Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 9, 2023 27 JASON ONYE MAKES AN IMPACT Notre Dame defensive tackles Jason Onye and Rylie Mills lined up next to each other as Tennessee State kicker James Lowery got set to attempt a 29- yard field goal, which would have cut the Fighting Irish's lead to 7-6 late in the first quarter. Onye and Mills looked at each other and came up with a plan. "Before the snap, me and Rylie were like, 'Hey,'" Onye said. "'Let's blow up this guard.'" Onye laughed, both because what he said was funny and because of what happened next. He and Mills did in- deed blow up the Tennessee State right guard. Onye got his right hand in the air, and Lowery's kick deflected off of it and away toward the Notre Dame sideline. He knew it right away, and he started celebrating. "Me and [Mills] get low, we get re- ally low, go through the guard's chest, and then I put my hand up," Onye said. "Luckily, it hit, so I'm thankful for that." NBC cameras caught Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman's reaction. To say he was fired up would be an un- derstatement. He was the kind of ex- cited where you almost look angry. Freeman was likely still upset about the officials choosing not to review a high hit on graduate student running back and kick returner Devyn Ford, who fumbled and left the game with a head injury. That probably contrib- uted to his reaction. But more than that, Onye's block — and the three-and-out forced by the Notre Dame defense that preceded it — was as close to a turning point as a single play in a 56-3 game can get. Onye made the block in a two-game stretch where he's played the most out of any time period in his Notre Dame career, and it's not close. He came into the season with only eight career snaps under his belt, but after a standout off- season, he entered 2023 firmly in the two-deep at defensive tackle. The Rhode Island native played 24 snaps against Navy Aug. 26, and then made an even bigger impact against Ten- nessee State with a career-best 5 tackles to go along with his blocked field goal. "I just feel like the whole, entire expe- rience of playing has been great," Onye said. "Coming in here from Rhode Is- land, I just didn't really expect to play. And now that I am playing, it's great, it's a great experience, to be on the field with my brothers and just be able to fight. It's just a great experience all in all." When he entered Notre Dame, not many expected Onye to play much ei- ther. He was the No. 674 overall player in the On3 Industry Ranking, and he was recruited as an edge rusher. But especially with fellow junior defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio likely out for at least another week with a knee injury, Onye is a key piece of the Irish defense. And, as Notre Dame fans learned ver- sus TSU, special teams. STEVE ANGELI SHINES IN FIRST EXTENSIVE PLAYING TIME It wasn't just Steve Angeli himself who waited — and waited, and waited — for what happened Sept. 2 at Notre Dame Stadium. Many of the 77,622 spectators who were there to watch him and the Fighting Irish take it to Tennes- see State patiently stood by in anticipa- tion of it, too. Man, it was well worth the wait. Angeli attempted more than one pass in a game for the first time in his Notre Dame career. He completed 8 of 11 throws for 130 yards with 2 touch- downs. He didn't throw an interception. He also didn't throw much in the way of downfield passes with both scores com- ing on checkdowns to tailbacks, but the first touchdown toss of his career was still much more than just a dump-off to a running back. It was an impressive display of pocket awareness to get away from two TSU defensive linemen who got through Notre Dame's guards. Then it was an off-platform moving left, throwing left TENNESSEE STATE GAME NOTES BY JACK SOBLE AND TYLER HORKA Onye (No. 47) made a career-high 5 tackles and blocked a field goal against Tennessee State. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER