Who Is Riley Leonard? Duke Quarterback Who Has Transferred To Notre Dame Following Mike Elko Leaving Head Coach Position At Duke Becoming Head Coach Of Texas A&M
Who is Riley Leonard?
Duke starting quarterback who has transferred to Notre Dame following Mike Elko leaving Head Coach position at Duke becoming Head Coach of Texas A &M.
As a freshman at Duke in 2021,
Riley Leonard Saw action in seven games, with one start against Virginia Tech ... finished 37-of-62 (.597) passing with one TD and one INT ... added 47 rushes for 173 yards (3.68) and two TDs ... completed 13-of-13 (1.000) pass attempts for a career-high 99 yards versus Louisville in 2021 ... hit on 10 passes in the third quarter to tie for fifth on the freshmen charts for most pass completions in a quarter ... tallied a season-long 39-yard pass completion to WR Jalon Calhoun against Wake Forest ... connected with RB Mataeo Durant for a five-yard TD reception against Pittsburgh ... accumulated a year-best 70 rushing yards against Louisville, including a season-long 35-yard scamper for a TD ... added a rushing TD against Wake Forest ... on the field for 164 snaps.
As a sophomore in 2022,
Riley Leonard was Honorable Mention All-ACC selection ... Academic All-ACC and CSC Academic All-District honoree ... recipient of the program’s Carmen Falcone Team Most Valuable Player and Offensive MVP Awards ... Military Bowl MVP ... started all 13 games ... completed 250-of-392 (.638) passes for 2,967 yards with 20 TDs and six INTs while leading the team in rushing with 699 yards on 124 carries (5.64) and 13 TDs ... posted pass efficiency rating of 141.11 ... compiled 3,666 total offensive yards ... scored 78 points ... carded point responsibility total of 198 ... one of three FBS QBs to amass 2,900+ passing yards and 695+ rushing yards, joining LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye ... joined Oregon’s Bo Nix as the only two FBS QBs nationally to register 20+ passing and 13+ rushing TDs, a first in Blue Devil history ... completed 20+ passes in six games including a season-high 29 completions against Wake Forest ... posted completion percentage of .600 or better in nine contests including a season-best .917 mark (11-of-12) against North Carolina A&T ... threw for 200+ yards in seven weeks ... compiled three 300+ yard passing games, including a season-best 391 yards and four TDs against Wake Forest ... passing yardage versus Wake Forest matched the 20th-best single-game total in Duke history ... threw for 2+ TDs in five contests against Temple, North Carolina A&T, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, and Wake Forest ... had eight completions of 40+ yards including a season-long 81-yard pass to WR Eli Pancol against Northwestern that marked the seventh longest pass in program history ... teamed up with WR Jordan Moore for a 49-yard TD reception versus Pittsburgh for Duke’s longest passing score of the season ... opened the year with 15 consecutive completions against Temple to place tied for third in school history for a single game with Ben Bennett and Thaddeus Lewis ... logged four rushing attempts of 20+ yards including a season-long and team-long 74-yard TD effort against North Carolina ... the 74-yard TD jaunt marked the 19th longest in program history and the longest by a Duke QB ... had 10+ rushing attempts in six weeks including a season-high 14 carries against North Carolina and Miami ... rushed for 60+ yards in seven weeks versus Temple (64), North Carolina A&T (66), Virginia (60), North Carolina (130), Miami (61), Boston College (96), and UCF (63) ... rushed for a season-high three TDs against Miami ... logged a season-high 406 yards of total offense against Wake Forest ... accounted for 3+ TDs in games against North Carolina A&T (2 pass & 2 rush), Virginia (1 pass & 2 rush), Miami (1 pass & 3 rush), Virginia Tech (2 pass & 1 rush), Pittsburgh (3 pass & 1 rush), and Wake Forest (4 pass) ... in the ACC, ranked third in total offensive yards per game (282.00), third in pass attempts, third in pass completions, third in total points responsible for, tied for third in scoring, fourth in pass completion percentage, fourth in passing yards per game (228.23), fifth in TD passes, and fifth in passing efficiency ... nationally, ranked 21st in total points responsible for, 22nd in rushing TDs, 27th in total points responsible for per game, 28th in total offensive yards per game, 30th in total TDs, 40th in passing yards, 44th in completion percentage, 46th in passing TDs, 47th in pass completions per game, and 47th in passing efficiency ... set school single-season records for TDs responsible for (33), most games with 1+ TD pass (12), TD-to-INT ratio (3.33-1), and pass completion-to-INT ratio (41.67-1) ... on Duke’s single-season charts, yearly totals ranked tied for first in most wins by a starting QB (9), tied for first in most TD passes of 20+ yards (11), tied for first in most games with 100+ passing yards (13), second in most total offensive yards, second in highest passing efficiency rating (141.11), second in rushing TDs by a QB, tied for second in most consecutive games with 1+ TD passes (12), fourth in rushing yards by QB, tied for fourth in most TD passes, sixth in highest pass completion percentage (.638), seventh in passing yards, and tied for eighth in most games with 300+ passing yards ... additionally, ranked tied for fourth in most TD passes for a single-game (4, Wake Forest) and tied for 10th in highest pass completion percentage for a game (.800, Temple) ... on Duke’s bowl game charts, Military Bowl totals rank tied for first for rushing TDs (2), second for pass attempts without a INT (28), tied for second for points scored (12), fourth for pass completion percentage in a half (.750 [12-of-16]; 1st) and game (.679 [19-of-28]), tied for fifth for pass completions in a quarter (10; 2nd), tied for fifth for pass attempts in a quarter (13; 2nd), sixth for pass completions (19), sixth for pass completion percentage in a quarter (.769 [10-of-13]; 2nd), seventh for pass efficiency rating (119.76), eighth for passing yards (173), eighth for average yards per pass attempt (6.18), ninth for pass attempts (28), and ninth for average yards per completion (9.10) ... also tied for the 12th longest pass in school bowl history with 32-yard scoring toss to Jaquez Moore ... joined Thomas Sirk (2015) as the only two Duke QBs in program lore to rush for 600+ and throw for 2,500+ yards in a single-season ... joined Jordan Waters (566), Ja. Moore (508), and Jaylen Coleman (480) to form the first quartet in Duke history to post 400+ rushing yards in a single-season ... coupled with Waters (8), Ja. Moore (5), and Coleman (4) to form the first foursome in Blue Devil history to compile 4+ rushing TDs in a single-season ... on the field for 873 snaps.
According Riley Leonard biography on goduke.com
As a junior in 2023 at Duke,
Riley Leonard threw for 1, 102 yards, 3 touchdowns, 3 interceptions though his season was far from perfect as he sustained an ankle injury as well as a toe injury that forced him out of game action and handing the reigns to the offense over to freshman Grayson Loftis who this season has thrown 823 yards, 8 touchdowns, 3 interceptions and has quarterback of 60.7 % and still has another game to prepare as Duke still has a bowl game to play with Interim Head Coach Trooper Taylor leading the way with Mike Elko leaving to become Head Coach of Texas A &M.
Following Riley Leonard announcing he was entering his name into the transfer portal he wrote a post on Social Media (Instagram) saying “I chose Duke because I wanted a school where i could be around those who are the best at what they do,” Leonard said in a lengthy Instagram message. “I knew that meant I wouldn’t be the smartest guy in the room, that every day I’d need to push myself and compete the best I could. And that’s what I did. As a result, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave knowing I’m better prepared for the challenges ahead — on an off the field.”
Following committing to Notre Dame former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard who has transferred to Notre Dame had this to say!
Notre Dame is a place where you can feel the history and championship mindset everywhere you go,” Leonard told AL.com. “The hospitality there among the coaches, players, and administrators is second to none. It’s a program everyone wants to be a part of and I’m grateful that this opportunity opened for me.”
According to Craig Stephenson article on al.com