EL PASO, Texas — If the right, unfortunate circumstances happened for Notre Dame football in Friday’s Sun Bowl, Chase Ketterer would have become the Irish quarterback.
With No. 16 Notre Dame down to two scholarship quarterbacks for the matchup with No. 19 Oregon State, Ketterer, a walk-on running back, was given emergency third-string quarterback responsibilities.
Ketterer’s quarterback skills weren’t needed in Friday’s 40-8 destruction of the Beavers, but he did provide the final touchdown in Notre Dame’s most-lopsided bowl victory in program history.
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Ketterer, a former run-first quarterback at New Prairie High School just 20 miles west of Notre Dame, scored on a six-yard touchdown run behind Notre Dame’s second-string offensive line. Kicker Spencer Shrader added the extra-point to finalize a 32-point margin, which surpassed the previous 28-point victory against Hawaii in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl.
Notre Dame (10-3) had a 33-point lead before Oregon State (8-5) scored its first points of the game in the fourth quarter. But even a 25-point lead was plenty large enough for Notre Dame to empty the sideline to give rare opportunities to bench players.
Right before Ketterer’s touchdown run, walk-on running back Skip Velotta, who entered the transfer portal earlier this month, put one more run on his Notre Dame highlight reel with a four-yard carry.
“We said somebody’s going to score,” said running back Jadarian Price, who led the Irish with 106 rushing yards and one touchdown on 13 carries. “Either if it was Chase, Skip or Sam [Assaf]. Chase did his thing. I’m super proud of him.
“We were super excited. He couldn’t even do a celebration because everyone was mobbing him. It was awesome to see everyone excited and see a brother succeed.”
Notre Dame dominated Oregon State in total offensive yards (468-197), third-down conversions (8-1) and time of possession (39:54-20:06). There are many ways to describe Notre Dame’s onslaught against Oregon State, but these are the five plays that defined the path to victory.
1. Steve Angeli’s first touchdown pass
The first drive of Steve Angeli’s career as a starting quarterback came with daunting circumstances.
Not only was Angeli tasked with replacing Sam Hartman after the Wake Forest graduate transfer started all 12 regular season games, he did so with a new offensive coordinator (quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli), two new starting offensive tackles (Charles Jagusah and Tosh Baker) and a new starting running back (Jeremiyah Love) and without two of Notre Dame’s most productive wide receivers this season (Rico Flores Jr. and Chris Tyree).
Then Angeli took the field with Notre Dame’s offense starting at its own four-yard line. Notre Dame’s defense forced an Oregon State punt to start the game, but Angeli had a long way to go to score points. He didn’t flinch.
“We were in the huddle,” Angeli said. “I just told the guys, ‘Man, 96 yards sounds pretty nice for an Irish touchdown.’ They laughed and they loved it.
“I kind of stepped on the field for a second. You hear the Irish fans kind of yell. I took a second and looked around and kind of enjoyed that moment. It’s no different than any drills we work in practice in a backed-up situation. It really just goes down to preparation for that game plan.”
Angeli, a 6-foot-2, 211-pound sophomore, led Notre Dame on an 11-play, 96-yard touchdown drive capped by an eight-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jayden Thomas.
The Irish quarterback jumpstarted the drive with a 55-yard completion to wide receiver Jordan Faison. The throw was a relatively easy one as Faison ran wide open.
But Angeli’s mettle was tested to end the drive. On second-and-goal, Angeli tried to connect with Thomas on a fade into the end zone, but the throw didn’t give Thomas much of a chance on the sideline. Angeli responded by showing his trust in Thomas on third down.
Thomas settled into a soft spot in Oregon State’s zone that appeared to be crowded at the snap. Thomas caught the ball just inside the four-yard line and lunged into the end zone.
2. Joshua Burnham’s fake punt stop
Notre Dame’s defense forced Oregon State into punt formation on each of its first four drives. The Beavers were tired of punting by the time that fourth opportunity to punt came late in the second quarter. So head coach Kefense Hynson dialed up a fake punt on fourth-and-6 at Oregon State’s own 49-yard line.
Notre Dame wasn’t fooled. Defensive end Joshua Burnham penetrated through the line and chased down Jesiah Irish, who received a direct snap. Burnham wrapped him up for a five-yard loss.
Oregon State’s conservative call on third-and-10, a running play for Irish that gained only four yards, was a head-scratching decision. Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi made sure his punt return team was on high alert on the next play.
“He said he had seen some discussions on the sidelines, and so we end up calling ‘spy,’ which was a great call,” Freeman said. “So, our guys weren’t out of control and were prepared for that moment.
“Again, I love to give all of our coaches credit. Coach Biagi has done a wonderful job. And to stop that punt fake was huge for our team, because I think that turned into points.”
Following the turnover on downs, Notre Dame extended its lead to 14-0 with a seven-play, 44-yard drive that Price finished with a one-yard touchdown run.
Burnham’s tackle prevented Oregon State from crossing midfield for the fourth time in four drives. The Beavers finally managed to reach ND territory with less than 20 seconds remaining in the second quarter on their final drive of the half.
3. Howard Cross III’s sack
Notre Dame’s defensive line caused problems for Oregon State nearly all game long. Never was that more obvious when nose tackle Howard Cross III sacked quarterback Ben Gulbranson to end Oregon State’s first drive of the second half.
With the Beavers facing third-and-8, Notre Dame’s defensive line knew it could fire off hard for a pass rush. Cross swallowed up Gulbranson so quickly that he barely had time to finish his dropback. The quarterback was fortunate to hold onto the football during the hit.
Defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste recorded Notre Dame’s first sack when he forced a strip sack the Irish failed to recover in the second quarter. Then Notre Dame added three more in the third quarter. Cross came first. Then safety Xavier Watts and linebacker Jack Kiser combined for another. Defensive end Jordan Botelho, the Sun Bowl’s Lineman MVP, sacked Gulbranson on a fourth-and-five for the final Oregon State play in the quarter.
Notre Dame’s defensive line — which managed to keep all four starters from the regular season in action for the Sun Bowl — really set the tone for the Irish defense.
“Helped us a lot,” Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison said of the defensive line. “Made our job easier. We’re back there covering for them, and they’re up there making money. So, it was awesome.”
Gulbranson needed 27 pass attempts with 16 completions to reach 180 passing yards. His lone touchdown, a 33-yard pass, came with 6:19 remaining in the game. Morrison intercepted a failed Hail Mary attempt by Gulbranson to end the first half.
4. Jordan Faison’s touchdown catch
Though Notre Dame lost four scholarship wide receivers to the transfer portal following the end of the regular season, a scholarship receiver who started the season as a walk-on proved to be the most valuable in the Sun Bowl.
Jordan Faison started the season as a walk-on football player who was recruited to Notre Dame as partial scholarship lacrosse. He had his scholarship converted to a full-ride when the football program played him in the seventh game of the season against Louisville. Faison ended an unpredictable season Friday as the Sun Bowl’s overall MVP as voted by media members covering the game.
Faison’s most impressive catch of the game came on a 33-yard completion from Angeli early in the third quarter. With defensive back Noble Thomas Jr. draped all over him, Faison managed to haul in the nicely placed pass.
“I didn’t really see much,” Faison said. “I see the ball in the air and jump for it. Steve gives me an opportunity to make a play and was able to make it.”
Faison put the finishing touches on a five-catch, 115-yard performance with a 13-yard touchdown reception from Angeli in the third quarter. Faison made himself open on third-and-7 by running a route that looked at first like an out-breaking one and then redirected inside to become an easy target for Angeli.
“We were working on that play all week for their defense,” Faison said. “We saw the coverage that we wanted and ran the play and it worked. Great call by coach Guidugli.”
Faison helped Angeli convert two third downs in Friday’s victory. The Irish offense made it look easy by converting 57.1% (8-of-14) of its third downs.
5. Notre Dame’s fourth quarter safety
The officials thought Oregon State running back Isaiah Newell was able to make it out of his own end zone when the Beavers were backed up on their own one-yard line early in the fourth quarter. But upon review, it became clear that Newell never broke the plane with the football as Notre Dame’s defense stuffed him.
The Irish were awarded a safety with Burnham and freshman linebacker Drayk Bowen officially credited with making the stop. But Burnham and linebacker JD Bertrand should have received the credit.
Burnham did a nice job of taking on left tackle Jacob Strand and preventing himself from being moved out of the hole. Bertrand blasted tight end Jermaine Terry II into the backfield to leave Newell with nowhere to escape. Bertrand wrapped up Newell’s legs while Burnham kept him standing up and Bowen helped pull him back without leaving the end zone.
As the play was under review, Notre Dame fans — which represented a significant majority of the sellout crowd of 48,223 — were cheering with the Irish defense egging them on.
“I mean the crowd was awesome,” Morrison said. “Being in El Paso, Texas, and you look to the right and you see green fans everywhere. And you hear them chant. It was kind of like the ‘Rudy’ movie. But it was cool when they all started chanting ‘safety’ and stuff.”
The safety was a fitting representation of Notre Dame’s defensive performance in the Sun Bowl. The Irish allowed a net total of two rushing yards on 16 carries. It became the fewest rushing yards allowed by Notre Dame since limiting Stanford to -11 yards in 2005.
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