Notre Dame Blue-Gold Game Observations: Who Stood Out and What We Learned

Notre Dame held its annual spring game on Saturday afternoon in South Bend, as the exhibition scrimmage took place in Notre Dame Stadium.

The unique scoring system in a game played solely with the offense taking on the defense made things less traditional.

Although the performances won't mean a whole lot by the time fall camp comes around, they're what we have to go on regarding positive and negative.

Here are some instant thoughts after taking in Saturday's action in South Bend.

The Rise of the Devin Fitzgerald

Devin Fitzgerald has entered the chat#GoIrish☘️ | @devinfitz118 pic.twitter.com/5IbPneEqfN
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) April 25, 2026

To the tune of Gordon Lightfoot's hit, Devin Fitzgerald is putting on a show his first Spring in South Bend. After scoring a touchdown in last week's scrimmage, Fitzgerald was again on display Saturday, hauling in a touchdown grab from freshman Noah Grubbs.

Fitzgerald still has a long way to go to force any consideration for considerable playing time this fall, but as the spring has gone on he's continued to perform and show off his talents as his attention has grown.

Recruiting Exhibition Put on by Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame

Super Bowl LIX Champ Rylie Mills in the house! 🙌#GoIrish☘️ | @ryliemills99 pic.twitter.com/sqcTCzJYjn
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) April 25, 2026

No matter where you turned the last two days at Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman and his staff were putting on a recruiting exhibition.

From the first class treatment of returning former players to putting recently drafted players and Irish stars on display, it showed what Notre Dame football is all about under Freeman, and did so with some huge recruiting targets in attendance.

Spencer Porath's Biggest Career College Kick

Spencer Porath kicks a 43 yard field goal to give the offense a 41-40 win over the defense in the Blue-Gold Game. pic.twitter.com/cqtzDO6SL2
— Angelo Di Carlo (@angdicarlo) April 25, 2026

In the silly scoring game, Marcus Freeman used his authority and made it a 38-38 tie in the closing seconds. After the defense made a stop, Freeman called for one more play - a field goal, snapped from the 25-yard line.

With over 45,000 in attendance watching and the entire team surrounding him, the transfer from Purdue split the uprights to give the Blue a 41-40 win.

It's a meaningless spring game, but I love Freeman forcing the competition in the moment. Placekicking was an embarrassment last season, and he used the opportunity to put some pressure on Porath, and he stepped up and delivered.

Based off how the last two years went at Purdue, it's hard to imagine Porath has ever hit a bigger field goal in his college career than that one.

Fans Make Expectations for 2026 Perfectly Clear at Notre Dame

Today's Blue-Gold Game attendance is 45,308, second-largest in history behind 51,852 in 2007.
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) April 25, 2026

In the 95 years the Blue-Gold Game has been played at Notre Dame, only once did more fans show up to watch it than on Saturday.

45,308 fans came out to Saturday's scrimmage, trailing only the 2007 game (Jimmy Clausen's first at Notre Dame) all-time.

Yes, the weather was about as nice as you could ask for in South Bend, but the fans showing out like they did speak to a fan base that clearly believes this has the chance to be a special fall for the Fighting Irish.

Most Importantly - Notre Dame Gets Out of Game Healthy

The most important part of this game was the fact that Notre Dame got out unscathed. Yes, projected starting offensive tackle Guerby Lambert missed the game with an injury, but nothing additional was added to the injury report immediately following the action.

A few short years ago, Notre Dame lost eventual first-round draft pick Jadarian Price to an injury, and this year that wasn't the case.

It's now all systems go for launch as the countdown to the fall can officially begin.

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