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Five key moments from the 2023 Blue-Gold Game

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Max Petrosky | The Observer
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman encourages his players during the game between Notre Dame and Boston College at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. Credit: Max Petrosky/The Observer


Notre Dame football hosted its 92nd annual Blue-Gold Game Saturday, with team Gold handily winning the open scrimmage 24-0. Though a combination of blustery South Bend spring weather whipping through Notre Dame Stadium and copious amount of depth chart rotation ensured play was far from consistently excellent, here are the five key moments that defined the game.

1. Sam Hartman excels on the opening drive, Gold Team takes early lead

It didn’t take long for Notre Dame’s big offseason addition to look the part of a standout player. Hartman was the first quarterback to lead a drive under center, and the graduate student did so with aplomb. Hartman threw three passes and completed all three. The final, a short connection to junior Jayden Thomas, was turned into a nine-yard touchdown thanks to some nifty running by the junior receiver. All told, Hartman engineered a five-play, 75-yard drive in his first snaps in front of Notre Dame fans — a dream debut for him, as well as Freeman and offensive coordinator Gerad Parker.

2. Buchner struggles early on

If Hartman was flawless to start his day off, junior Tyler Buchner was up-and-down. The junior incumbent starter couldn’t seem to find his footing over the course of several drives for Team Blue. Buchner was “sacked” (though not actually tackled due to his red jersey) twice on his first drive. He went 2-6 with 10 yards on his second, which culminated abruptly with an interception by freshman cornerback Jaden Mickey. Buchner ended the day 8-18 with 44 yards and an interception.

After the game, head coach Marcus Freeman admitted he deserved the blame for Buchner’s interception.

“I told [Buchner] that I’ve got to take responsibility for the pick,” Freeman said. “On third down I went in there trying to help and said ‘ah, it’s cover two’ ... it ended up not being cover two. So I’ll take responsibility … I’ll tell the media, don’t worry about it. So that was on me.”

3. Hartman caps off his strong outing, increases Gold lead to 21

Though Hartman only played the first 20 minutes or so of game action, he made his mark just about every time he took the field. After notching a running touchdown on his second drive of the game, Hartman kept his momentum going in the second quarter. The Wake Forest transfer’s final action of the day was his best, a deft touch pass to the corner of the end zone for a touchdown by graduate student Matt Salerno. The score capped off a 10-play, 55-yard drive and a stellar day overall for Hartman.

4. Teams exchange failed fourth-down conversions throughout the middle quarters

After an exciting start, the scrimmage action slowed down over the second and third quarters. Part of that slowdown was a failure by both teams Blue and Gold to sustain drives. Both teams got aggressive on fourth down, attempting a combined six over the game’s middle 30 minutes. Neither team found much success, however, with five of those attempts resulting in a turnover on downs. The failure to convert was especially prevalent in the third quarter. Both teams combined for just three points while recording one punt and four turnovers on downs in the second-to-last frame.

5. Sloppy fourth quarter caps off dominant Gold display

With most starters removed from action by the final frame, the fourth quarter was the most disorganized of the game. After sophomore kicker Zac Yoakam buried a 28-yard field goal to put team Blue up 24-0, the game mostly became an exchange of three or four-and-outs. A combined 21 plays from scrimmage by both teams in the fourth quarter amassed a grand net total of -1 yards, as well as three turnovers. The final play of the game was a desperation heave by reserve sophomore quarterback Dylan Devezin, which was in turn picked off by senior safety Xavier Watts.
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