Soble: Three Notre Dame football Blue-Gold Game matchups to watch
By Jack Soble
Notre Dame’s rosters for the Blue-Gold Game are set, following Thursday morning’s draft. Here are three matchups that stand out to Blue & Gold writer Jack Soble as the Irish get set for kickoff at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Graduate defensive end RJ Oben (Blue) vs. sophomore left tackle Charles Jagusah (Gold)
Young edge rushers on the Blue team like freshman defensive end Bryce Young and sophomore vyper Boubacar Traore should be fun to watch, going against first-team offensive tackles in Jagusah and graduate student Tosh Baker. But I’ll be watching closely to see if Jagusah can hold his own against Oben, a veteran defensive end with 32 college starts under his belt.
Experience matters at every position, but especially up front. Oben has had five years to mold his body into that of a defensive end and master the finer points of pass-rush technique. Jagusah has had one, and he spent half of it recovering from an injury. Teams like Louisville, Florida State and Texas A&M are going to have veteran edge rushers, and for Notre Dame’s offense to work, Jagusah will have to protect the blind side against them.
Freshman quarterback CJ Carr (Blue) vs. graduate safety Xavier Watts (Gold)
Will Watts be playing late enough in the Blue-Gold Game to face Carr, who will play quarterback for both teams? It’s difficult to say, but I hope he does.
Carr shined in Saturday’s scrimmage, but he was mostly going against the second and third teams. To get a clear picture of where he stands entering the 2024 season, I’d like to see him face the best. And against Notre Dame’s defense, facing the best means knowing where No. 0 is at all times, because he’s going to find the football if the signal-caller isn’t careful.
If Watts does come out of the game early as an established veteran, swap his name out with sophomore safety Adon Shuler. He’s had a great spring with the first-team defense, and he’d represent the kind of playmakers on the back end Carr will have to deal with on Saturday.
Sophomore quarterback Kenny Minchey (Gold) vs. Notre Dame’s starting linebackers (Blue)
The Blue team linebackers include graduate student Jack Kiser, sophomore Drayk Bowen and junior Jaylen Sneed. They are, of course, Notre Dame’s projected starting linebackers for the 2024 season. I’m especially interested to see how Minchey deals with them and vice versa because his best asset during Saturday’s scrimmage was his scrambling ability.
The Blue team has a clear advantage at the skill positions, so Minchey might have to rely on those legs of his to move the football. When he did escape the pocket Saturday, he rattled off chunk play after chunk play and engineered a couple drives in the process. Minchey will also be live — i.e. he can be tackled — in the Blue-Gold Game, so there will be no “I’m not sure if he got him or not.”
This will also be an early test of how the starting Irish linebackers deal with mobile quarterbacks. With their speed, it shouldn’t be a problem, but discipline is a factor, too.
