Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2024 33 BOWL PREVIEW: OREGON STATE combined for 73 catches, 1,156 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Neither of those two will play in the Sun Bowl, either. Junior wideout Silas Bolden, with 51 receptions for 718 yards and 5 touchdowns, is by far Gulbranson's best remaining receiving threat. Fenwick also caught 2 touchdown tosses, so Notre Dame needs to be aware of him out of the backfield. The Irish are getting a big boost with senior safety Xavier Watts, the 2023 Nagurski Trophy winner as the nation's top defensive player, suiting up for the Sun Bowl. Just a sophomore, cornerback Benjamin Morrison should be locked into playing, too. Gradu- ate student corner Cam Hart had not made an an- nouncement one way or the other as of Dec. 11. But here's the bottom line; Notre Dame had the No. 1 pass efficiency defense in the country, and the Irish are going against a quarterback who's at- tempted 1 pass in an actual game in the last calendar year. The Irish should be fine in this phase. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. OREGON STATE RUN DEFENSE As of Dec. 11, Notre Dame junior running back Audric Estimé had not announced whether he will play or not. If he does, the Irish have the luxury of one of the best tailbacks in the country at their disposal. If he doesn't, Notre Dame will likely take a by-committee approach with freshman Jeremiyah Love and sophomore Jadarian Price. Estimé ran 210 times for 1,341 yards and 18 touch- downs this year. Love and Price combined for 90 rushes, 516 yards and 3 scores. It's worth noting, and the same goes for the next section on the Notre Dame passing offense, that the Irish could be without 80 percent of the offensive line starters from the majority of the regular season. Junior right tackle Blake Fisher opted out. Graduate student center Zeke Correll entered the transfer por- tal and is transferring to NC State. Junior right guard Rocco Spindler went down with a season-ending knee injury in November. Junior left tackle Joe Alt, like Estimé, had not opted out as of Dec. 12, but he has the most reasons of anybody on the Notre Dame roster not to play. He could be a top-10 NFL Draft choice in April so an opt-out announcement from him seems to be only a matter of when, not if. So much mixing and matching along the offensive line certainly can affect a team's running game, but Notre Dame's backups could be starters elsewhere. And Oregon State is missing its top tackler Easton Mascarenas-Arnold for this game, who entered the transfer portal. The Irish should still be able to move the ball on the ground. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. OREGON STATE PASS DEFENSE Sophomore Steve Angeli will make his first career start in the Sun Bowl. News dropped Dec. 11 that 57-game starter Sam Hartman will opt out. What the Irish are missing in Hartman is a veteran presence, obviously, but also a signal-caller who threw for 24 touchdowns against just 8 interceptions in a year that the Irish offense was deemed by the masses to be ineffective from a passing perspective. The naysayers had valid points; in three losses, the Irish only passed for 191.7 yards per game. Hartman threw 5 of his 8 interceptions in those games. Four Notre Dame wide receivers — senior Chris Tyree, sophomore Tobias Merriweather, and fresh- men Rico Flores Jr. and Braylon James — entered the transfer portal after the Stanford game. Angeli will miss Tyree and Flores the most because they com- bined for 53 catches, 876 yards and 4 touchdowns. Sophomore tight end Holden Staes also entered the portal. He had 15 catches for 176 yards and 4 touchdowns this year. Angeli is going to need junior Jayden Thomas and freshman Jaden Greathouse to be playmakers in El Paso. They were both bothered by hamstring injuries in the regular season. It helps to be going against an Oregon State defense that ranked 82nd in passing defense with 236.2 yards allowed per game. The Beavers will be without top cover man Jermod McCoy. He also went into the portal. If Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker calls this game like he did in the final two regular- season games versus Wake Forest and Stanford, the Irish should still fare well even with a backup quarterback. Advantage: Notre Dame Todd D. Burlage: Notre Dame 27, Oregon State 21 Given the growing number of transfers and opt-outs, it's difficult to make an educated Sun Bowl prediction with so much roster turbulence still to come. What we do know is that No. 16 Notre Dame ended up at a bowl destination against No. 19 Oregon State that nobody was projecting. Both programs will be without their starting quarterbacks from the regular season. Irish graduate student Sam Hartman opted out of the game Dec. 11 to protect his NFL Draft stock. Mean- while, Beavers graduate DJ Uiagalelei re-entered the transfer portal after playing one season at Oregon State. Whatever the game-day rosters finally look like, Notre Dame carries an advantage in talent and depth, and that will be the difference in an Irish win. Steve Downey: Notre Dame 24, Oregon State 9 You can throw out most of the numbers in this one. Both teams have experienced plenty of attrition since the regular season ended. In what will be a battle of backup quarterbacks, Irish sophomore Steve Angeli has a golden opportunity to show what he can do against an Oregon State defense that will be missing a couple key performers. And count me among those intrigued to see what exciting, young running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price can do with an increased workload, assuming standout junior Audric Estimé opts out as ex- pected. In the end, though, an Irish defense — the unit least impacted by departures in this contest — led by graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III and senior safety Xavier Watts will be what lifts the Irish to victory in this one. Kyle Kelly: Notre Dame 23, Oregon State 13 While Oregon State has gotten the best of Notre Dame in past bowl games, that should not be the case this year. The dominant Irish defense will face a third-string quarterback. And although that could pose a game- planning challenge, there should not be much cause for concern on the field. Meanwhile, Notre Dame's of- fense could have some hiccups with new faces, but they still do enough to secure a second straight bowl win. Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 34, Oregon State 27 This game has funky written all over it. Oregon State is down to its third-string quarterback in Ben Gulbran- son, and Steve Angeli is making his first career start for Notre Dame. But as we saw last year in the Gator Bowl, a lesser-used quarterback doesn't necessarily mean fewer points for the Fighting Irish. Tyler Buchner accounted for 5 touchdowns to lead the Irish over the Gamecocks, and Angeli can have himself a strong day in similar fashion. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has all the incentive he needs to be victorious as well with the Irish sitting one win away from 10. Oregon State, meanwhile, is in the midst of a coaching change and will trot out wide receivers coach Kefense Hynson as an interim. Say what you will about Freeman, but I like where the Notre Dame coaching staff is as a whole going into this one better than what Oregon State is facing in that regard. Jack Soble: Notre Dame 17, Oregon State 10 Senior safety Xavier Watts is playing in the Sun Bowl. Graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III will return in 2024, so he's playing, too. Sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison is not NFL Draft-eligible, so there's no reason for him not to play. Even if graduate student cornerback Cam Hart, senior defensive tackle Rylie Mills, graduate student linebacker JD Bertrand and graduate student defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste all opt out, that core of 3 players and several talented backups are more than enough for defensive coordinator Al Golden to work with. Notre Dame's defense will carry the Irish to their 10th win of the season. Staff Predictions