The 88th edition of the Blue Gold Game takes place this weekend. You can watch the compact 2-hour performance beginning at 12:30 PM ET on NBC Sports Network.

We’ve remarked that this has been the Quiet Spring for Notre Dame football as they’ve largely operated in the shadows without much fanfare. We’ll likely remember this off-season as the one dominated by strength and conditioning articles and discussion which tells you enough.

A simple theory is that the 4-8 disaster campaign sucked the life out of thousands of fans and the Irish haven’t been dealing with any high-profile spring competitions, namely at the quarterback position.

Wimbush, Kizer, & New Recruiting Rules

Speaking of quarterbacks, Brian Kelly met with the media following Wednesday’s third and final open practice and remarked that redshirt sophomore Brandon Wimbush was running the offense like he’s been at Notre Dame for years. It’ll be nice to see Wimbush’s first major public performance as The Guy but it’s also important to remember he’s kind of in a no-win situation until the real season begins. Any great performance can turn into show-me-in-the-fall talk and a poor performance, well, you know what will happen.

There’s always the silver lining of the defense playing well if Wimbush struggles.

In the former Irish quarterback news section you may have seen that Brian Kelly will be attending the NFL Draft in support of DeShone Kizer. For his part, Kizer came out with some pretty outrageous quotes last night in an interview with USA Today.

This kind of feels like Kizer’s going to surprise and go something like 6th overall or have one of the most horrendous slides in the history of planet earth. Nothing may ever top the slide that Brady Quinn experienced in terms of overall time. He only fell ~20 spots (yeah, that sucked in its own right since he was projected as high as No. 1 overall) but this was back when teams got roughly 45 minutes to make each selection. The first round in 2007 took over 6 hours to finish!

This is a pretty ballsy move by Kizer and Kelly to put all these chips on the table and show up as Kizer’s pretty regularly going in the 2nd round of mock drafts. Let’s hope they got some really good intel and won’t be forced to put on different suits and come back for another wait on day two of the Draft.

Also in the news lately was the NCAA voting yes in favor of several new rules, the most high-profile being the adoption of an early signing period (taking place in mid-December) and official visits being allowed 5 months earlier starting on April 1st. Kelly mentioned he likes the new rules and that getting more kids on campus in April will be a plus.

I wrote extensively on the new rules a while back. I’m always pretty skeptical when it comes to college football recruiting so I believe while some positives are created there will be new negatives popping up in the future, as well. For tomorrow’s official visit in April is tomorrow’s “gotta get this kid back on campus” complaint. It’s the same stuff, just with the time of year shifted.

A great year on the field could lead to more spring official visits only to be followed up by a poor season in the fall, fewer visits, and decommits. Pick your poison.

Roster Update

It certainly hasn’t been a bad spring on the injury front by any measure.

Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Elijah Taylor (foot) and freshman running back C.J. Holmes (shoulder) were the only long-term injuries to occur this spring.

Junior safety Nicco Fertitta broke his hand but is expected to play in the spring game because that’s pretty much his DNA.

Redshirt sophomore corner Shaun Crawford (Achilles) has been practicing this spring although not in full capacity. Kelly described him as “close to being able to play” and someone who will be fully healthy when summer workouts start. Remember, he’s now 7 months post-surgery.

Redshirt junior corner Nick Watkins (arm) began the spring as a bit of a question mark but has appeared completely healthy this off-season. The same can be said for sophomore receiver Javon McKinley (fibula) who looks like he’s right at or very close to being 100% now.

There was some worry about senior nose guard Daniel Cage and his concussion history. So far, he’s been able to make it through the grind of spring which is heartening. Also, keep an eye on junior kicker Justin Yoon and his length strength. He’s been battling tendinitis which is why many think he’ll give up the kickoff duties this fall.

Sophomore receiver Kevin Stepherson missed Wednesday’s practice attending to his court appearance but will participate in the spring game on Saturday.

Expected Depth Chart for Saturday

QB: Wimbush, Book
RB: Adams, Williams/T. Jones, McIntosh
X WR: St. Brown, McKinley, Stepherson
Z WR: Finke, Sanders
W WR: Claypool, Boykin
TE: Smythe/A. Jones, Weishar, Wright, Luatua
LT: McGlinchey, Hainsey, Bivin
LG: Nelson, Banks
C: Mustipher, Hoge, Boudreaux
RG: Bars, Ruhland
RT: Kraemer, Eichenberg, Byrne

WDE: D. Hayes, Okwara, Ogundeji
NG: Tillery, Cage, Tiassum
DT: Bonner, Dew-Treadway, Mokwuah
SDE: J. Hayes, Trumbetti, Kareem
BUCK: Martini, Coney, Barajas
MIKE: N. Morgan, Jo. Jones, Ja. Jones
ROVER: Tranquill, Bilal
FCB: Love, Pride, White
BCB: Watkins, Vaughn
FS: Coleman, Robertson, Fertitta
SS: Elliott, Studstill, D.J. Morgan

Tidbits

Kelly was asked about the players he can count on through spring and he mentioned Mike McGlinchey, Drue Tranquill, Quenton Nelson, Sam Mustipher, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Julian Love.

Any notions of a positional battle at center were pretty much confined to our minds, huh? I’d imagine Notre Dame will be running the ball to the left side a whole ton in 2017.

Back in the day we coined FC Goodman for his ridiculous amount of fair catches during the 2011 season. I think we now have FC Love. Future Captain Julian Love.

If you’re concerned about the layout of the spring game it’ll be the number one offense against the number one defense while the second teams will battle each other. The offense will be wearing blue while the defense wears white. Of course, in Brian Kelly’s world the offense gets to wear the home uniforms.

The quarterbacks will not be live, and neither will the special teams.

On the facility front not only will the Crossroads project be opening up this fall but the Board of Trustees has approved the expansion of Notre Dame’s practice facilities, the Gug and Loftus Center, with the main goal of creating a second indoor football field.

As many know, this is basically the final frontier for Notre Dame to catch up with the times. Loftus far more than the Gug, obviously. Let’s hope the dank atmosphere, dirty nets hanging from the ceiling, exposed gray concrete walls, and lack of sunlight are all replaced with something approaching the student-athlete amenities seen elsewhere on campus.

Bets

Offensive MVP: Tony Jones

Jones is right in line for this award. He’s far enough up the depth chart to get some first quarter reps but may also get a ton of reps once the starters sit down later in the game. Plus, he can be a weapon in the passing game.

Defensive MVP: Julian Love

FC Love is a terrific pick here. There aren’t a ton of corners on the spring roster so he might play a little longer than he maybe should. He’s also pretty good near the line of scrimmage and could make a big impact with only first half snaps.

Hype Train to Slow: Daelin Hayes

This spring has felt like everyone has wanted to be a little more critical of Hayes but has held back. Physically he looks good, though! The spring game probably isn’t the best situation for him to blow up and really get after it, either.

Hype Train to Gather Steam: Drue Tranquill

The spring started with Tranquill spending some (more?) time at safety while cross-training as a linebacker at the Rover position. In the latter part of this off-season he’s worked far more at linebacker and had a great practice on Wednesday. Let’s predict a strong spring game and a few months of positive talk.

Most Intriguing Player by Saturday Night: Deon McIntosh

Deon headed into spring as an afterthought and should get plenty of reps at running on Saturday. He’ll probably look pretty good playing late against a lot of backups and third-team guys. Since this will be his first introduction for most of the Irish fan base he’s sure to raise a few eyebrows.

Player NBC Randomly Fixates On Too Much: Jerry Tillery

Position of need? Check. Possible academic angle to talk about? Check. Player with questionable motivation who could turn the corner as an upperclassman? Check.

When to Tune the Game Out: Mid-2nd Quarter

Through a quarter and a half we’ll probably begin to see some sloppy play, poor substitutions, a false start, and a fumbled snap. By then, you’re good to start multi-tasking. Tottenham vs. Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals is running head-to-head with the Blue Gold Game anyway.

PSA: Anyone who brings up Junior Jabbie or whoosh will be banned. Have a great weekend!