Gold Rallies Late To Down Blue 13-10

2022 Blue-Gold Game Final Stats

The University of Notre Dame football team held its annual Blue-Gold Game on Saturday, April 23, 2022, to complete its spring practice schedule. A crowd of 33,754 enjoyed beautiful spring weather, a defensive battle, then a late clutch play that earned the Gold a 13-10 victory in Notre Dame Stadium. 

Snapping the ball with just nine seconds remaining, early-entry freshman Gold quarterback Steve Angeli rolled to his left, pumped twice then outraced the Blue to the front pylon of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown run on the game’s final play to deliver the game-winning points.

The scrimmage was as close to a full game as the Irish could compile to cap their spring drills, as both squads were drafted earlier in the week by acting head coaches (Deland McCullough, Gold; Al Washington, Blue) and the senior class to insert a further element of competition.

One of the Gold teams’ top draftees, Jadarian Price, another early-entry freshman, played a key role in the contest with 126 total yards – 104 of them coming on nine catches out of the backfield. Junior Drew Pyne played quarterback for both teams in the first half, finishing 22-for-33 for 185 yards and one touchdown. Angeli finished 11-for-17 for 180 yards along with a passing and rushing touchdown. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Junior defensive lineman Rylie Mills set the tone for the defensive battle on the first play from scrimmage, sacking Pyne for a big loss. There were little offensive fireworks in the first half as Pyne ran sideline to sideline after each possession to quarterback both teams. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner was held out of the scrimmage after suffering a non-football minor ankle sprain earlier this week. 

Late in the first quarter, the Gold started to move the ball with a pass to Braden Lenzy for 24 yards followed by a completion to Jayden Thomas for 11 more. Clarence Lewis, playing for the Blue, then snuffed out a screen pass to put Gold behind the sticks and Jordan Botelho picked off Pyne on his next attempt, returning the ball to the Gold 40 yard line. 

For the Blue, Pyne scrambled for a first down on third and six to keep a drive alive. Gold was then whistled for a pass interference to put the ball at the 15-yard line. The Gold team stepped up with back-to-back stops, including a tackle for loss from Gabriel Rubio to force a field goal from Blake Grupe and the first points of the game were on the board for the Blue. 

Gold had a chance to take advantage of another miscue when senior Matt Salerno mishandled a punt while attempting a sliding catch. Thomas followed with an end around for 22 yards to get the ball to the Blue 15, but Pyne was intercepted by Marist Liufau while looking for Michael Mayer on a screen pass. 

Late in the first half, Pyne found Matt Salerno for 20 yards to get a Blue drive started. Logan Diggs pulled down a well executed screen pass later in the drive to get the ball down to the Gold eight yard line. On third down, Pyne rolled to his right and found sophomore tight end Andrew Yanoshak for a three-yard touchdown pass.

The Blue took a 10-0 lead into the halftime break, but that advantage did not last long. On Gold’s first possession of the second half, Angeli dumped the ball off to Price for another nice screen pass and the freshman made a couple defenders miss, eventually ending up in the end zone 51 yards later. 

With a running clock instituted for the entire second half (until the final five minutes) neither team would muster much of a scoring opportunity until the Blue team missed a 41-yard field goal with just over four minutes remaining. 

The Gold needed a drive in the game’s final minutes. Angeli found Thomas for 16 yards, then Price for 10 more. A few plays later, Blue was called for targeting on a short completion to set up the Gold with first and 10 on the 23. Two short passes later, Angeli found Conor Ratigan for six yards on third and three to set up the final play of the contest.