Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MAY 2025 15 shouldn't have made. Protecting the football is paramount for Notre Dame, and neither junior Kenny Minchey nor senior Steve Angeli put it in harm's way. Carr did. Minchey ran for a touchdown, made an impressively layered throw and slung a sidearm pass down the sideline for a big gain — although his completion per- centage of 42.8 wasn't his best. Angeli nearly matched Carr with a touchdown pass and produced the highest yards per attempt, although much of his pro- duction came against walk-ons in the secondary. While Carr impressed early, each signal-caller had his moments as the offense defeated the defense 76-31 in a modified Blue-Gold Game scrimmage. It confirmed rumblings throughout spring practice that Notre Dame's quar- terback battle remains incredibly close as the Irish inch closer to their Aug. 31 season opener at Miami. "It was a lot of good," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. "A lot of good from all three guys, and a lot of teaching opportunities." Angeli finished 8-of-11 passing for 108 yards with a touchdown. Minchey completed 6 of 14 throws for 106 yards, while also rushing for a score. Carr con- nected on 14 of 19 attempts for 170 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. It's also important to note that Carr's best moments came early in the after- noon against the best defenders, and he did it backing up a 2024 Blue-Gold Game outing in which he completed 15 of 23 passes for 165 yards with a touch- down as an early enrollee freshman. Carr threw his touchdowns to fresh- man wide receiver Elijah Burress and sophomore walk-on wideout Xavier Southall. Angeli found freshman wide receiver Scrap Richardson for six. In Notre Dame's eyes, the Blue-Gold Game carries little to no more weight than a standard practice. But Freeman said that the quarterbacks' performance reflected the other 11 practices they've had to date. "Those guys have been battling," Freeman said. "They've all improved. They're all doing some really good things. "It's crazy to think this: You got three guys that can all lead the program to a victory and be your starting quarter- back." Freeman also gave unexpected update on Notre Dame's timeline for selecting a quarterback: He said after the scrim- mage that the Irish would like to narrow its competition down to two by the start of fall camp. "It's really hard to truly have a three- quarterback battle, but we gotta sit down and have conversations about what's best for our program, what's best for our quarterbacks," Freeman said. "We'll make those decisions in the future." If the Blue-Gold Game is any indica- tion, difficult decisions are on the ho- rizon for the Irish. The spring transfer portal window opened April 16. Here are some additional observa- tions from the Blue-Gold Game: LUKE TALICH IMPRESSES DEFENSIVELY "Shiny new object" syndrome can often affect college football fans, par- ticularly in the era of wall-to-wall re- cruiting coverage. Coaches understand, though, that multiple years in a college program and special teams experience matter when deciding who to elevate to the regular rotation. That brings us to junior safety Luke Talich, who is competing with several youngsters for the third (possibly even second) safety spot in Notre Dame's safety room. Beyond back-to-back goal-line stands, he looked more confi- dent and comfortable than other Notre Dame safeties such as sophomore Tae Johnson. "I know Luke Talich and what he can do, and Brauntae Johnson and the talent he has," Freeman said. Whether Freeman meant it or not, there's an important distinction there. That's not a slight on Johnson — he has four years of eligibility remaining to Talich's two and he's going to be an outstanding player in time — but we saw a real difference between Talich and Notre Dame's less experienced safeties in the Blue-Gold Game that leaves him needing to be in the mix. "I think none of us are really too wor- ried about who's the starter or anything right now," Talich said. "We're all fo- cusing on getting better and just owning what we can, taking advantage of our opportunities." ELI RARIDON, JADARIAN PRICE EXCEL OFFENSIVELY You can never have too many weap- ons. Raridon and Price are going to help Notre Dame this year, but there have al- ways been two sides to evaluating them. Raridon had all the physical tools in the world and an outstanding work Carr demonstrated his arm talent, com- pleting 14 of 19 passes for 170 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER