Although Saturday’s 94th annual Blue-Gold Game for Notre Dame football included very little drama and an odd scoring system, there were some major takeaways for coaches, fans and media alike to dwell on as the week one season opener against Miami lies just four months away. New defensive coordinator Chris Ash and his scheme were on display for the first time in Notre Dame Stadium, and the highly publicized open quarterback competition between rising senior Steve Angeli, rising junior Kenny Minchey and rising sophomore CJ Carr took some interesting turns throughout the afternoon.
First two drives end with sacks
After a bit of seven-on-seven action to warm up, the offense (blue) and the defense (gold) took the field with Angeli at the reins for the first drive of the game. It was a promising start to the drive with rising senior running back Jadarian Price breaking free for a 22-yard gain, which earned the first points of the day. However, a false start penalty and tackle for loss placed the Irish offense in third-and-17, where Angeli was sacked by rising sophomore edge rusher Bryce Young before the drive concluded with a missed field goal.
The second drive was led by Minchey, and also started well with the offense advancing down into the red zone. This series would also stall out, however, as rising junior linebacker Preston Zinter dropped Minchey on fourth-and-six. Both defensive stands represented a continuation of the solid plus-territory defense employed by former coordinator Al Golden’s unit a year ago.
Burnette misses 50-yard field goal
As previously mentioned, the first drive of the day was capped off with a wobbly missed 50-yard field goal attempt by rising fifth-year senior North Carolina transfer Noah Burnette. Following Mitch Jeter’s heroics in the College Football Playoff, coupled with the masterful scheme of special teams coordinator Marty Biagi, expectations for the third unit remain high entering 2025.
Burnette had a strong three-year tenure in Chapel Hill, which included a 52-yard game-winner last season at Minnesota, as well as 95% FG conversion rate two years ago. Despite the ugly first kick, the Raleigh, North Carolina, native, would later confidently knock through both a 43-yarder and a 25-yarder, alongside a perfect day on PATs.
Carr leads first TD drive of the game
After the first five drives only yielded Burnette’s 43-yard make, Carr led the Irish offense to their first touchdown of the day during his second drive. He converted an early third-and-eight on a beautifully thrown wheel route to rising sophomore running back Kedren Young, which resulted in a gain of 28 yards. Another third-and-long was successful in the red zone, with Carr finding rising sophomore wideout Cam Williams over the middle to pick up 16.
On second-and-goal from the two-yard line, Carr hit rising freshman receiver Elijah Burress in stride on an arrow route which found paydirt for the first touchdown of the day. All told, it was a composed drive from the young quarterback, one that allowed him to flash his arm talent throughout.
Angeli leads offense to the red zone, defense holds strong
In his second drive of the afternoon, Angeli once again showed his command of offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock’s system, an important quality that was on display when he led a key field goal drive against Penn State in the first half of the Orange Bowl. The drive began with a 16-yard throw and catch to rising freshman receiver Jerome Bettis Jr., before Angeli and rising sophomore running back Aneyas Williams methodically marched the Irish down to the one-yard-line.
From there, the Notre Dame red zone defense stepped up again, stuffing Williams on three straight rushes from just outside the goal line. Rising junior lineman Armel Mukam, rising sophomore linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and rising junior safety Luke Talich all made key tackles for loss during the stand.
Minchey orchestrates three-play TD drive
Minchey rounded out period two with a rapid drive down the field, emulating a two-minute drill while flexing his uncanny athleticism. To start the series, he was rolled out on designed bootlegs and fired a pair of darts to connect with tight ends rising junior Henry Garrity and rising sophomore Jack Larsen for 24 yards and 17 yards, respectively.
From there, Minchey scampered into the end zone before celebrating with a backflip to cap off a 76-31 offensive victory in the 2025 Blue-Gold Game.
