The scoreboard read 41-40 on Saturday afternoon as the Blue team defeated the Gold team in the latest edition of the Notre Dame spring game. The complicated scoring system and lack of real tackling early on made the game difficult to watch at times, but that’s par for the course with most spring games. Great weather and a large crowd of 45,308 made it a positive afternoon for everyone involved.

Here are 5 takeaways from the action in South Bend:

#1

Ian Book may have a future in broadcasting. The 28-year old former Irish quarterback hasn’t played in the NFL over the past 4 seasons and is now officially trying his hand at a new career on television. Working with Tony Simeone in the booth on Saturday, Book showcased an extremely high floor and has a lot of tools to keep going in this field.

Book did a nice job!

He needs to work on speaking louder, but that will come with time and his relaxed persona definitely fit in perfectly with the more loose and freewheeling nature of a spring game. Book mentioned living in South Bend during the football season, so if he were ever to get called up to the top NBC job for Notre Dame games he’d be as plugged in as anyone. After seeing one spring game, the prospect of hearing Jason Garrett for another season has me saying a Hail Mary that Book would get fast tracked right into the big job with Dan Hicks.

#2

The quarterback play was spotty but also brought most of the bright moments during the game. A domination from CJ Carr–something predicted here based on his jersey scrimmage performance–didn’t come to fruition. He had a nice start, then went into a small funk, and then finished strong.

Leonard Moore sat out the game–and after a spring being covered by the All-American–Carr must’ve decided it was time to get Micah Gilbert going while being covered by someone else. However, Gilbert’s 5 targets only totaled 1 catch for 7 yards. It felt like Carr was forcing throws that way unnecessarily.

Carr unleashed a beautiful no-look pass to Mylan Graham that was the highlight of his day. Other than that, it was a quiet day for Notre Dame’s starter.

Both Blake Hebert and Noah Grubbs had some nice moments, led by the former’s back of the endzone touchdown pass to Elijah Burress (no doubt the throw of the day) and the latter with a strike to Devin Fitzgerald for a 28-yard touchdown.

As expected, the blocking for the non-Carr quarterbacks wasn’t as good and things were more chaotic overall. I thought Hebert and Grubbs flashed some nice things and showed they could develop into decent backups this year. They also had the bulk of the inaccurate throws and at times showed their inexperience.

#3

There was not much running room available out there on Saturday. Even with many of the top linebackers out injured the defensive front completely controlled the game. This isn’t a surprise for a defense that has grown to be very deep and has the edge in experience but the defensive line really looked impressive during this Blue-Gold Game.

Running back Aneyas Williams (spent the spring wearing a red jersey) suited up and took some contact and it didn’t make much difference. Williams and true freshman Jonaz Walton both had long runs of 7 yards and combined for a very modest 71 yards on 21 carries.

Interestingly, we thought Nolan James would get a ton of work but he only carried the ball once for 1 yard.

#4

Several starters and top players were missing and it’s still impressive to see the clay that is being molded in this secondary. It was hard to watch this Blue-Gold Game and not be very excited about the level the 2026 defense could achieve. I’m really not prone to hyperbole this far out from the season, but if the defensive line can get reasonably close to their ceiling this has the chance to be maybe the best Irish defense of the modern era.

Jayden Sanders jumped out as someone who will make a lot of noise this year, and he’s probably not starting! The Michigan transfer could really be a tidy player, plus Colorado transfer DJ McKinney hasn’t arrived yet and will add to the corner talent during the summer.

Ethan Long was Doing Good Thingsâ„¢ on Saturday.

Ethan Long has quietly been talked about as a player that is well regarded within the Gug. He finished with 3 tackles, broke up a pass, and calmly read Noah Grubbs while stepping in front of a pass for an interception. As a 4th option at safety, Long should be able to gain experience slowly this year.

Five-star freshman safety Joey O’Brien looked to get rolled up on early in the game and came back out on crutches, so it wasn’t all good news for the secondary. Still, we’ll hope this isn’t a long-term injury and he’ll be back to full health soon.

#5

The spring game didn’t offer a ton of insight into the future of the receiver position, or at least, the battle for playing time looks like it’s going to go deep into August and well into the season. Ohio State transfer Mylan Graham flashed with 31 yards on only 2 receptions and hopefully continues to open up the middle of the field where Carr tended to avoid at times in 2025.

Nothing seems settled at the boundary receiver position. Cam Williams had the longest catch of the day, although it was over a stumbling true freshman Ayden Pouncey. Devin Fitzgerald had a very nice game, although his touchdown came after a walk-on hesitated and got beat badly in coverage. We already mentioned Gilbert receiving a ton of attention from Carr but lacking efficiency.

Ohio State transfer Quincy Graham coming back from his patellar injury and inserting himself into the competition will be fascinating. Fitzgerald probably had the biggest spring and spring game from a standpoint of announcing himself as someone who could move up the depth chart. Still, there’s a long time to go and more difficult practices to come in August.