Notre Dame Football: Three Things We Saw Against Notre Dame

Notre Dame Football: Three Things We Saw Against Notre Dame

gYour Notre Dame Fighting Irish notched a hard-fought victory/close defeat in South Bend against…the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, by a score of 28-21. The most important aspect of spring games from where I sit is seeing new and/or less-visible players and getting a feel for their readiness against D1 competition, so that’s going to be the focus area of this exclusive spring Three Things. Let’s get into it:

This Team Actually Has a Lot of Weapons in the Passing Game?

I got burned by saying this at the opener of the 2023 season but I will chance saying it again: the Irish actually do appear to have a great complement of playmakers at wide receiver and tight end. Eli Raridon more than looked the part of a young Kyle Rudolph in that blue #9 jersey, including an impressive touchdown run after a spinning, juggling catch. Jack Larsen had a solid spring debut as a steady chain-moving target for blue, notching four catches for 41 yards.

On the perimeter, the gold team was bolstered by a two-touchdown effort from Micah Gilbert, who notably showed great chemistry with CJ Carr (more on him later) and racked up 79 yards on five catches. FIU transfer Kris Mitchell provided the highlight of the day by burning a helpless Isaiah Dunn to give the blue team their go-ahead touchdown, and KK Smith likewise showed an impressive downfield skillset on a 38-yard reception to set up Gilbert’s first TD.

We also saw oft-injured known quantities in Deion Colzie and Jaden Greathouse stay healthy and make a few nice plays each, which is all you really hope for from veterans in this situation. This is not even including the guys we didn’t see play (chiefly Mitchell Evans, Jordan Faison and the Jaydens Thomas and Harrison). Pair all that with what we saw from Jeremiyah Love out of the backfield and there is plenty to be excited about in this team’s potential to move the ball through the air.

Good and Bad in the Trenches

By far the biggest question mark in this game, which caused the Irish quarterbacks many problems and led to a few turnovers, was the play of the offensive line for both teams. Granted, inconsistency is to be expected when you have a unit that has lost two stars to the NFL and is still learning to gel, which is then split across two different teams so you have players next to each other who aren’t accustomed to being there. With that being said, there were plenty of bad moments to look at: seven sacks and 11 TFLs allowed in total across the two units, turnovers induced by either pressure or defensive line penetration, and a worrisome trend of bad snaps that caused Steve Angeli to track the ball down way behind the line of scrimmage multiple times. It wasn’t all bad and some guys looked better than others – Rocco Spindler in particular had a solid day – but this is still a unit with plenty to prove.

All told, pairing the newcomers here with the veteran known quantities the Irish have up front, this is a deep and dangerous front that should be able to maintain the standards this team has set over the past couple years.

Yes, CJ Carr Did Look Great, And Yes You Should Be Excited

Your eyes didn’t lie to you – CJ Carr looked like the real deal on Saturday and was definitely the best of the three quarterbacks who played for the Irish. He showed great timing and chemistry with his receivers, made a full range of throws and threw accurately both in the pocket and on the run. Highlights included a 29-yard touchdown to Micah Gilbert to tie the game for the gold team, and my favorite – a perfectly lofted out pattern to KK Smith earlier on that drive that kept things going on third down.

Of course it’s important to remember that it was only the spring game, minutes were limited and we of course didn’t see Riley Leonard in this game. It’s entirely too early to be asking to see Carr in the starting lineup, but what this game did do for Carr was show Irish fans that they have reason to believe in him should that come to pass. I can’t remember the last freshman quarterback for Notre Dame of whom that could be said, probably because it happened before I knew there were websites that covered Notre Dame football. So get excited about Carr – if not for this year, then for the future in general.