Notre Dame started quick on Friday afternoon in El Paso and never looked back while burying Oregon State in the 2023 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. There were some minor struggles along the way but the Beavers offense never mounted near enough of a challenge to keep the game competitive. In the end, Marcus Freeman ends Year 2 with a 10-3 record–not something to cheer about exactly, although it’s better than a 9-win season.
Here’s our 18S review of the final Irish game of 2023.
Stats Package
| STAT | IRISH | BEAVS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 40 | 8 |
| Plays | 66 | 44 |
| Total Yards | 448 | 197 |
| Yards Per Play | 6.8 | 4.5 |
| Conversions | 9/15 | 2/12 |
| Completions | 14 | 17 |
| Yards/Attempt | 11.7 | 6.9 |
| Rushes | 48 | 16 |
| Rushing Success | 63.0% | 9.0% |
| 10+ Yds Rushes | 6 | 0 |
| 20+ Yds Passes | 3 | 2 |
| Defense Stuff Rate | 25.0% | 19.6% |
Offense
QB:Ā A
RB: B+
TE: B
OL: A
WR: A
I don’t have evidence that Steve Angeli isn’t good, in the few spots we’ve seen him in a Notre Dame uniform he’s looked good, and on Friday in the Sun Bowl he looked pretty damn good for his first career start. Sure, Oregon State was depleted but their defense wasn’t that depleted, especially in comparison to all the pieces missing on the Irish offense.
I find myself hoping Angeli sticks around but I’d understand if he wanted to transfer now. He flashed an awful lot of skills against the Beavers, didn’t he? He’s quite accurate, makes some tough and pretty throws on occasion, doesn’t seem flustered at all (behind an unproven line!), and he can do some damage with his legs.
What a nice game from the offensive line! Jagusah looks completely ready for the left tackle spot and Tosh Baker was far from a disaster at right tackle. They gave up too many tackles for loss (9) but that was probably to be expected as Oregon State keyed on the run game against an unproven quarterback and not a deep collection of Irish receivers.
Rushing Success
Love – 8 of 15
Payne – 3 of 6
Price – 8 of 13
Angeli – 5 of 6
Ford – 3 of 4
Velotta – 1 of 1
Ketterer – 1 of 1
There were a few cold spots in the run game (again to be expected, especially with 46 non-sack carries) but overall the production was there and we had long stretches of the Sun Bowl where it felt like Notre Dame was getting whatever it wanted on the ground. Had they punched in that series of plays leading to the failed 4th down at the 1-yard line it would’ve been an even bigger massacre.
At least it led directly to a safety and 2 more points for Notre Dame. And then another touchdown on the next drive, too.
Rightfully so, Jeremiyah Love came into this game as the ‘next one’ at running back. It wasn’t a huge day on the ground for him but then you see what he can do on his touchdown catch and are reminded of his serious potential. Not to be outdone, Jadarian Price surely will not go away lightly as a potential no. 1 option in 2024. I’m excited to see an off-season with full health and what he can be by next August.
I can’t think of any player in recent memory that Jordan Faison reminds me of, can you? His size says he’s a darting slot receiver, which he can be. Then he’s adept at being a possession receiver and then mixes in tough contested catches as well. I legitimately believed his sideline catch (great throw from Angeli, by the way) fell complete and didn’t think twice about it. How did he catch that?
Maybe it’s for the best that tight end Eli Raridon remains one of Notre Dame’s best kept secrets? He was so close to coming down with that back of the end zone touchdown and let’s hope we see more of that in the future–except with the actual touchdown.
Defense
DL: A
LB: A
DB: A
Poor Oregon State never stood a chance. Al Golden and the Irish absolutely feasted on this hodgepodge collection of Beavers playmakers and put in one of those 1st quarter performances where you knew if Notre Dame’s offenses didn’t make hilarious mistakes the game was going to get out of hand.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this in doing a game review…Oregon State’s offense only had 1 successful rushing attempt.
One!
Thinking Ben Gulbranson was going to throw his way to a victory instead of leaning on the run game was certainly a curious choice for Oregon State. It’s one of those things that happens when you don’t really have your coaching staff in place for a bowl game.
The Beavers also hilariously ran only 44 plays, a season low for Notre Dame’s defense by 10 whole snaps. The previous low was the Central Michigan game way back in September.
They were lucky to pick up a late garbage time touchdown drive to smooth out the final box score a little bit and break the shutout. Prior to that drive, OSU had just finished with a safety given up and had run 32 plays (there was 9:01 left in the game with 32 plays run hahahaha) for 92 total yards. I suppose if a defense is giving up just 2.8 yards per play they deserve an A+ across the board.
Stuffs
Botelho – 2
Kiser – 1.5
Burnham – 1
JJB – 1
Cross – 1
Rubio – 1
Bell – 1
Shuler – 0.5
Watts – 0.5
Bowen – 0.5
I’m sure in the coming days we’ll hear news that Al Golden has secured the bag on a nice fat contract extension.
I didn’t take away a ton from individuals in this game, especially with so few snaps. It’s like they actually played half a football game. All 3 of Botelho, Cross, and JJB stood out if I had to pick consistent playmakers and with the news that Botelho is coming back it’s great that 2 out of those 3 will be on the team in 2024. The loss of JJB looms large though, I hope they figure out the strong-side edge this off-season.
Final Thoughts
We’ve now completed a full season with the new clock rules that came into existence for 2023. There were 85 fewer plays run in Notre Dame football games in 2023 compared to 2022 and 174 fewer compared to the 2021 season. Is it something? Is it nothing?
How do we judge these things? Will a 5-loss Oregon State team deserve to finish ranked in the AP Poll after this game? They came in to El Paso ranked 21st and I doubt they’ll hang on inside the Top 25.
Speaking of rankings, where do Frosted Flakes place in the all-time cereal rankings? I feel like they are perennially underrated and need their props for being consistently delicious either freshly poured or soggy.
Sometimes Vegas does things that don’t make a ton of sense. By kickoff, the spread for this game had been cut in half from where it opened weeks ago. Why? It dropped a full point in the hours leading up to kickoff. Who were the people thinking this Beavers offense was going to score 20+ points against Notre Dame? I also felt like interim Kefense Hynson, no offense intended, looked like a complete sacrificial lamb for this game with little inspiration or command of the Oregon State team. They were screwed once Jonathan Smith left town.
1,030 days ago I thought of the Peanut Butter nickname for Angeli. I’m certain people in his life back home in New Jersey must’ve called him this but I had never seen the Notre Dame community bring it up prior to early 2002. In the Sun Bowl it was an official nickname, although we don’t know why the weirdos at CBS put his actual last name in quotes in this graphic!?
Speaking of CBS, were they trialing some new replay system? I’ve never seen a broadcast switch to a replay so quickly after a play occurred in my life. You saw it on mundane plays (where there wasn’t a need to film celebrations, etc.) the most where they’d cut to a replay with 1.2 seconds of the ball being down. I’m not complaining and just wondering if that stood out to anyone else?
Here’s your annual post-season reminder that the player names on the jerseys look good, are informative, and should be on the uniforms for every football game.
It’s not all terrible for Oregon State. Their off-white uniforms are elite, although they should’ve worn their black helmets to contrast much better against Notre Dame’s gold.
I randomly chuckled quite loudly during the game after seeing a close up of the giant Tony the Tiger patch on the jerseys. As a noted bowl game hater, I do still enjoy a nice niche jersey patch for such an occasion.
Angeli’s only big mistake was not throwing this ball to Payne in the flat on 3rd down. The outside linebacker (#82) is playing zone and would’ve made a play on Payne but it would’ve been close. to the 1st down marker and a much easier decision for a field goal or 4th down attempt. Instead, Baker and Schrauth didn’t pick up a late blitz from a linebacker and it resulted in a 13-yard loss and a missed 50-yard field goal.
One mistake, at least.
Notre Dame officially started 5 true freshmen in this bowl game, all on offense: Love, Greathouse, Jagusah, Faison, and Flanagan. Plus, Micah Bell, Adon Shuler, Jaiden Ausberry, Preston Zinter, Christian Gray, Ben Minich, Drayk Bowen, Boubacar Traore, and Kenny Minchey were the other freshmen to participate in the Sun Bowl.
In case you missed it, corner Jaden Mickey played in the game after his mother lost her battle with cancer the night before the bowl game. His father posted this morning that Jaden’s grandfather also passed away last night, as well. Prayers to him and his family.
Jayden Thomas coming back and looking productive was nice to see.
It’s always weird when a defense doesn’t cover the center on an obvious 4th & 1 quarterback sneak attempt. Oregon State didn’t do this early in the 2nd quarter, Ashton Craig made a hole 1.5 yards deep, and Angeli easily picked up the 1st down.
Now the off-season officially begins.
Not to over interpret one game, but I did find myself wondering why we took a transfer QB again. Angeli made mistakes, but I though he was poised, accurate, and athletic.
I’m guessing because Riley Leonard is a top 10 QB for the 2025 class, and probably would have been drafted already if he hadn’t been injured this year. Steve Angeli…is not a future NFL pick. Leonard’s ceiling is just way higher.
Other thoughts: did Colzie play? Only saw the highlights, hope he’s OK
Faison is definitely a dude. He was wide open on a post and Angeli threw it behind him and he almost made the grab anyway. Going to be a fun weapon to move around the field next year.
I’m not so sure. He still has 3 years remaining and this feels like a way way too early write off for someone who has shown plenty of skills at QB.
Yea, the only reason to think his ceiling is lower is because he wasn’t a top 100 recruit. It’s a little bit like the Brock Purdy thing in the NFL; is he elite? Is he not? If he were a 1st round pick there would be less questions around him because the expectations would be higher. But as the last pick in the draft it seems like there are more questions around his actual ability.
If our other top 100 QBs played like this before becoming the starter, I have a sense more would think he’s likely the next top-end starter and future NFL draft pick. Previous expectations play a big-role in these kinds of predictions it seems.
I imagine the reason to take Leonard is simply that Angeli hasn’t proved it in extended action. If Hartman had gotten hurt and Angeli played like this for 3 or 4 games this year (and included an opponent like Clemson), you’d have to think they wouldn’t have taken Leonard. Leonard immediately raises the floor on the season next year.
Just sayin,
Riley Leonard 2023, 7 games- 57.6% passing 3 TDs 3 Ints. 116 rating
Steve Angeli 2023, 8 games- 77.3 % 7 TDs 1 Int. 221 rating.
Angeli’s ranking coming out of HS was much due to his team not throwing all that much. Perhaps Tommy Rees actually made a good evaluation in his case. He may not be stellar in any way but he also is not lacking in any way. He has all the tools to be a good college QB.
The 7 games vs. 8 games is incredibly misleading – Leonard played in 5 healthy and then was clearly a shadow of himself in the last 2 before they pulled him.
Angeli didn’t play 8 full games.
What did Leonard’s 2022 season stats look like?
It does seem like Rees made a good evaluation with Angeli nonetheless. Though I don’t remember who he would have compared to. Who did we take Angeli over? Was that the Drew Allar year?
I think Rees made an early evaluation of Angeli. Yes same year as Allar. There was much gnashing of teeth about that.
I agree that the stats don’t mean all that much.
I’ve read and heard a lot of comments from people who, IMO just know very little about the Angeli’s talents. Perhaps they’ve gone by recruiting rankings. To that I’d say, Angeli was ranked the 43rd QB and Riley Leonard the 58th their senior seasons on 247.
Colzie hardly played. I think he’s just being passed on the depth chart.
Was Botelho hurt toward the end of the game? He was hanging on to his shoulder as he went off the field?
Another part of it is that MF wants 4 QBs on the roster. Once you decide to take one, you might as well take the best one you can get.
It will be interesting though if Leonard causes Angeli to transfer then that kinda cancels out that goal. But if both stay we are in great shape.
Thatās the problem. Angeli looked like the part yesterday. We just donāt have a large enough sample size and certainly not against an elite team in a hyped atmosphere to say heās our guy. Itās those games when you show the intangibles. I am also not sold on Riley Leonard. He just has more of a sample size and experience. Would love to go back to grooming a quarterback with some insurance behind them. Everett Golson and Tommy felt like that a bit in 2012. We know how that turned out, but the ceiling for Everett felt pretty high. Maybe DeShone, maybe even Brandon at times. Ian was great in 2018 but never felt he was elite. Brady showed signs as did Jimmy, but just not enough athleticism to get us to the top.
Fair points. Also I try to remember with QBs that many will see a drop in production once their strengths and weaknesses are put on tape.
There have been some rumors that what the staff has seen from Angeli behind closed doors is what convinced them they needed to look for a transfer QB.
Iām as big an Angeli apologist as anyone – seriously, look through the archives here – but you take Riley Leonard ten times out of ten if you have NDās current QB situation. Absent Leonard the Irish would return 46 career pass attempts and, thanks to Saturday, one career start at QB opposite what could well be a top five defense, and will have a softer than usual schedule in the first year of the expanded playoff. It would be malpractice not to pull out all the stops for 2024.
Also Leonard played a chunk of this year on one leg and faced everyoneās first team D and best shot game plan. I feel pretty confident that, for example, Angeli wouldāve put worse numbers against NDās defense than Leonard did this season.
“I feel pretty confident that, for example, Angeli wouldāve put worse numbers against NDās defense than Leonard did this season”…..Are you sure ?
Riley Leonard Vs. ND- Passing 12- 27,44%, 134 yds. 1TD 1INT, Rushing 18 att. 88yds. Lg 33yds.
Granted he was hurt vs. FSU (44%) and Louisville (39%) but his best game vs a non cupcake was 52% vs. Clemson. (yes NW is a cupcake) He was healthy for 5 games and threw 3 TD passes. In 2022 he was certainly better.
Angeli’s numbers vs. Leonard, 1st year playing, are better.
I too think Leonard was a good get. That said, I’m not 100% sure that he’ll absolutely work out. He’s had trouble in more than a few games. I bought the hype about Hartman, Leonard’s going to have to show me.
I think Steve Angeli will be a good college QB somewhere.
Because Freeman is, very wisely, trying to avoid a 2022 situation again.
I found myself thinking about the QBs in Class of ’23 and for ND the drama leading to Minchey’s commitment as well as those we’ve seen in bowls this year. Dante Moore’s silent to ND – or not – then committing to Oregon flipping to UCLA now Oregon and will sit a year. Avery Johnson who visited twice to ND and who had gushed over the program, balled out in his first start for K-State and arguably outperformed Armstrong. He had a final three of the Wildcats, Oregon and Washington as the Moore commitment hung in the air. The Wichita area native stayed close to home in the end despite a late push by ND – or he could have sat behind Nix or Penix for a year. Quite an athlete and someone Rees and staff were impressed with!
We got the verbal from Minchey over Novostad, another ND target. Novostad then committed to Oregon replacing Moore. Lots of musical chairs.
Nico Iamaleava will start for Tennessee in their bowl game. Jackson Arnold and Lincoln Kienholz in their bowls showed they are not quite ready for prime time.
Who replaced Rees for that Kansas/Missouri recruiting area? Rivals top three from Kansas were Johnson, Dylan Edwards and Otting. The St. Louis area gave us Gray and Love with M’Pemba choosing Georgia.
Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner Xavier Watts officially back for one more go in South Bend. We’re only going to need to home half of the scoreboard in Notre Dame Stadium next year.
Nice! Al Golden, sign that extension!!
X
Great news!
That is genuinely good news. His own (positive) testimony to the ups and downs of his life at ND is impressive — six different numbers is a lot! I wonder what he’ll be studying, he’s got his degree already?
It’s still fun to reread this, and relook the highlights.
NY’s Eve was my dad’s birthday, and the year we beat tOSU at their house, he always said that even a month and a half later, that helped make NY’s Eve the best and craziest party ever. (Now I have to caution all of you youngsters, brace yourselves, whatever liquid refreshments helped make that so, were… illegal. If you can believe it.)
Anyway! Rambling on, by a strange freak I just saw Coach “Death Star” Saban being asked about Tommy Reese at the Rose Bowl presser, and by gosh if he didn’t seem genuinely sincere about how good a job Tommy has been doing. Which since we seemed to be destined to root for the Tide tomorrow is hopefully a good thing.
Time for New Year’s wishes for 2024. First, a retrospective on 18 stripes wishes over the course of the year that have not come true with the dangerous reliant on my memory and the hazard of misstatements. I don’t think these are representative of all nor intend this to be any criticism.
— ND did not join the Big 10
— an apparal contract was not signed with Nike
— ESPN was not chosen as their media partner
— Marcus Freeman’s job is not on the line in 2024
— Minor bowls should be ended
Worries that did not come true
— NIL and the Portal would severely impact the team and ability to compete
— the OC job would continue to hobble the team
— Safety recruiting
— Wide receiver recruiting
So, correct me if I am wrong on any of the above severely is you wish. Add others. Finally what are your New Year’s wishes besides a NC?
Faison looks likeā¦Golden Tate.
It sounds like heresy but the build, quickness and toughness just bring back the memories.
I’ll allow it. Not as thicc but it fits to a degree.