SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The moment that reinforced just how much his anonymity had eroded in the last eight days happened at the Notre Dame Bookstore, of all places, when Irish sophomore quarterback Steve Angeli was returning books on Monday, with his final exams complete.
“The two ladies asked for my name,” Angeli related after a Tuesday morning indoor practice on campus in preparation for No. 16 Notre Dame’s Dec. 29 Sun Bowl date with 19th-ranked Oregon State in El Paso, Texas (2 p.m. EST; CBS).
“And I just gave them my email,” he continued. “And the lady kind of looked at me funny, and she was like, ‘Are you ...?’
“I'm like, ‘Yeah, I am.’
“She was like, ‘Can I get a picture?’
“It was cool.”
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And yet Sam Hartman’s understudy, until the 24-year-old, sixth-year college QB reversed field and opted out on Dec. 11, still feels in some ways like a bit of an afterthought a little more than a week before his first college start.
And perhaps his only college start.
Or the start of something special and unexpected. Or a change of zip codes and uniform colors, eventually.
“It's kind of a crazy world,” Angeli said of the proliferation of quarterbacks in the transfer portal the past two offseasons, including two of his best friends — Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne. “But I chose Notre Dame for the place and I chose it for the people. So, that's kind of — in my heart of hearts — what I believe in. And that's kind of what keeps me grounded and staying in the moment.
“My biggest thing is just staying in the moment, and I'll worry about that when that comes.”
That being incoming Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard ascending to the top of the depth chart after a spring competition with Angeli. Or perhaps freshman Kenny Minchey or uber-early enrolled CJ Carr — wearing No. 17 in practice on Tuesday — leapfrogging him.
Or not.
“The staff has been upfront with me through everything that's gone on,” Angeli said, “and I knew it [Leonard’s transfer] was coming. And I’m ready to compete when that time comes. But right now I’m just focused on winning the Sun Bowl.”
Without 19 active Irish players who have left the roster voluntarily and a 20th — backup linebacker Nolan Ziegler — back in limbo, Angeli has plenty of company in having elevated bowl status.
A sampling: Freshman Charles Jagusah has played five game snaps all year. He’ll play snap No. 6 as Notre Dame’s starting left offensive tackle in the Sun Bowl. Freshman Jeremiyah Love is RB1. Wide receivers Jayden Thomas, Deion Colzie and KK Smith are all back from injuries, Smith for the first time since wearing a Frisco (Texas) Reedy High uniform in November of 2022.
“KK’s looked awesome,” Angeli said of the 6-foot, 168-pound freshman whose college debut was delayed by offseason shoulder surgery. “He's made a lot of contested catches. He can absolutely fly on the field, and he's not afraid to get in there, get physical, make a block for his guys. So, I love him and everything he’s doing.”
Angeli is the one who arguably has the most to gain by performing well, both in terms of his standing at Notre Dame heading into spring semester and/or his marketability as a transfer during the late spring portal period should it ever come to that.
But 6-foot-2, 211-pound Rivals former three-star prospect from Bergen (N.J.) Catholic High doesn’t look at it that way, or perhaps won’t look at it that way.
“The stuff I’ve done on the field, I think it speaks [for itself],” he said of his 19-of-25 passing for 272 yards and four touchdowns with one interception over seven cameos in 2023. “I don't really have much of a comment on that other than just putting in the work and getting prepared for this game with my guys.”
Minchey will be the only scholarship backup QB available. Carr, who got a waiver to practice with the team for the bowl, has logged three practice sessions but can’t play in the bowl, per NCAA rules.
“Having him here and getting a head start on learning, he's been a great kid already with the few days I’ve spent with him,” Angeli said of Carr, who will sign his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday and attend his first class at ND on Jan. 16 as an early enrollee.
“[Carr] has asked a lot of questions. Just wants to learn, and I think he's a great addition as a quarterback to the room and as a person. … Just seeing him get out there and spin the ball with confidence, it's really great to see.”
The player who started at quarterback in last year’s bowl game, Buchner, was the MVP of the Gator Bowl, then a memory four months later, transferring to Alabama. Pyne, a 10-game starter for the Irish during the 2022 regular season, was already gone and committed to Arizona State by the time the Irish beat South Carolina, 45-38, in Jacksonville. Fla.
They’re both set to be Notre Dame students in the spring semester, working toward getting their degree. Buchner, with whom Angeli has already rendezvoused, reportedly will join the Notre Dame NCAA defending champion men’s lacrosse team, which opens its season roughly two months from now.
“He's a great friend of mine,” Angeli said of Buchner. “I think he's a great person. And you know, it's awesome to have him back at Notre Dame now, but yeah, we did keep in touch.”
And with Pyne too, the whole time he was out West.
“I mean, coming to Notre Dame, the people are what makes the place,” Angeli said. “So those relationships, those guys that you play a whole season with, like just because they're not here anymore or they're on a different path, doesn't mean you lose those relationships. So, those guys are friends for life.”
So, he figures, Hartman to be too, with valuable lessons about growing and developing further down on the depth chart and how to deal with rising to the top of it.
“I give a lot of credit to Sam for teaching me the way to carry yourself as a starter and his experience,” Angeli said. “And being able to spend this past year with him has been really special. So, the stuff he's been able to teach me, the little intricacies behind the scenes that you do off the field.
“I think it's a whole lifestyle. I think his biggest thing was: Being a starting quarterback is something, but being the Notre Dame starting quarterback is something different.”
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