Instant Analysis: Freshman WRs have 'senior' moments in Notre Dame's romp

Notre Dame’s freshman receivers didn’t literally fall in line with the Senior Day theme at Notre Dame Stadium, unless you consider their collective coming of age Saturday against Wake Forest as a parting gift for sixth-year QB Sam Hartman.

Rico Flores Jr. produced the first 100-yard (or more) receiving game by an Irish wide receiver since the Jan. 1, 2022 Fiesta Bowl, Marcus Freeman’s first game as ND’s head football coach. And he (8 catches for 102 yards) and fellow frosh Jordan Faison (4 for 39) and Jaden Greathouse (3 for 71) helped Hartman bounce back from his second-worst statistical game of his career in No. 19 Notre Dame’s 45-7 dispatching of Hartman’s former team in his last-ever game at Notre Dame Stadium.

It also happened to be the 500th-ever game in the facility and the first game in which the new Victory Monogram was lit up in the nearby Irish Athletics Center to punctuate the win.

Hartman completed 21 of 29 passes for 277 yards and four touchdowns — a 198.2 pass-efficiency rating — with one of the scores going to Greathouse before giving way early in the fourth quarter to sophomore backup Steve Angeli, who'd eventually connect with Faison for a TD pass of his own.

Wake Forest (4-7), ranked 63 nationally in total defense coming into the game, wasn’t formidable enough to provide a referendum on whether Notre Dame’s offense and offensive coordinator Gerad Parker has found their stride, but the Irish (8-3) recovered from an initial ugly three-and-out to start the game and put him 450 total yards, convert five of 10 third downs and their only fourth-down try and avoid giving up a sack with two new offensive line starters in the lineup.

Junior running back Audric Estimé, in perhaps his final game at Notre Dame Stadium, ran for 115 yards on 22 carries and a TD.

The nation’s No. 7 defense held the Hartman-less Demon Deacon offense to under 100 yards passing, with redshirt junior Michael Kern making his first career start in place of demoted starter Mitch Griffis. Wake was held to 232 yards, had a field goal blocked by Javontae Jean-Baptiste and yielded an onside kick to the Irish.

Grad senior nose guard Howard Cross III led the Irish defense with nine tackles.

The best-case postseason scenario remains a Jan. 1 berth in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Fla., against an SEC team, likely Tennessee or former Irish coach Brian Kelly’s LSU squad. The Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 28 is also a viable postseason destination.

That Hartman could rise to the occasion after a disastrous start in a 31-23 loss at Clemson on Nov. 4 before the bye week. Tight end Eli Raridon, with the first three catches of his career — one for a TD, showed he may be an ascending player in ND’s offense as the Irish finish out the 2023 season.

Stanford defensively offers even less defensive resistance, at least on paper, so what Gerad Parker’s future holds at ND really won’t gain much clarity this week or next. Freeman did praise Parker and the offensive staff after the game.

Notre Dame finishes its regular season on the road next Saturday against Stanford (3-8). The Cardinal lost at home to arch-rival Cal, 27-15 on Saturday night. The ND matchup, with a 7 p.m. ET kickoff, may turn out to be the last-ever game shown on the Pac-12 Network.

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