Michael Cohen
College soccer and faculty basketball author
ATLANTA — When Riley Leonard steps onto the sector at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Monday night time and takes his place as Notre Dame’s beginning quarterback, a specific pair of eyes will seemingly stare again at him from an unorthodox locale, whose precise identify Ohio State refuses to disclose it publicly.
It’s not fairly security depth the place Caleb Downs is plying his commerce today, although that is his official designation on the Buckeyes’ roster and the place he earned acclaim All-American honors this season. And it is not even shallow sufficient to be thought of linebacker territory, with teammates Sonny Styles and Cody Simon sometimes just some steps nearer to the road of scrimmage. But from this veritable no-man’s land in what appears like a aircraft of his personal, Downs can insert himself into nearly any play known as by an opponent: run or move, left or proper, into the field or deeper towards the put up. And that is precisely what the coaches predicted after they launched the pucker halfway via the yr.
“He can do all of it, man,” Ohio State cornerbacks coach Tim Walton informed FOX Sports. “He’s a unicorn. I imply, he has a excessive soccer IQ and he is an distinctive athlete. So he is capable of have vary as a halfback, security in the course of the sector, he can play within the field, he has protection expertise in opposition to a receiver of slots and protection expertise versus a good finish. You discover guys who can do all of these issues and excel at it.
So whereas Downs’ deployment within the nationwide title sport will hardly shock the Fighting Irish, whose gamers and coaches gave him loads of deference throughout interviews on the Georgia World Congress Center over the weekend, the truth that Notre Dame is counting on a twin risk quarterback makes his involvement that rather more fascinating. Leonard, a switch from Duke, will enter the nationwide championship having carried the ball extra steadily (167 makes an attempt) than anybody else on Notre Dame’s roster. He amassed extra speeding yards (866) than any energy convention quarterback. He scored extra touchdowns on the bottom (16) than all however 12 gamers in your entire nation, no matter place.
All of this units the stage for what may very well be an unimaginable cat-and-mouse sport between Leonard and Downs, two distinctive gamers whose roles and duties make it nearly sure that they’ll collide with the largest prize at stake within the sport.
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“You need to make some choices about how you are going to deal with (him),” Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock stated when FOX Sports requested him about Downs’ positioning. “Is he a linebacker? Is he a security? Is he someplace in between? It’s a singular scheme that you do not see so much. I might name it sort of a ‘nest’ look, the place they sort of had him perch up there ready to pounce , whether or not you run him or move him. He’s ready to affect the sport on each ends of the ground.”
The thought to make use of Downs in what quantities to a roaming position got here to Knowles as he recovered from the crew’s disheartening midseason loss to Oregon, whose offense shredded the Buckeyes for 496 yards and a season-high 32 factors . It was an idea Knowles had experimented with throughout his time as Oklahoma State’s defensive coordinator from 2018-21, and located it to be an efficient technique for holding a number of the most explosive offenses within the Big 12, a league identified for lighting up the scoreboard. The Cowboys improved from 97th in scoring protection (32.5 factors per sport) throughout Knowles’ first season to ninth in his closing season (18.1 factors per sport) earlier than Ohio State head coach Ryan Day lured him away with one of many richest coordinator salaries in historical past. Village. Back then, Knowles stated, he sometimes chosen his roving participant from Oklahoma State’s entrance seven fairly than the secondary.
But Downs offers the Buckeyes a chess piece not like something Knowles has coached at earlier positions. Downs is a former five-star recruit who enrolled at Alabama and have become the primary freshman in program historical past to steer the Crimson Tide in tackles (107) whereas incomes All-America honors final fall. He is a soccer fan whose father, Gary Downs, was a third-round working again by the New York Giants in 1994 and whose brother, Josh Downs, caught 72 passes for 803 yards and 5 touchdowns for the Indianapolis Colts on this season. He’s an X’s and O’s junkie who questioned Knowles so intensely in regards to the intricacies of Ohio State’s protection after he entered the switch portal final winter that his future coordinator known as the expertise “tougher than any interview I’ve ever had carried out for a job.” He is a film-room savant identified for taking copious notes throughout conferences and is so educated that fellow Buckeyes jokingly discuss with him because the crew’s co-defensive coordinator, although Downs is barely a sophomore and the youngest starter of the unit.
That made it considerably predictable that Downs has deftly dealt with his private duties over the previous three months, catalyzed an Ohio State protection that leads the nation in scoring at 12.2 factors per sport, and arrived in Atlanta stuffed with confidence after suffocating Tennessee, Oregon and Texas within the first three rounds of the College Football Playoff, with out ever giving up greater than eight factors within the first half. He took management of the fourth quarter in opposition to the Longhorns with a penetrating deal with for loss close to the objective line that anticipated edge rusher Jack Sawyer’s sack-fumble-touchdown after which sealed the win with a Quinn Ewers interception in moments waning.
“They attempt to do issues to plan for (Downs) to be sort of a free hitter,” Gino Guidugli, the quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame, stated throughout an interview with FOX Sports. “And a few of these offenses are just a little bizarre for the offensive line, so we’ll have some issues deliberate for that. It’ll be an fascinating matchup as a result of as a rule, he’ll be the free hitter going to be the quarterback, we’ll get our man (Leonard) each time.”
Guidugli’s sentiment is comprehensible contemplating how successfully and relentlessly Leonard has run the ball this season, in what has been by far his most efficient collegiate working marketing campaign. In addition to setting new private bests for speeding yards and touchdowns – each of which ranked second on the crew behind tailback Jeremiyah Love, who ran for 1,112 yards and 17 scores – Leonard set new profession highs for rushes of 10-plus yards. (25) and compelled missed tackles (41). His common is 3.27 yards per try After contact outperformed each energy league quarterback and ranked 51st nationally for all gamers, together with working backs, amongst these with not less than the identical variety of carries.
In a preview of what might come within the nationwide championship, Leonard’s workload as a runner elevated throughout every spherical of the College Football Playoff: from 11 carries for 30 yards and a landing in opposition to Indiana, to 14 carries for 80 yards in opposition to Georgia, to 18 carries for 35 punishing yards in opposition to Penn State, who hit Notre Dame’s quarterback with punishing hits on a couple of event. It would not be stunning to see him prime 20 carries in a sport for the primary time all season when he faces Ohio State on Monday night time.
And Leonard is aware of that Downs will comply with him each step of the best way.
“He’s one of many quickest gamers I’ll play in opposition to this yr,” Leonard stated. “He’s very instinctive. He sees the sport very nicely.”
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and basketball for FOX Sports with a concentrate on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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