Blue-Gold Game Observations: Offense Edition

The Notre Dame Gold squad dominated in the 92nd Blue-Gold Game, winning 24-0. Here are my thoughts on the offensive players:

*** Overall, the first thing that stood out was the tempo we saw from much of the game, especially from the Gold squad. They weren't really running a true up-tempo offense, but the offense worked quickly and with a good pace in the first half. We saw the offense also work to stretch the defense to the sidelines both formationally and with their pass concepts. The Gold team was able to get into an early rhythm and showed a high level of efficiency.

*** Quarterback Sam Hartman was outstanding in his first action inside Notre Dame Stadium. He finished the game completing 13 of 16 passes for 189 yards and two passing touchdowns, plus a rushing score. Hartman showed off his ability to attack down the field with a gorgeous post route to Jayden Thomas that went for 46 yards. For the rest of the half Hartman made very smart decisions, got rid of the ball quickly when his initial read was there and he showed impressive poised.

*** Hartman also made multiple completions where was went to his third read. He went backside and found Matt Salerno on a post-curl, which was his third read. He also hit tight end Davis Sherwood on a backside in cut that was also his third read. His command of the offense was outstanding and he showed a lot of trust in his line. Hartman also showed good ball placement, hitting several option routes where he had to throw it away from the defense.

*** Quarterback Tyler Buchner was a bit erratic in the performance. Buchner rushed his reads too much and at times was unwilling to pull the trigger on time. Buchner was also under duress for much of the game as well and didn't get the time to throw that Hartman did. Buchner did have multiple good RPO reads, including a slant to Chris Tyree and a quick out to Holden Staes.

*** Quarterback Steve Angeli made some tough throws but he needs to get rid of the ball quicker and be more decisive. He's a competitive kid, but his timing and anticipation wasn't sharp today.

*** Running back Gi'Bran Payne had a strong spring and he capped it off with an impressive performance in this game. Payne's foot quickness and vision stood out today, as he made multiple jump cuts in the backfield to hit the hole. When he got a crease he was able to turn it into a big gain (27 yards). Payne is going to be hard to keep off the field this season after the way he performed all spring, not just in this game. His spring performance shows how deep Notre Dame is at running back. Payne finished with 51 yards on 11 carries and caught two passes for 14 yards.

*** Wide receiver Jayden Thomas capped off the spring with an outstanding spring game. He caught 4 passes for 71 yards and broke things open early with a 46-yard gain on a post route where he smoked Clarence Lewis. The rest of his work was finding openings on option routes and making tough grabs to move the chains. He had a nice forced miss tackle on a red zone catch that allowed him to then work his way into the end zone.

*** What was interesting about Thomas' performance is he played a lot outside in this game. His post route grab was him playing in the boundary and taking the top off the defense. We have heard that Thomas would move around more, and he looked a lot more comfortable outside in this game than he did last season.

*** Freshman receiver Jaden Greathouse had a tremendous performance in his first spring game, hauling in 11 passes for 118 yards. Greathouse worked mostly out of the slot, and his feel for finding openings made him look like a veteran. He got free in open areas on a number of early option and snag routes, but he was also able to get free down the field. His diving catch on a third quarter drag throw was impressive. He did not look like a player in his first semester in college.

*** Wideout Matt Salerno ran a good route to get free for a touchdown on a red zone corner route. Salerno also ran a sharp post-curl route that got open for a 20-yard gain. He had a solid performance.

*** Senior Chris Tyree looked comfortable playing in the slot. He would have had a very, very long gain on a jet sweep if Buchner would have handed the ball off to him. They went right back to the jet on the next play but the defense was ready. He made a nice catch on a low slant throw (it was well placed) to make a grab in tight coverage. Good first outing in the slot for Tyree.

*** I'll have more insight on the offensive linemen after watching the game, but there are a few observations I came away with. The Gold offensive line was the better of the two units, and not just because they had Joe Alt and Zeke Correll. I was impressed with what I saw from right tackle Aamil Wagner and right guard Rocco Spindler. Wagner impressed in pass protection throughout the first half, and Spindler showed a lot of physicality in the run game. His second level block on the long run by Payne broke that hole open.

*** The Blue offensive line had a really, really rough game. They were often pushed into the backfield and had a hard time giving their quarterbacks much time to throw the football. It made it a bit tougher to evaluate the Blue team quarterbacks.

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