ND FOOTBALL: Quarterback battle remains contested following Blue-Gold scrimmage (2025)

SOUTH BEND — Marcus Freeman hasn’t had a decision as important as this one.

Coming off the longest season in Notre Dame football history, Freeman’s fourth season as head coach comes with a quarterback battle that is no closer to narrowing then when spring practices started. To make it even more difficult, three players seem to be knotted up following the 94th edition of the Blue-Gold spring game at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, where the offense (blue) beat the defense (gold) 76-31.

“We’ll go back and watch, but it’s a reflection of how the first 11 practices have been,” Freeman said after the game. “These guys have been battling, they’ve all improved. They’re all doing some really good things. It’s crazy to think you have three guys that all can use lead the program to a victory and be your starting quarterback.”

The three horses left in the race, junior pocket-passer Steve Angeli, mobile sophomore Kenny Minchey, and freshman CJ Carr took turns Saturday facing different levels of the new Chris Ash-led defense.

Each led scoring drives at one point in the three-period glorified practice, but if one horse looked the most polished, it was Carr.

The rookie was the last of the bunch to see the field but threw the most passes out of the three and finished 14-of-19, tossing for 170 yards and two touchdowns — scoring both the first, and last TD’s of the afternoon.

While Angeli (8-11, 108 yards, TD) and Minchey (6-14, 106 yards, rushing TD) were both effective in their own right, Carr’s comfortability under pressure was unfreshman-like. He handled it the best, wisely throwing the ball away in non-win situations and even holding it just long enough under heavy pressure to connect with tight ends Jack Larsen and Kevin Bauman for a pair of chunk plays.

What makes this decision even more difficult, is it’s really the first time Freeman has had to make a quarterback decision like this. In his first season, Tyler Buchner was the presumed starter before Drew Pyne took over for the injured Buchner. The last two seasons have seen one-year transfer QB’s take the lead position.

Carr’s performance is not enough to win him the battle yet — he did make one poor decision by throwing the game’s lone interception — but it could put him in solid positioning with three spring practices left.

Freeman didn’t touch on each of his three options individually, but he did lean toward shrinking the battle down to two before fall camp begins.

“You would like to be able to kind of go into fall with a two-quarterback battle,” Freeman said. “It’s really hard to truly have a three-quarterback battle, but we’ve got to sit down and have conversations about what’s the best for our program, what’s best for our quarterbacks and we’ll make those decisions in the future.”

DEFENSIVELY SPEAKING

Notre Dame’s defense is already looking different following several key graduations from last year’s team. Ash, who steps in as the Irish’s new defensive coordinator following Al Golden’s departure to the National Football League’s Cincinnati Bengals, is dealing with a battle of his own.

The Fighting Irish defensive line looks beastly again, and the guys upfront dealt some backfield blows (as much as one can in a spring practice). Most notably was a goal-line stand in the second period.

“Defense did a great job of stepping up in plus-territory,” Freeman said. “I mean, there was a fourth-down stop on the one-yard line which, again, we want the offense to score and the defense to stop, so it’s a lot of good, lot of good teaching.”

Where the contention begins is at the safety position where there’s a lot of youth.

Of the nine currently listed on the roster, seven are underclassmen. That includes sophomore Adon Shuler, who started last season at the boundary safety position, opposite of Xavier Watts. Shuler stepped in with Benjamin Morrison’s early season-ending injury.

With Watts and Morrison headed to the NFL, Shuler looks to maintain the top spot among the group. Junior Luke Talich, sophomore Ben Minich, freshman Tae Johnson and sophomore Kennedy Urlacher could all be fighting for the final starting spot. There’s also Virginia Tech senior transfer Jalen Stroman in the mix.

Talich led the team on Saturday with nine tackles, included one in the backfield. Minich was the recipient of the lone interception and Johnson had a crucial breakup on a 50-50 ball lofted into the endzone. It’s anyone’s game, but Talich may have the nod for now.

“It’s a group that I believe is deep and talented, just inexperienced in game reps,” Freeman said. “You know you have a room that is deep and talented and can get the job done, they just don’t have a whole bunch of in-game experience doing it here at Notre Dame. So, there’s a strong confidence we have in that safety room, and I’m looking forward to seeing those guys improve.”

ND FOOTBALL: Quarterback battle remains contested following Blue-Gold scrimmage (2025)

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