 68.1%. Earlier, the passing touchdowns were 3, but that number eventually rose to 5. 

He has sincerely maintained his yards per carry above 6.0 yards without giving away high rushing attempts. That’s how Riley Leonard is far from a finished product and “special” to his HC Marcus Freeman. “He is a special person. He is an unbelievable human being. As a father, I would want somebody to describe my children the way that I view Riley Leonard. He is a great person,” said Freeman. Now that’s what you call a big compliment! So, Curt Cignetti and Co. better be aware!