Overcoming injuries has become the norm for Notre Dame football in 2024. From fall camp throughout the season, the one constant for the Irish was injuries and players stepping up in response. Never was that more evident than in Notre Dame’s Orange Bowl victory over Penn State on Thursday night. In a year when the Irish lost starters almost weekly, three more offensive starters went down at different times.
Steve Angeli
When Riley Leonard was forced out of the game for a concussion evaluation, junior backup quarterback Steve Angeli came in with the Irish down 10-0. All Angeli did was complete 6 of 7 passes for 44 yards to get the Irish into field goal range, leading to their first points of the night. The pride of Westfield, NJ, looked calm and confident in the pocket despite not playing any meaningful snaps in non-mopup duty since the Sun Bowl last year.
Angeli looked so good passing the football compared to what Leonard had looked like to that point that some pondered whether or not Notre Dame should stick with him. Leonard cleared his evaluation and was back on the field to start the second half, engineering a touchdown drive to tie the game. So Angeli wasn’t needed again, but his contribution to the end result was tremendous. Those three points were massive in getting Notre Dame back in the game. Many, myself included, have assumed that CJ Carr will be the starter in 2025, but all Angeli does when given a chance is make plays. Spring ball will be interesting.
Charles Jagusah
Jagusah was set to open the season as the starting left tackle before an injury in camp cost him the regular season. When he returned to practice in bowl prep, he was practicing at guard after freshman Anthonie Knapp locked down the left tackle spot. Jagusah played six snaps against Georgia before his number was called after Rocco Spindler got banged up again. After missing the entire year, Jagusah was forced on the field with the Irish trailing. All he did was step in and hold his own despite playing a position he’d only been practicing for a few weeks.
The offensive line for 2025 will be interesting to watch with Jagusah back and 5-star tackle Will Black enrolling. This year’s line was a Joe Moore Award finalist, and it should be better next year.
Tosh Baker
When Knapp, who originally played in place of Jagusah, was knocked out of the game with an apparent ankle injury, fifth-year senior Tosh Baker got the call. Baker only played mop-up duty this year but was asked to slow down future NFL first-round pick Abdul Carter. Baker didn’t shut Carter down—no one did all year — but he played about as well as anyone could have hoped, given the situation.
In a world where players enter the portal at the drop of a hat as soon as they get past on a depth chart, Baker reminds us of what college football used to be. Baker easily could have transferred elsewhere and been a starter this year, but he stuck it out, and when his number was called, he answered.
Aneyas Williams
Jeremiyah Love wasn’t 100% in the Orange Bowl and probably won’t be in the National Championship, so Notre Dame ended up calling on freshman running back Aneyas Williams more than usual on Thursday night. Williams delivered some big-time plays. He had Notre Dame’s second-longest reception – a 36-yarder on Notre Dame’s first touchdown drive – and their second-longest run of the game. He also had a crucial catch on the Steve Angeli drive to end the first half, resulting in Notre Dame’s first points of the ball game.
Williams played more snaps than Jadarian Price and ended up being Notre Dame’s 4th highest-graded by PFF. His 27 snaps on Thursday night were his most of the season and just the third time he eclipsed 20 snaps all season. With Price and Love ahead of him, carries will always be hard to come by, but Williams was vital in Notre Dame’s win and shows that the future at running back is bright.
Rod Heard II
The impact of the entire group of transfers wasn’t felt as much against Penn State as it was Georgia, but one of the more overlooked transfers Notre Dame took this year had one of his best games. Rod Heard II logged 34 snaps and was Notre Dame’s 5th highest-graded defender. He had a massive sack of Drew Allar when he cleaned up pressure that freshman Kyngstonn Villiamu-Asa created in the third quarter while the game was knotted up at 10.
Heard was also critical in Christian Gray’s game-changing interception. He was tasked with picking up Tyler Warren, Penn State’s only threat in the passing game all night. Allar initially looked Warren’s way, but Heard had him blanketed, resulting in Allar forcing a throw elsewhere that Gray picked off, and the rest is history. Heard was on the All-American tight end on the play that swung the game. Notre Dame’s success with transfer defensive backs for complimentary roles in the last two seasons has been phenomenal. Jordan Clark has also thrived in his role despite only playing 15 snaps in the Orange Bowl.
