Notebook: Time for new faces to shape Notre Dame's offense in Sun Bowl
EL PASO, Texas — A hypnotist show put on for Notre Dame football at Fort Bliss on Wednesday night left head coach Marcus Freeman searching on Google for answers on the realities of hypnotism in the middle of the night.
Freeman and the Irish coaching staff have spent much of December searching for answers to fill the various holes on Notre Dame’s depth chart heading into Friday’s Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, against No. 19 Oregon State (8-4). A hypnotist can’t help those issues go away for No. 16 Notre Dame (9-3) before kickoff (2 p.m. EST on CBS).
There’s no tricking sophomore Steve Angeli into becoming Sam Hartman in his first career start at quarterback. After a season of backing up Hartman, the 6-foot-2, 211-pound Angeli has an opportunity to show he can still be a starting college quarterback whether at Notre Dame or another path he could chose to find in the transfer portal.
“Do the things that have put yourself in this position,” Freeman said of his message to Angeli. “To me, he’s earned the right in practice to be Sam Hartman’s backup, and in the opportunities he’s played in games, he’s done really well. You have to be Steve Angeli. Don’t be Sam Hartman. Don’t be anybody else. Be Steve Angeli.
“Take care of the football. That’s always a big thing for me. Take care of the football. One play, one life. You guys have heard me say that plenty of times before.”
SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS TO STAY IN THE KNOW ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS
Related Content:
► Mike Denbrock was Marcus Freeman's 'No. 1 guy' for Notre Dame OC role
► Chat Transcript: How will Notre Dame's offense evolve under Mike Denbrock?
► Notebook: Tosh Baker climbs back to the top of the Notre Dame depth chart
► Why Javontae-Jean Baptiste chose to play in Sun Bowl to end college career
► Jack Kiser's decision to return to Notre Dame in 2024 is one for the ages
---------------------------------------------------------------
The 81 offensive snaps of Angeli’s college life have included 25 pass attempts. He completed 19 of them (76%) for 272 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. His four touchdowns came in blowout victories over Tennessee State, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest this season. The two touchdown passes of 40 yards to running back Jadarian Price and 42 yards to running back Gi’Bran Payne against FCS-level Tennessee State came on passes two yards behind the line of scrimmage and two yards beyond the line of scrimmage, respectively.
Angeli likely can’t rely on Notre Dame’s skill players to take care of that much of the work against Oregon State’s defense, which ranks No. 32 in the FBS in scoring defense (21.5 points allowed per game) and No. 34 in total defense (340.2), even if the Beavers are missing four defensive starters.
If Notre Dame’s offense is going to look much different schematically on Friday, Freeman isn’t showing his hand.
“Not much,” Freeman said when asked how much the offense has been tailored around Angeli. “We have two new tackles, but the wideouts all have experience. As you look at our two backs who are going to be playing, that’s probably where you start looking where light tailoring has happened. I don’t think what Steve and Sam do really well is really going to change what we do offensively.”
One area that could look different is Notre Dame’s usage of running backs with freshman Jeremiyah Love, along with Price and Payne, being asked to replace NFL-bound Audric Estimé.
“The different things you can do with Jeremiyah varies from what you’re going to ask Audric to do,” Freeman said. “We’re going to ask Jeremiyah to do some things that we asked Audric to do, but also some things we didn’t ask Audric to do.
“You can use him in different positions, obviously try to get him to the perimeter. His speed is elite. How can we find different ways to get him in space and get him the ball and say go make a play? Those, to me, are the ways you kind of expand the offense with Jeremiyah Love.”
Every player, whether young or old, has an opportunity to seize in the Sun Bowl.
“If you’re a first-time starter like Charles Jagusah, our left tackle, go show you can be the future left tackle of this program,” Freeman said. “That’s why you’re going to go out there. We have a strong belief in him.”
What to expect from Notre Dame’s wide receivers
Though Notre Dame lost four wide receivers (Chris Tyree, Tobias Merriweather, Rico Flores Jr. and Braylon James) to the transfer portal since the end of the regular season, the scholarship players at the position remaining on the roster are healthier than they’ve been all season.
Junior Jayden Thomas and freshman Jaden Greathouse have moved past their hamstring injuries that lingered throughout the season. Junior Deion Colzie has returned from midseason knee surgery. Graduate senior Matt Salerno returned to play in the Stanford game to end the regular season after suffering a leg injury in the second game of the year. And freshman KK Smith will make his Notre Dame debut after missing the regular season recovering from shoulder surgery.
The fact that Smith is the only one without experience this season should bode well for Angeli.
“To have JT back and healthy is really encouraging,” Freeman said of Thomas. “He really hasn’t been healthy all year. I expect him to do some great things.
“JG, Jaden Greathouse, had a great bowl prep. Jordan Faison has done really, really well with his expanded role and for what we’re going to ask him to do.
“Getting [Deion] Colzie back and Salerno, a guy who has played in really big games — he always had it in his mindset when he got injured that I want to be back for the bowl game. Obviously, he made it back for the Stanford game.
“It’s going to be great for Steve to have veteran guys who have been out there, that know what it’s like in a big-game situation.”
Mike Brown, who was hired this month to replace wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey, hit the ground running in testing the group as well.
“He hasn’t tip-toed into this thing,” Freeman said. “The first day we announced he was hired, he went and grabbed them. He dove right into that group, which is important, because trust is earned. He dove right in to earn the trust of those guys. A big part of that is being on the field with them, coaching them. Not trying to see what — just coaching them from the minute they stepped on the field. That’s what you respect.
“He wasn’t worried about anybody's feelings. He wants to make this group better. I’ve seen a belief. It’s not, have they gotten better? It’s been 7-8 practices. It’s the belief they have in a coach that trusts that relationship that I think is so important. I’ve seen it develop right away.”
Why new captains were selected
Three of Notre Dame’s 2023 season captains chose to opt out of the Sun Bowl: quarterback Sam Hartman, left tackle Joe Alt and cornerback Cam Hart. Rather than making linebacker JD Bertrand serve as the lone captain, Freeman selected long snapper Michael Vinson, safety DJ Brown and defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste to serve as Sun Bowl captains alongside Bertrand.
“I talked with JD Bertrand first, because he’s a captain. I said, ‘This is what I’m thinking, and what are your thoughts?’ He was 100% supportive. I talked to the coaching staff. Then I met with them one-on-one.
“I didn’t want to make it a big deal, but after I saw the emotions some of them had and the gratitude they had, I said, ‘I’m going to announce it to the team and make it a big deal.’ The team was receptive. They’ve earned it. They’ve earned that right to be named captain.”
Freeman liked the idea of selecting three captains who would be playing in a Notre Dame uniform for the last time.
“But to see the gratitude they have to be named a captain for Notre Dame’s football program was humbling as the head coach,” Freeman said. “They’re going to be themselves. We don’t ask them to do anything other than be themselves. They have a lot of pride in being named captains for this game.”
How to prepare for Oregon State’s third-string quarterback
Ben Gulbranson was named Las Vegas Bowl MVP for his performance in leading Oregon State to a 30-3 victory over Florida to end the 2022 season as starting quarterback for the Beavers. Gulbranson was relegated to third-string status in 2023 behind newcomers D.J. Uiagalelei, a transfer from Clemson, and Aidan Chiles, a freshman with a four-star rating.
Both Uiagalelei and Chiles hit the transfer portal after head coach Jonathan Smith left to take over Michigan State’s program in late November. Chiles followed Smith to MSU. Uiagalelei is still looking for a new home.
Maybe Gulbranson can earn Sun Bowl MVP honors as well. The Irish are digging back to the 2022 season to study him, because he only played four offensive snaps in 2023.
Gulbranson completed 121 of his 194 passes (62.4%) for 1,455 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions in 10 games in 2022. That’s what the Irish are planning against.
“The thing I respect about him is he’s a winner,” Freeman said. “There’s no substitution for that. He’s shown to be a winner. He has that competitive spirit that we all desire to make sure our program has.
“We’re going to do what we do well. This isn’t about tricking your opponent. It’s about having a great game plan and giving your guys a chance to play fast, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND, @TJamesND and @cbowles01.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports