Written by Phil Kowalis｜Writer｜Twitter/X: @PhilKowalisIT
Photo By The Irish Tribune
Notre Dame did exactly what a good team should do when facing an undermanned opponent when the Irish faced the Oregon State Beavers on Friday in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. The Irish marched 96 yards in 11 plays on a six-minute opening possession drive that was capped by an eight-yard pass from Steve "Peanut Butter" Angeli to Jayden Thomas for the opening points of the contest. While the Irish would only hold a 14-0 lead at halftime there was little doubt as to who the better team was on this afternoon.
The Notre Dame defense completely dominated the undermanned Beavers offense, holding Oregon State to only 10 first downs and 197 yards on the day. The Notre Dame front seven completely shut down Oregon State's running game, as the Beaver's only managed to gain two yards on 16 rushing attempts, good for an average of 0.1 yards per attempt.
Beaver's quarterback Ben Gulbranson did not fare much better against the Irish secondary.
Gulbranson completed 16 of 27 pass attempts for 180 yards and threw a touchdown pass late in garbage time.
The Notre Dame offense would score points on four of the five second half possessions as the Irish would go on to cruise to a blowout victory that improved the Irish to 10-3 on the season.
Let's take a look at how the Irish graded out in the convincing win over the Beavers.
Offense:
Offensive Line/Tight ends: Grade B
The rebuilt Notre Dame offensive line performed well against an Oregon State defensive line that was expected to give the Irish line a formidable test.
Irish tackles Tosh Baker and Charles Jagusah played well in both the run game and in pass protection and allowed the Irish offense to roll up 468 yards of total offense on the day.
Baker, Jagusah as well as Guards Pat Coogan and Billy Schrauth and center Ashton Craig dominated the line of scrimmage in the second half as the Irish pulled away for the victory.
The Notre Dame offensive line paved the way for the Irish to roll up 236 yards on the ground on 48 attempts for a 4.9 yard per carry average. Eli Raridon caught two passes for 12 yards, but the Notre Dame tight ends main contribution came in the running game opening holes in the Beavers' defense.
Quarterback: Grade A
Steve Angeli played like a seasoned veteran in his first start at the helm of the Irish offense. Angeli passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns completing 15 of his 19 pass attempts.
Angeli also rushed for 27 yards on 8 carries. Angeli was making the start for Notre Dame after Sam Hartman opted out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Running Backs: Grade B
Jadarian Price led the Irish on the ground with 106 yards rushing on 13 carries and scored on a one-yard run to give the Irish a 14-0 lead late in the second quarter. Jeremiyah Love struggled to find room to run, finishing the game with only 39 yards on 15 carries, but Love did catch a 13-yard touchdown pass from Angeli in the fourth quarter. Chase Ketterer scored Notre Dame's final touchdown of the day on a six-yard run.
Wide Receivers: Grade B
What a difference a healthy Jayden Thomas makes for the Irish offense. Thomas. who had only two catches over the last 5 games of the season while battling a nagging hamstring injury, made an immediate impact on the Irish offense in the Sun Bowl. Thomas scored Notre Dame's first touchdown of the game and ended the game with 4 catches for 59 yards. Jordan Faison continued to show that he may be the Irish's best receiver, as he led the Irish with five catches for 115 yards and a touchdown on the way to being named the Sun Bowl MVP.
Defense:
Defensive Line: Grade A
Jordan Botelho had five total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack to lead the Notre Dame defensive line in another dominating performance against Oregon State. Botelho's effort garnered him the Sun Bowl lineman of the game honor. Howard Cross and Javontae Jean-Baptiste each added two tackles and a sack for the Notre Dame defensive front.
Linebackers: Grade B
Jack Kiser and Drayk Bowen each had three tackles to lead the Notre Dame Linebacking corps. JD Bertrand had one tackle in the final game of his Notre Dame career.
Secondary: Grade A
The Notre Dame secondary turned in their usual outstanding effort against the Beavers, holding Oregon State quarterback Ben Gulbranson under 200 yards passing and intercepting Gulbranson once. Xavier Watts led the secondary in tackles with five.
Special Teams: Grade C
Spencer Shrader went one for two on field goal attempts, missing from 50 yards in the first quarter and the converting a 44-yard attempt in the third quarter that increased the Irish lead to 17-0. Bryce McFerson had a quiet day punting just one time on the day for 59 yards.
Jadarian Price picked up 24 yards on the Irish's lone kick return of the game.
Summary:
Notre Dame finished the 2023 season in style with a dominate wire-to-wire win over the Oregon State Beavers.
The Irish return a majority of the bowl game starters for the 2024 season and the addition of quarterback Riley Leonard, wide receiver Cam Williams and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock will have fan's expectations sky high heading into next season.
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Wonder what game the writer watched? Appears unqualified to grade performance.