The 93rd edition of the Blue-Gold Game kicks off this Saturday from inside Notre Dame Stadium. As has been the case in recent years the game will be streamed live on Peacock which costs $5.99 per month and remains pretty good value these days, although that does come with ads. Remember, they will be filming a “Hard Knocks” type documentary on Irish football this season which will be streamed on Peacock sometime in 2024, as well.

No word yet on the announcing team, although last year the booth consisted of Tony Simeone and Kyle Rudolph with Kyle Hamilton doing reporting from the field.

Blue–Gold Game

Notre Dame Stadium
South Bend, Indiana
Date: Saturday, April 20, 2024
Time: 1:00 PM ET
TV: Peacock

Tickets for the game are only $10 and I do believe entrance is free for season ticket holders. With a running clock pretty much tradition in the 2nd half look for the game to be wrapped up in little more than 90 minutes. The action without walk-ons littered everywhere is probably even less time than that.

Injury Report

QB Riley Leonard
WR Jayden Harrison
WR Jayden Thomas
TE Mitchell Evans
TE Kevin Bauman
DE Loghan Thomas
DE Aiden Gobaira
DT Armel Mukam
CB Benjamin Morrison

While the injury list isn’t too large we can’t deny there’s a sudden loss of key players. We’ve known about the Leonard foot injury for a while and even though he continues to dress and take some mental reps and throw a little bit, there won’t be any live action for him this Saturday.

The injuries to Harrison (foot) and Thomas (hamstring) are a bummer. The former was among the most talked about players this spring and has a fun skill-set to shine in this type of competition. We know Thomas can be a dependable receiver, but can he stay healthy?

Everyone else has been out since before spring began with the exception of Benjamin Morrison’s recent shoulder surgery.

15 Things to Watch

#1 Will this game determine enough for a quarterback transfer?

We can safely assume 2 of the quarterbacks are not transferring which means in the Portal Era we are likely going to lose either Steve Angeli or Kenny Minchey soon. Realistically, their mind may already be made up but who knows. Half way through spring it didn’t seem like there’d be a chance for Minchey but with the Leonard injury it’s opened up more playing time and the door is more ajar to a future in South Bend. But is this compressed spring practice window enough to convince him to stay?

Angeli feels like he’ll stay, he’s much closer to graduating and is one sore Leonard foot from possibly starting football games in the fall as things stand today. Or, maybe Rutgers will throw a NIL bag at him to start and he’s done. Nothing can be ruled out these days!

#2 Will the CJ Carr hype go up another level?

Do you see what happens when the media is allowed to watch practice in full? Suddenly, CJ Carr announced himself as The Future after an impressive scrimmage this past weekend.

HYPE?

Yes, the hype does feel a little much right now after seeing less than 10% of spring practice which isn’t much of an evaluation. Still, the tools are there for Carr and if he shows more of the mental side of things in the Blue-Gold Game I’ll let everyone’s imaginations run wild. Maybe we finally found a star?

#3 What are they cooking with Love?

Notre Dame’s running back room has been described as loaded by many outlets this off-season. I don’t really think it’s quite there yet. It’s very promising for a top 10/15-ish team but needs to prove itself immediately in 2024. It seems like Jadarian Price has comfortably become the 1A option while Jeremiyah Love has been playing receiver just as much as running back this spring.

Is that to help out while Jordan Faison helps the lacrosse team to back-to-back titles? Are they discovering he’s better in the slot? I have a hard time believing Love will be losing out carries to Payne in the backfield (or a strong enough receiver to take reps away from Greathouse and Faison) so this is probably much ado about nothing. Love is likely the backup running back who will catch the ball more than the other tailbacks.

#4 The progress of the young running backs

If this really is a loaded running back room we’ll see how the true freshmen look on Saturday. There hasn’t been a ton of talk about either of these players, although Kedren Young had a small setback earlier in the spring with an injury. We should get a good long look at both him and Aneyas Williams from the late 1st half and onward this Saturday.

#5 The usage of Eli Raridon

No one seems to know exactly what’s going on with Raridon who doesn’t seem to be injured per se but has been rested and used lightly in the sparse media viewings this spring. At the recent jersey scrimmage, he started out with the backups and then made his way to the 1st team. It looks like the younger Cooper Flanagan is developing nicely but we’d expect Raridon to open the season as the guy and we’ll see how he’s used in the Blue-Gold Game.

#6 How settled are we at offensive line?

I’m not saying it’s time to freak out but my gut says this looks an awful lot like the type of offensive lines we saw during the Charlie Weis era. There are a couple pieces to like, especially for the future, but a harsh assessment of this unit would say it’s the worst for Notre Dame heading into a season in several years. Is that fair to say?

How much improvement will we see?

Positional battles also don’t look super likely, either. Nor does a dip into the transfer portal. Even if the Irish grab a transfer will they really be a big enough impact to help?

#7 Kris Mitchell a possible difference maker

Mitchell is one of the most fascinating players to watch this weekend. To start spring he came out and looked like he’d be a major factor in 2024, although the talk about him cooled a little bit in recent weeks. If we suppose Jayden Harrison probably won’t be a 600+ snap receiver it’s really up to Mitchell to become the big impact transfer on the outside to add speed and playmaking ability to this offense.

#8 Micah Gilbert or Cam Williams in the spotlight

Last weekend’s scrimmage showed that Carr has a developing rapport with Cam Williams which will be interesting to see if they can continue clicking in the spring game. Gilbert is in a little bit of a different situation, though. He’s shown quicker development as a true freshman and looks much more game ready. He’ll need to be on Saturday because Gilbert could essentially be a starter with a lot of targets thrown his way.

#9 Tired cornerbacks

This is supposed to be a deep cornerback room but with the mid-spring transfer of Clarence Lewis, untimely injury to Benjamin Morrison, and lack of early enrollees, suddenly this position is looking pretty thin for the spring game. This might be something to keep in mind when Carr is cooking in the 2nd half, as it might be against all walk-on corners.

#10 Traore pushing up the depth chart

If redshirt freshman Boubacar Traore isn’t 2nd string yet he looks to be co-2nd string with former converted linebacker Junior Tuihalamaka as the spring comes to a close. We’re hoping Jordan Botelho has a strong (and healthy) final season with the Irish but the future is under focus with the talented Traore flashing big time potential. He’d be a fun player to see make a handful of plays on Saturday, although the Blue-Gold Game is notoriously boring for edge rushers.

#11 Who is ready on the defensive interior?

Notre Dame has to like their starting duo on the interior defensive line as much as anyone in the country. With the temporary (or worse) loss of Gabriel Rubio and Tyson Ford there are more opportunities for other players to excel in this spring game.

Hinish the Younger seems to be coming along nicely but we’ve never seen a ton from him yet in his career. Jason Onye was a standout last spring (and highlighted in our spring game preview for 2023) but never really built from last off-season. Where is the highly touted Vernon these days? Why is Mullins playing on the inside? Are Sevillano and Houstan usable space eaters right now?

#12 What do we have with Oben?

It’s safe to say that Duke transfer RJ Oben has been one of the quietest additions to the program. This is a tough situation to figure out right now. No one has really noticed Oben as a standout yet but he is firmly entrenched as the starter at strong-side end. Last year, Javontae Jean-Baptiste came in quietly and left with a bang, perhaps Oben can follow in those footsteps?

#13 The poise of the linebacker corps

So many people have pined for more speed at linebacker and that time has come. The reports from last weekend’s scrimmage were really positive for the linebackers and it looks like they are rounding into form. At this rate, you couldn’t have asked for a better spring.

Playing around set to 0 for KVA. 

Kiser is the veteran backbone, Sneed is hopefully getting everything to click, Bowen looks like he’ll be able to handle plenty of playing time, KVA has future star written all over him, and Ausberry has been making plays when he’s plugged into the scheme, too.

#14 Shuler’s progress at safety

Remember, Notre Dame still has Northwestern transfer Rod Heard to add to the lineup this summer. You’d think he’ll come in and be a starter although redshirt freshman Adon Shuler has been impressive this spring and could make it a tough position battle next to All-American Xavier Watts.

#15 Field goal kicker

I’d like to see some field goal attempts from grad transfer Mitch Jeter. I don’t ask for much.

Spring Game Depth Chart

QUARTERBACK: #18 Angeli, #8 Minchey, #12 Carr

RUNNING BACK: #20 Price, #4Love, #3 Payne, #20 Williams, #21 Young

WR FIELD: #10 Mitchell, #17 Williams

WR SLOT: #19 Greathouse, #11 Smith, #5 Faison*

WR BOUNDARY: #14 Gilbert, #0 Colzie

TIGHT END: #87 Flanagan, #38 Sherwood, #9 Raridon, #85 Larsen

LEFT TACKLE: #56 Jagusah, #75 Absher, #71 Prescod

LEFT GUARD: #78 Coogan, #50 Spindler, #73 Jones

CENTER: #70 Craig, #72 Pendleton, #64 Otting

RIGHT GUARD: #74 Schrauth, #77 Chan, #55 Terek

RIGHT TACKLE: #79 Baker, #59 Wagner, #54 Knapp

VYPER: #12 Botelho, #44 Tuihalamaka, #51 Traore

DEFENSIVE TACKLE: #99 Mills, #41 Hinish, #17 Vernon, #42 Mullins

NOSE GUARD: #56 Cross, #47 Onye, #98 Houstan, #59 Sevillano

JUMBO: #9 Oben, #40 Burnham, #30 Young

MIKE: #34 Bowen, #27 Viliamu-Asa, #25 Zinter

WILL: #24 Kiser, #3 Sneed, #43 Kia

ROVER: #4 Ausberry

NICKEL: #1 Clark

CORNERBACK: #7 Mickey, #29 Gray, #11 Bell, #18 Tucker

SAFETY: #0 Watts, #8 Shuler, #28 Talich, #13 Minich, #23 Urlacher, #22 Ford