Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 FEBRUARY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. Defense Caps Off Dominant Season With Signature Game You can't help but feel bad for Oregon State quarterback Ben Gulbranson, who didn't stand much of a chance against Notre Dame Dec. 29 in El Paso, Texas. From the first time he dropped back to pass, Gulbranson was under constant duress. When he threw, his receivers were rarely open. The Beavers couldn't get any running game going whatsoever — totaling 1.4 yards per carry on first down and 1.9 sack-adjusted yards per carry throughout the game — so he constantly had to deal with second- and third-and-long situations. Throughout the season, Notre Dame's defense smelled blood in the water on passing downs. The Sun Bowl was no different. Defensive coordinator Al Golden constantly sent linebackers and defen- sive backs at Gulbranson, and the Beavers couldn't block the defensive linemen, either. The result: Oregon State went 1 for 9 on third down and 1 for 3 on fourth. Golden has said that one of very few numbers he cares about (it's basi- cally that, points and takeaways) is getting off the field on third down, and that's evident in the way his defense plays. It was truly a masterclass that showcased every- thing the Irish defense did well all year. 2. Angeli Had Things To Improve In The First Half, And He Fixed Them In The Second I was set to write something along the lines of "there was a lot of good, but there was some bad" with Notre Dame sophomore quarterback Steve Angeli's performance in his first start. I thought both sacks in the first half were at least in part on him, because he stood in the pocket too long and his mental clock should have gone off to either scramble or get rid of it. But in the second half, Angeli completely fixed all of that. He scrambled for gains of 17 and 14 yards, even though he wasn't really under pres- sure; he just knew he was about to be because of that mental clock. Because Angeli did those things well in the sec- ond half, the focus is now exclusively on what he did well all game. He was incredibly accurate, which we've seen from him all season. He throws a very catchable ball. He did pretty much everything Notre Dame could have asked him to do. 3. Freshman Left Tackle Charles Jagusah Had A Solid Debut I thought freshman left tackle Charles Jagusah played about as well as the Irish could have ex- pected. He did a nice job clearing bodies out of the way in the run game, and he was much quicker out of his stance than I thought he would be in pass protection. Jagusah did allow a sack in the first half, but again, I thought that was largely on Angeli for standing at the top of his drop back too long. The way the Irish talked about Jagusah for the past two weeks, they really believe he's their left tackle of the immediate future. I didn't see any- thing that suggests they're wrong, so he should enter the offseason with every opportunity to earn that full-time job. 4. This Was One Of Freeman's Better Coaching Jobs At Notre Dame There are quite a few teams over the past few years who mailed it in after drawing a less promi- nent bowl game than they expected heading into the season. Notre Dame certainly had bigger dreams than the Sun Bowl entering 2023. But the Irish came out firing and never gave any indication that they didn't want to be there. Quite the opposite, in fact. Head coach Marcus Freeman got his guys 100 percent motivated to win the Sun Bowl and it showed in El Paso. That's a major credit to Free- man as the leader of the program. 5. Get Ready For Another Offseason Of Hype Riley Leonard is coming to South Bend, as are several other high-profile transfer additions. Most of the players who contributed to the Sun Bowl win will be back next season. And Notre Dame's 2024 schedule, at least on its surface, does not look as tough as it did entering 2023. With 12 teams making the College Football Play- off a year from now, the goal — and frankly, the expectation — will be that Notre Dame is one of them. If the buzz about Leonard is positive, that goal might turn into hosting a first-round matchup. It seemed unlikely that the 2024 offseason hype would surpass the 2023 version, but after the past month, it just might. FIVE THOUGHTS BY JACK SOBLE Graduate student defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste and the Notre Dame defense dominated against Oregon State. PHOTO BY MARCELL GORDON