SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Chansi Stuckey gave everyone a proper warning earlier in the week.
Notre Dame’s wide receivers coach told reporters Wednesday about freshman wide receiver Jaden Greathouse’s readiness.
“JG is just physically ready to play,” Stuckey said.
Greathouse backed up those words with a game-high 11 catches for 118 yards in Saturday’s Blue-Gold Game. His performance played a major role in the Gold team, which was led by graduate transfer quarterback Sam Hartman, cruising to a 24-0 victory in the spring intrasquad scrimmage of team’s drafted earlier in the week.
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From the start, Greathouse made an impact. On the first official play from scrimmage — the first was wiped out by an unnecessary roughness penalty — Greathouse hauled in a 21-yard reception. It was his longest catch of the day and the beginning of a long day for anyone asked to cover him.
On a cold and rainy day in South Bend, Greathouse brought the heat in Notre Dame Stadium. It didn’t seem to matter if the 6-foot-1, 213-pound Greathouse caught passes from Hartman or sophomore backup Steve Angeli. The quarterbacks knew where to find him, and he knew how to get open.
“Sam and Steve did a great job,” Greathouse said after the game. “It was amazing to be out there with those kind of guys. I have a good relationship with them. Everything’s super fun and light in the locker room, so it definitely translates to the football field with the chemistry.”
Greathouse’s first four receptions for 51 yards came from Hartman on five different attempts. The lone incompletion came on a pass breakup by junior cornerback Ryan Barnes.
Though Hartman already played in 48 college football games at Wake Forest, it was his first time playing in a Notre Dame helmet in front of Irish fans. The same could be said about Greathouse, who enrolled in January — the same time as Hartman — after signing with Notre Dame as a four-star recruit out of Austin (Texas) Westlake.
“We’re kind of in similar positions minus he’s played a lot more years in college than I have,” Greathouse said of Hartman. “But it’s definitely helped us find a good common ground. We’re just trying to learn from our mistakes and try to get better every single play.”
The success for Greathouse only continued when Angeli replaced Hartman late in the second quarter. The Gold team already built a 21-0 lead with Hartman throwing touchdown passes to wide receivers Jayden Thomas (nine yards) and Matt Salerno (13 yards) and running one in himself from one yard out.
Angeli fed Greathouse with seven receptions for 67 yards on eight targets. The lone incompletion between the two came when Angeli was hurried on the throw.
Both Hartman and Angeli found Greathouse for one third-down conversion each. He proved to be as tough to cover as Stuckey described.
“Has a niftiness in and around, through zones, where he can be slippery and get around guys but has enough power and quickness at the line of scrimmage to beat guys,” Stuckey said Wednesday. “His ball skills are out of control just from his basketball background and what they did at Westlake. You put him into the boundary, getting inside the 10-yard-line, he’s probably any ball, anywhere, he’s going to make a play.”
Greathouse’s most impressive catch may have been a diving 19-yarder from Angeli late in the third quarter. Angeli rolled to his right and led Greathouse to a diving catch with Barnes in close coverage again.
“The balls just kept coming to me,” Greathouse said. “I just kept trying to stay disciplined and trying to do what I’m supposed to do. They just kept coming my way, so I’ll never complain about that. It’s all thanks to the quarterbacks giving me the ball in the first place. They did a great job as well, too.”
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Last year, Greathouse attended the Blue-Gold Game as a recruit. One year later, he was the most impressive receiver in the game.
“It’s crazy,” Greathouse said. “It’s a blessing for sure. … I’m just trying to make the best of what the opportunity God gave me.”
Head coach Marcus Freeman didn’t even realize how many receptions and yards Greathouse racked up before speaking with reporters after the scrimmage.
“Eleven for 118 is a pretty good stat line,” Freeman said. “He stuck out. He played well. He played really well. All three of those freshmen are going to help us. All three of those freshmen will play for us this year. I'm really confident that those three those three guys will help this football team.
“And it's good to see Jaden step up today. When the lights are on, you want to see who will step up and make plays. And all three of them have been really, really good additions to our program throughout the spring. That wasn't just a one-time performance. All three of those guys have shown to be productive throughout spring.”
Fellow freshman wide receivers Rico Flores Jr. and Braylon James had quieter days for the struggling Blue team. Flores caught one pass for two yards. James was held catch-less.
Greathouse himself totaled more receptions and receiving yards than Blue’s 10 for 51. Blue starting quarterback Tyler Buchner finished 8-of-18 for 44 yards with one interception in an outing that didn’t align with the way he’s played throughout the spring. He was sacked twice and couldn’t get in rhythm with his receivers.
Freeman took responsibility for the interception Buchner threw to cornerback Jaden Mickey, because Freeman told Buchner the wrong coverage he thought the defense was running.
The bright spots for the Blue team came on defense with linebacker Nolan Ziegler recording a game-high 10 tackles including one sack. Three of his teammates also secured sacks: defensive tackles Jason Onye and Tyson Ford and defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka.
But the Gold defense was even better in holding Blue scoreless. Linebacker Jaylen Sneed totaled seven tackles. Defensive end Jordan Botelho and Joshua Burnham and defensive tackle Howard Cross III were all credited with solo sacks. Those were three of Gold’s eight tackles for a loss assigned to eight different defenders.
All those defensive plays from Gold couldn’t distract from the impressive offensive performances from Hartman and Greathouse. Four months into their Notre Dame careers, they put everyone on notice.
“It’s a great tribute to the amount of work we put in throughout the spring,” Greathouse said. “Everybody — the defense was lights out today. So, I’m super proud of them for that. The quarterbacks did amazing.
“It was like music out there. Everybody has to do their job, and we all did.”
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