12/29/2023 football Edit

Notre Dame finds a cause and a culture worth fighting for in Sun Bowl rout

Safety Adon Shuler (21) and cornerback Jaden Mickey (7) celebrate one of many big plays by the Notre Dame defense in a 40-8 Sun Bowl win. (Gary Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports Network)

Eric Hansen • InsideNDSports

Publisher

In Nilka Mickey’s final and lasting postscript to the world after a purposely public, nearly four-year standoff with Stage 4 colon cancer, the mother of Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Jaden Mickey talks about inspiration in a video on his website, the realjadenmickey.com.

“There is nothing that we cannot get through,” Nilka says in the video. “There is nothing that we cannot decide. I’m going to get through this. When it rains and it’s stormy outside, we don’t just fold and cower in fear. We put on our raincoats and we go through it. And we get out there and we do what we’ve got to do.”

By merely electing to play in Friday’s opt-out-laden Sun Bowl matchup with 19th-ranked Oregon State, Jaden Mickey personified that kind of inspiration mere hours after “Mama Mickey” passed away on Thursday night back in Eastvale, Calif.

And Jaden Mickey’s Notre Dame football teammates rallied around him — and the quest for 10 wins — as the 16th-ranked Irish clobbered the Beavers, 40-8, in El Paso, Texas, setting a new ND standard for lopsidedness when it comes to winning bowl margins.

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► Transcript: Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman after Sun Bowl win

► Notebook: Notre Dame running backs rely on standard, belief in one another

► Game Balls: Faison showcases talent; veteran defender leads charge

► Instant Analysis: Offensive line held its ground for Notre Dame in Sun Bowl

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“It’s our brother. I came in with him, so it’s just a testament to who he is as a man,” fellow Irish cornerback Ben Morrison said of Mickey, the latter of whom started in place of NFL Draft-prepping grad senior Cam Hart.

“[Mickey] pushed me, made me a better player. So, I’m just here to support him any way I can. I just love that family, love him.”

Morrison collected his ninth-career interception and Mickey a solo tackle and solid coverage on Friday for the nation’s top pass-efficiency defense. And the Notre Dame defense was even more dominant against the run.

Oregon State (8-5) managed just 2 net yards rushing to Notre Dame’s 236. It’s the fewest amassed against an Irish defense since coordinator Rick Minter’s 2005 ND defense smothered Stanford’s run game to the tune of minus-11 yards.

The Beavers went 1-for-9 in third-down conversions, their first coming against the Irish deep reserves inside of two minutes left in the game. And the 197 total yards Oregon State was limited to was the third time this season an Irish opponent failed to reach the 200-yard mark.

All told, defensive coordinator Al Golden’s unit leapfrogged Clemson and Air Force Friday in the national total defense rankings, into sixth place.

If that holds up through the end of bowl season, it will mark the second-highest finish by a Notre Dame team in total defense since coaching icon Ara Parseghian’s last ND team (1974) finished first — behind only the 1980 Irish, who finished fourth, and just ahead of the 2012 ND defense led by Manti Te’o, which finished seventh.

A safety and four sacks, made possible by a relentless pass rush, punctuated the defensive effort.

“Helped us a lot. Made our job easier,” Morrison said of the pass rush. “We’re back there covering for them, and they’re up there making money. So, it was awesome.”

The most awesome part is what it portends for next season, especially if unanimous All-America safety Xavier Watts joins the “I’m coming back brigade” of veteran defenders Howard Cross III, Rylie Mills, Jordan Botelho — whose return head coach Marcus Freeman confirmed postgame — and Jack Kiser.

“I think about the first half, defensively, we just did an unbelievable job,” Freeman said. “I mean, [defensive coordinator] coach Golden has had that defense prepared all year long. And I'd be lying if I said I was surprised. I wasn’t.

“I expect a lot out of that defense. And when you’re playing well on defense, now it gives your offense a chance to have some confidence and move the ball.”

Which ND did — with sophomore quarterback Steve Angeli making his first career start. And behind a configured offensive line that included the third true freshman in school history to make a start at left tackle — Charles Jagusah. That after playing all of five game snaps all season.

And an Audric Estimé-less running back brigade. And a wide receiver corps missing four transfer-portal evacuees. And just three healthy scholarship tight ends. And an interim offensive coordinator, in QBs coach Gino Guidugli, who’s keeping the seat warm for incoming Mike Denbrock.

Even if there are growing pains next August, when the Irish travel back to Texas to open the 2024 season at Texas A&M against presumably a full roster and coaching staff, Notre Dame’s defense figures to be formidable enough to let the offense evolve without undue pressure or deadlines.

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman gets a bath of Frosted Flakes as part of the celebration of his team's 40-8 victory in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. (Gary Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports Network)

On Friday, the biggest "if" of them all — Irish offensive line — matched against an Oregon State defensive front with minimal attrition in that part of its team and with the best run defense ranking during the pre-bowl season (15th) of any team on the Notre Dame schedule, never wilted.

The 236 rushing yards marked only the second time all season ND amassed more than 200 against a Power 5 defense. And while the Irish did give up two sacks, Oregon State — with its D-Line completely intact — came in ninth nationally, averaging 3.0.

“They're awesome,” Angeli offered of the group missing four opening-night starters, including unanimous All-American Joe Alt. “I love those guys. I had a lot of confidence in Charles [Jagusah], Tosh [Baker], Billy [Schrauth], Ashton [Craig], Pat [Coogan].

“They've done a great job all bowl prep. I didn’t flinch a second. As soon as we get in there and real bullets start flying, I know they’re going to do their job.”

As did Angeli. What that job will look like in 2024 — and where — is to be determined, with Duke transfer Riley Leonard starting spring-semester classes and winter workouts in a little over two weeks and freshman Kenny Minchey and early enrollee CJ Carr set to push from behind.

On Friday, though. Angeli looked the part of someone’s No. 1 QB. Starting with a 96-yard TD drive the first time Notre Dame had the ball, Angeli reset the best pass-efficiency rating in the last 50 years of an Irish QB in a starting debut (233.62).

Which is slightly ahead of what had been the long-standing mark and is now No. 3, held by senior associate athletic director Ron Powlus (231.55) in the 1994 opener against Northwestern that prompted former ESPN talking head Beano Cook to gush about multiple Heisman Trophies coming the then-sophomore’s way.

The player that Angeli knocked out of the top spot is the same player who flew down to support his team after opting out and to specifically be there for the former understudy on the sidelines Friday, Sam Hartman (231.7 Aug. 26 against Navy in Ireland).

Hartman and the 48,233 that made up the mostly Notre Dame-leaning, sell-out crowd watched Angeli complete 15 of 19 passes for 232 yards and three TDs with no interceptions. He also ran for a net 27 yards on eight carries in becoming the 11th ND quarterback in the last 12 to win his first start — Tyler Buchner in the 2022 season opener at Ohio State the exception.

“Sam, pretty much since the day he got here and then in those couple weeks during the feeling-out process, he’s been really one of my best friends at Notre Dame,” Angeli said. “He’s been a huge mentor for me. He’s taught me a lot from a routine standpoint, just how to carry yourself as a starting quarterback, especially at Notre Dame. Really throughout bowl prep, I talked to him every single day.

“We have a really close bond like that, especially in the quarterback room and the culture that we have in there. He helped me with any questions that I had. A guy that’s played six full years of college football knows a lot, so I do my best to pick his brain and learn anything I can to help me.”

Five of Angeli's completions went to game MVP, freshman and former football walk-on/lacrosse recruit Jordan Faison — for 115 yards and a TD. A healthy junior Jayden Thomas added four catches for 59 yards and a score.

Sophomore Jadarian Price led the rushing attack with 106 yards on 13 carries, while walk-on Chase Ketterer’s only carry went for six yards and a TD.

And the Notre Dame sideline erupted as if he’d just scored a touchdown on a bigger stage, like a playoff game, which is where Freeman aims to take this 10-win team when the format expands to 12 teams.

“We just want to continue to improve,” Freeman said. “And we’ve got to find a way, as you look back on this season, to win those close games that we didn’t end up winning. That’s the challenge of college football. How do you progress?

“How do you continue to take this group of football players and coaches and get us to a place where we can win those close ones and win the ones we’re supposed to? So, I’m just really pleased with our program, where we’re at now, and the direction that we see in the future.”

And what is a big driver of that future — a team culture that didn’t wilt when 20 players left the bowl roster for various reasons, including 10 starters — 11 if you count nickel Thomas Harper.

“It’s a commitment to the preparation,” Freeman said of transcending the attrition. “And if you’re all in, you’re going to do the little things it takes to be successful. We’re all going to practice. You get a certain amount of practice, but the intentionality of that practice is, to me, what makes a difference. And I challenged them: If you’re all in, we have to stay focused on every moment of this practice.

“We talked about having this battle of choosing. We choose hard. We have to choose hard every play, stay in the moment. And that, to me, is the intentionality you have to have if you want to have the outcome that we had today.”

And playing for the memory of a beautiful soul only added to the winning formula.

“Find the courage, find the strength, find the faith,” Nilka Mickey said in the video, “and just dig your heels with acceptance. Once you can have that acceptance, there is nothing that you can’t do.”

NOTRE DAME 40, OREGON STATE 8: Box Score