Riley Leonard has Notre Dame on the cusp of its first national championship in 36 years.
A former star at Fairhope High School near Mobile, Leonard quarterbacked the Fighting Irish to a 27-24 victory over Penn State in the Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal game on Thursday night. Notre Dame now stands one win away from its first national title since the 1988 season, and will face the winner of the other CFP semifinal, Friday night’s Cotton Bowl Classic between Texas and Ohio State.
As Notre Dame awaits its opponent for the Jan. 20 championship game in Atlanta, here are five things to know about Riley Leonard:
1. He was a 2-sport star at Fairhope High School
Leonard was a second-team all-state quarterback for the Pirates as a senior in 2020, but those who saw him play both sports might argue he was even better in basketball (his father and uncle both played Division I hoops)…