Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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46 SUMMER 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED F or the 45,308 onlookers who filed into Notre Dame Stadium April 25 looking for a team that had the words " leave no doubt" tattooed on their psyches, confusion might have been a reasonably pragmatic takeaway. Not the least of which would have been bewilderment over how a team leading the 95th Blue-Gold Game 40-20 before the second intermission — yes, the Notre Dame football spring game was divided into thirds, not quar- ters — somehow fell behind 44-38. And just as magically, the team that had 44 points mysteriously lost four to set up a potential game-winning 43-yard field goal for the Blue and a 41-40 victory — and without the of- fense having driven into field goal range. BEYOND THE SCORE, STATS Want more weirdness? No head coach Marcus Freeman to share his thoughts — or explain the scoring system, or lack thereof — in the postgame. Returning starter and 2026 Heisman favorite CJ Carr was the least statistically impressive of the three Irish quarterbacks, with the lowest pass effi- ciency rating by far (64.1) and more than 100 points lower than his single-season school record set last season (168.1). That translates to 7-of-15 passing for 55 yards with and 1 interception. Lots of missing pieces in the annual spring intrasquad game too, including some new ones in All-America cornerback Leonard Moore and new starting right tackle Guerby Lambert, each of whom suf- fered late-spring injuries that made them 11th-hour Blue-Gold Game scratches. It was distortion at its absolute finest. The only thing that could have topped what happened — and didn't — in Notre Dame's 15th and final practice of the spring was Junior Jabbie encoring his MVP per- formance of 19 years ago and re-spinning the cautionary tale about reading too much into Blue-Gold Games without a decoder. And here's this year's code breaker: This wasn't about looking to put a team on display that matched its unusually flattering offseason buzz. April 25 — and the 14 practices that preceded it this spring — was about finding the warts and not being afraid to parade those around for the second-largest Blue- Gold Game crowd in history. WHAT THIS SPRING WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT Even more of a fun fact … the Blue- Gold Game did go according to design. At the top of Freeman's priority list this offseason, right next to " leaving no doubt" about whether the 2026 team was College Football Playoff worthy, was the goal of doing a better job of self- scouting and self-testing. So, that meant more team periods than individual drills this spring, more ones versus ones in team periods and scrimmages. All in the name of getting more meaningful work done this off- season and making this Irish team less susceptible to early season exposures, as it has been typically in the first four sea- sons with Freeman as the head coach. The Irish are 3-5 collectively in Games 1 and 2, including an 0-2 mark last season. So, how did the plan play out in the spring finale and this spring in general? "I do believe having a returning quarterback for an offensive coordina- tor is an incredible luxury that I wish happened every year," Irish third-year offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said. "What that allowed us to do of- fensively, especially with the first group and based on the experience that we have on the offensive unit in particular, we were able to kind of be a little bit far- ther-reaching with our install. Be a little bit farther-reaching with putting them in kind of awkward situations to try to anticipate problems and issues and how to fix those if we come in contact with those early in the season." EMBRACING THE IMPERFECTIONS The defense's flaws were less visible April 25 despite the convoluted score that would suggest otherwise. Linebacker Jaylen Sneed was the standout, with a team-high 4 tackles and 1 interception. But the other pick came from a less likely source, ascending redshirt fresh- man safety Ethan Long. And the 3 sacks came from Sean Sevillano Jr., Loghan Thomas and a combined effort from Alabama transfer Keon Keeley and true freshman Rodney Dunham. But what looked like endless depth by the defense in the Blue-Gold Game looked flawed but repairable overall to second- year defensive coordinator Chris Ash. More distortion, but good distortion. "We have to continue to work and grind and stay focused and get a lot bet- ter through training camp," Ash said, "not only with the guys that have played a lot, but we've got to create some depth and bring some young guys along." This is what leaving no doubt really looks like. Not seeking perfection in April, but seeking the uncovered ugliness and ex- posing it, and making a plan to attack it this summer. Ugliness can be in the eye of the beholder as well. The only bad flaws in spring football are a dead end with no apparent fix or a season-ending injury. The Notre Dame roster, with big ambitions and the raw talent to match, avoided both. The biggest reality coming out of the Blue-Gold Game was the realization that the work is just beginning, And fortunately for Freeman, he has a team built for that. ■ Returning starter and 2026 Heisman favorite CJ Carr was the least statistically impressive of the three Irish quarterbacks in the Blue-Gold Game, connecting on just 7 of 15 throws for 55 yards with 0 touchdowns and 1 interception. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Distortion In Blue-Gold Game Is Beautiful Thing Eric Hansen covers Notre Dame athletics for On3, with a focus on Irish football. He can be reached on X @ EHansenND THE DEEP READ ERIC HANSEN