Notre Dame Football: Winners and losers for the 2024 Blue-Gold Game
The Notre Dame football team's spring practice is officially over. While it's always hard to take anything away from the final scrimmage of the season, there was plenty of reason to be excited about what the Fighting Irish put on display on Saturday.
Having said that, not everything was sunshine and roses. Even in a game where so many guys looked pretty darn good, there were some who didn't shine quite as bright. When it comes to "losers" the list i really, really short. Today, it's going to be more about who didn't exactly shine, more than anything.
Winners and losers in Notre Dame Football's Blue-Gold Game
The biggest winner of the day wasn't hard to figure out. He's a true freshman
. CJ Carr. . WINNER. CJ Carr. 443. CARR. . QB. player
CJ Carr looked every bit the part of the Notre Dame "savior" once Riley Leonard is gone next season. The true freshman generated the most buzz for the game. He also looked poised and confident. He played for both the Blue and the Gold and his performance was consistently very, very good. He finished completing 15 of 23 passes for 165 yards, a touchdown and zero interceptions.
. . WINNER. Kenny Minchey. player. Minchey. Kenny Minchey. 443. . QB
Kenny Minchey did a very good job in moving himself from the losers to the winners column from the second quarter on. He started the game looking a bit shaky, especially with a bad interception, but he rallied to complete 12 of 19 passes for 123 yards, a nice little touchdown throw and 40 yards on the ground with a nice touchdown run.
If there is a battle for the backup quarterback spot behind Leonard, the "Gunslinger" did himself some favors with his performance on Saturday. Especially showing he's the one who can do real damage with his legs.
LOSER. player. Steve Angeli. . . . QB. 443. Angeli. Steve Angeli
Steve Angeli certainly didn't play poorly. All three Notre Dame Football quarterbacks played very, very well. But Angeli needed to look better than he did to qualify as a "winner" here. For one thing, he was the only quarterback wearing the "no contact" jersey.
He also came into the game as the odds-on favorite to be the backup to Leonard. There were even some who thought he should be the starter over Leonard thanks to his Sun Bowl performance. He was good on Saturday, he just didn't shine.
Angeli finished 17 of 25 for 228 yards and 2 TDs. This is the game where that performance doesn't get you in the winner column. Despite that performance, it feels like Minchey and Carr made the backup quarterback fight, quite a bit tighter.
Love. . 443. . Jeremiyah Love. Jeremiyah Love. player. . WINNER. RB
Like the quarterback battle, the starting running back battle is going to be one that won't be settled until very late in the fall, but Love certainly made a bid to be the guy who stands out as the spring ends.
He wasn't the leading rusher (that was Gi'Bran Payne), but he did manage to average 5.1 yards a carry and scored a touchdown. He also showed that he can be a weapon out of the backfield in Mike Denbrock's offense.
Love finished with a tie for the team high with 5 catches for 41 yards. That included a nice 32 yard catch and run that started off as a little dump off pass.
. Kahanu Kia. 443. . LB. player. . Kahanu Kia. Kahanu. WINNER
Kahanu Kia was officially welcomed back to the Notre Dame football team this spring after going on his mission trip. On Saturday, it doesnt' appear he missed a beat. If he can be even something similar to this player in the fall, he's going to be like grabbing a top of the line defender from the transfer portal.
He led either squad with 12 tackles and had 6 solo stops. He also had 2 tackles for loss. There hasn't been a ton of mention of him this spring, but he showed that he's ready to go.
. . Offensive Line. 443. . oline. LOSER. OL. player. Offensive Line
There is no unit that Notre Dame football fans didn't come into the spring more concerned about than the offensive line. That continues to be an issue after the Blue-Gold game, at least when it comes to the passing game.
The line did open up some running room, but they also allowed 7 sacks and 2 quarterback hurries. Lotta work to do for the Fighting Irish's most maligned unit this fall.
443. dline. . DL. player. . WINNER. Defensive Line. Defensive Line.
Did I mention 7 sacks and 2 quarterback hurries? They were all over the quarterbacks for most of the day. Some guys who stood out included transfer RJ Oben and Boubacar Traore. Jason Onye also had two sacks.
They made things miserable at times for the quarterbacks. One has to think that if they can get 7 sacks all on their own in this kind of game, when there's blitzing and a real game on the line, they could be even better. The Notre Dame Football defense took a beating at times on Saturday, but the defensive line looks like it's ready to be scary good again in 2024.