By: Nick Kremer⏐Editor⏐Twitter: @NickKremerIT⏐Profile: @NickKremer
Notre Dame, Indiana - The Notre Dame Football Team held their annual “Jersey Scrimmage” on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium. The media was able to see approximately 80 snaps of offense vs defense in a scrimmage that the defense ultimately won 50-32. (we were not sure exactly how the scoring worked) Marcus Freeman stated that this was the first time that the defense has defeated the offense in the jersey scrimmage since he has been at Notre Dame.
My colleague focused on the defense, so I was locked in on the offense. While the offense struggled at times, it is important to remember that the Irish offense is still learning a new playbook under offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, and there is also the fact that the Irish defense is very likely to be one of the best in the nation.
The first team offense was as follows:
LT Charles Jagusah, LG Pat Coogan, C Ashton Craig, RG Billy Schrauth, RT Tosh Baker, QB Steve Angeli, RB Jeremiyah Love, TE Cooper Flanagan, Field WR Kris Mitchell, Slot Jaden Greathouse, and Boundary WR Micah Gilbert.
The second team offense was as follows:
LT Sullivan Absher, LG Rocco Spindler, C Sam Pendleton, RG Ty Chann, RT Amil Wagner, QB Kenny Minchey, RB Jadarian Price, Boundary WR Deion Colzie, TE Eli Raridon, Slot KK Smith, and Field WR Cam Williams.
Offensive Line
The offensive line as a whole had an up and down day, with the defensive line ultimately being the better unit for the day. Al Golden has been known to be very aggressive in practice, and that was on full display in today's matchup. Golden brought a variety of pressures and stunts that gave the big men up front a tough time throughout the day.
Charles Jagusah flashed that he is one of the better offensive lineman on the team, but he was tasked with trying to block both Boubacar Traore and Jordan Botelho for much of the scrimmage, and ultimately gave up a couple of sacks. The rest of the offensive line struggled to get much of a push or open up running lanes, but did a fairly good job in pass protection aside from some edge pressures.
Sam Pendleton took some reps at center, a new position for him, and struggled with low snaps on more than one occasion. Some other names that stood out up front were Billy Schrauth, Pat Coogan, Sullivan Absher, and Joe Otting.
Running Backs
With Al Golden's suffocating defense, it was difficult for the running backs to find many holes to run through as they were hit in the backfield on multiple occasions. The best run of the day came from Jeremiyah Love as he followed the left side of the line patiently, burst through to the second level, and delivered a punishing hit on safety Adon Schuler.
Aneyas Williams was running with the third team and it is clear that the young back is going to be a talented ball carrier for the Irish. There are a lot of similarities between Aneyas Williams and Kyren Williams, but time will tell if Aneyas will have the same kind of career that Kyren did.
Jadarian Price and Gibran Payne took some reps with the first and second unit, but were unable to get much going when they did get touches. Kedren Young did not participate in the scrimmage due to an injury.
While the running backs did not have a ton of running room or a lot of big gains, they collectively did very well in pass protection.
Tight End
Mike Denbrock had the Irish offense in 11 personnel for most of the scrimmage except for a few plays when the offense was backed up to their own endzone. Cooper Flanagan took most of the first team reps and was a favorite target for Steve Angeli. Flanagan hauled in at least three to four passes on the day.
Eli Raridon was in with the first team at times and was more involved today than he had been in previous practices that the media was able to see. While Raridon was in the game, he brought in a few receptions from both Angeli and Minchey.
Wide Receiver
Jaden Greathouse stood out the most today among the wide receivers. Greathouse lined up at all three positions, but took the majority of his reps in the slot position. Greathouse brought in multiple receptions and had the most receiving yards out of the group.
Kris MItchell was running with the first team and hauled in a couple of receptions on the day. Mitchell’s speed and athleticism showed in the scrimmage as he beat Micah Bell twice in the same drive late in the scrimmage.
The true-freshman Micah Gilbert came out with the first team offense in place of Jayden Thomas, who was out with a hamstring injury. While Gilbert did not secure a catch, the fact that he is getting first team reps says a lot about what the coaching staff thinks of him.
True-freshman Cam Williams had a big day as he was CJ Carr’s go-to target. Williams brought in a 20+ yard touchdown pass over the middle from Carr midway through the scrimmage.
Jeremiyah Love took some reps lined up in the slot, and while he did not catch any passes, it is clear that Mike Denbrock is going to do everything he can to get the ball in Love’s hands.
Quarterback
Steve Angeli was running the first team offense with Riley Leonard behind him taking mental reps. Angeli had an up and down day as the 1st team quarterback and did not have the same kind of game as he did in the bowl game. To be fair, the first team Notre Dame defense is significantly better than the Oregon State defense he was facing in the Sun Bowl.
Angeli was unable to comfortably set his feet throughout the scrimmage due to the pressure the defense was bringing. Angeli threw two interceptions on the day, with one of them being a pick 6. The first one was a bad read/late throw and Jaden Mickey was able to jump the route, caught the ball in stride, and took it the other way for a touchdown. Angeli’s second interception ended the practice as he rolled to his right and threw the ball right into the hands of Adon Schuler.
Kenny Minchey was running with the second team offense, and his day was very similar to that of Steve Angeli. During one series, the offense was moving the ball and incorporating some tempo, but Minchey was staring down his receiver and made a bad read, resulting in the pick 6 for Xavier Watts.
CJ Carr had the best day out of the three Notre Dame quarterbacks. Carr led the offense on two scoring drives. One drive ending in a touchdown pass to Cam Williams, and the other ending in Carr easily running in the endzone from inside the 5 yard line.
Before everyone starts calling for CJ Carr to be the starter, it is worth noting that all of his reps were against the second and third team defense. However, it is hard to not be impressed when watching Carr throw the football. It's safe to say that the future is looking very bright for the young signal caller.
Click to Join! - https://www.facebook.com/groups/legionoftheleprechaun
コメント