Notre Dame Blue-Gold Game: Initial Observations, Stats, Scoring Summary

The Blue-Gold Game – the only extended look at Notre Dame this spring - ended with a 17-3 Blue win Saturday.

Here are some notes, stats and takeaways from the annual exhibition, which wrapped up the spring season and followed 14 closed-door practices.

BOX SCORE

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It seems Marcus Freeman’s defensive takeover is well past its elementary classes. Tommy Rees’ offensive reboot, though, has only turned a few pages. At least when judging the controlled but still competitive setting they were put in.

That’s to be expected when one is taking over a strong unit with veteran returners and the other has to replace 80 percent of the offensive line, a three-year quarterback and find some receivers to emerge. Still, the exhibition was a reminder the offense will go deep into camp before some of its important questions and identity become clear.

The area with the most turnover was, unsurprisingly, the one with the most ups and downs. There were nine sacks allowed. Each of the first three drives stalled because of a third-down sack.

The line looked like the work-in-progress it is. But disaster would be a bit extreme. There was enough time to allow some downfield throws. The run game wasn’t explosive, but wasn’t dead either. Gold running back Kyren Williams had enough space and took his three carries for 16 yards. Blue running back Chris Tyree had 43 yards on 10 carries.

Head coach Brian Kelly admitted Thursday there can be value in naming a starter after spring – mainly in establishing a leader. He also said Notre Dame isn’t at that point and liked the competition.

Saturday backed him up. It’s fair to say Jack Coan had the better day than Drew Pyne, but not to the point where it feels like a waste of time to string out a competition. Each displayed some comfort operating from the pocket. They combined for six completions of at least 20 yards. Each also missed some throws to open receivers.

The stat comparison:

Pyne: 11-for-23, 146 yards, interception

Coan: 18-for-32, 197 yards, interception

Notre Dame’s freshman quarterback sure did enough to capture imaginations, even if he still has a long climb to actually starting this year. Kelly did the fans a favor by not restricting him to a red jersey and letting him show off his athleticism. His first play was merely a 3-yard run, but he still impressively juked defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa.

He began the second half as the Blue quarterback and strung together three 20-plus yard completions in a row. He scrambled for the game’s first touchdown. He set up a fourth-quarter score with a 37-yard connection to Braden Lenzy. He was 6-for-9 for 140 yards.

Notre Dame didn’t blitz much, but its ability to get pressure with four rushers is a good sign. Jordan Botelho had a sack of Pyne where he sped past tackle Tosh Baker one-on-one. NaNa Osafo-Mensah strip-sacked Buchner at the end of the game in a one-on-one situation. Edge players had six of the nine sacks, while interior linemen had the rest.

Freeman’s defense stayed simple in its looks, mostly played a four-man front. It caused some third-down confusion by putting linebackers on the line of scrimmage, sometimes rushing them and other times dropping into coverage. When one blitzed, a lineman usually dropped.

This was straight Blue vs. Gold, not first-team vs. second team, so there’s not as much to take away from a depth-chart standpoint when looking at the personnel on each squad. Neither offensive line, for example, should be viewed as the first-team unit, because the most frequent first-team units from the second half of spring was split across both teams.

Nonetheless, here’s who worked at what positions to start the game.

• Quarterback: Drew Pyne (Blue), Jack Coan (Gold)

• Running back: Chris Tyree (Blue), Kyren Williams (Gold)

• Blue receivers: Braden Lenzy, Lawrence Keys III, Jordan Johnson, Xavier Watts

• Gold receivers: Avery Davis, Joe Wilkins Jr., Lorenzo Styles Jr., Jay Brunelle

• Blue tight ends: Mitchell Evans, Cane Berrong (both teams)

• Gold tight ends: George Takacs, Berrong

• Blue offensive line: left tackle Tosh Baker, left guard Rocco Spindler, center Dillan Gibbons, right guard John Dirksen, right tackle Michael Carmody

• Gold offensive line: left tackle Blake Fisher, left guard Quinn Carroll, center Zeke Correll, right guard Andrew Kristofic, right tackle Josh Lugg

• Blue defensive line: end Justin Ademilola, tackle Jayson Ademilola, tackle Howard Cross, end Isaiah Foskey

• Gold defensive line: Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, tackle Rylie Mills, tackle Kurt Hinish, end Jordan Botelho

• Blue linebackers: Jack Kiser (rover), Bo Bauer, Shayne Simon

• Gold linebackers: Isaiah Pryor (rover), J.D. Bertrand, Marist Liufau

• Blue secondary: corner Cam Hart, corner TaRiq Bracy, safety Litchfield Ajavon, safety D.J. Brown

• Gold secondary: corner Ramon Henderson, corner Clarence Lewis, safety K.J. Wallace, safety Houston Griffith

• Receiver Kevin Austin Jr., tight end Kevin Bauman, quarterback Brendon Clark, receiver Griffin Eifert, safety Kyle Hamilton, defensive tackle Jacob Lacey, receiver Greg Mailey, tight end Michael Mayer, linebacker Paul Moala, offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson, long snapper Alex Peitsch, defensive tackle Gabe Rubio, defensive end Will Schweitzer, offensive lineman Hunter Spears, linebacker Drew White.

First quarter

Blue 2:59: Jonathan Doerer 27-yard field goal (3-0). Drive: 11 plays, 66 yards, 4:12

Second quarter

Gold 1:25: Harrison Leonard 37-yard field goal (3-3). Drive: 5 plays, 21 yards, 2:05

Third quarter

Blue 13:18: Tyler Buchner 7-yard run (10-3). Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:42 (running clock)

Fourth quarter

Blue 9:30: Leo Albano 1-yard rush (17-3). Drive: 5 plays, 64 yards, 3:10 (running clock)

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