Rakes Report #253: And don't it all end up in some revelation, with four guys on horses and violent red visions (The Penn State Review)
The Fighting Irish earned one final game with an epic Orange Bowl win and now sit a single victory away from immortality.
~optional musical accompaniment~
1) One of the few things better than watching a Great College Football Game as a neutral observer is winning a Great College Football Game as a partisan. Unfortunately to earn that reward you must endure a painful experience that puts a strain on everything from heart rate to emotional and mental fortitude: Watching a Great College Football game as someone deeply invested in the outcome. The Orange Bowl was a Great College Football Game and due to focus, belief and the work of Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame prevailed. If they can gut out one more, they are national champions. Wild times.
It makes sense we’d have a good read on a team after 15 games but Penn State was almost exactly as advertised. Tyler Warren, Abdul Carter and the two-headed monster in the backfield were awesome all night. That one-armed Carter performance was one I’m going to have in the corners of my nightmares for a long time, up there with Roquan Smith in 2017 as a “Could this guy please just cut it out for a single second.” On the other side of that coin, Drew Allar had issues in a big game against a legit defense and the wide receivers contributed literally nothing.
Notre Dame was as advertised as well — eventually. It was an ugly first half but Penn State made the mistake of not killing the Irish when they had the chance, leaving the door open for a gutsy comeback. One game left, and thankfully we have another full week to appreciate what has been accomplished this season before digging in against the Buckeyes.
2) It looked like the end of the road for this defense by halftime, as Andy Kotelnicki’s tempo and a strong effort from the Penn State ground game had the Irish a half-step out of position and an additional half-step slow. That weariness combined with the Nittany Lions holding the ball for over 20 minutes made it seem like the second half was going to be a slow suffocation, the Irish being eventually ground down in defeat as a mere formality.
That didn’t happen. On the first drive of the second half, the Irish forced a three-and-out, Jaylen Sneed blowing up a third-and-short run to set up a Christian Gray stop. On the second drive, Warren got loose on the first play but the Irish rebounded to harass Allar and force another quick punt, including Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa guiding the junior into a third-down sack by Rod Heard.
Jack Kiser — the leading tackler on the day in his 69th career game — had an interception taken away via spurious penalty flag when Allar lobbed a duck into quadruple coverage. Thankfully, after having his own earlier interception eliminated on a flag, Gray came through with a diving ball don’t lie pick to set up the game-winning field goal after another great pressure from Sneed. Gray has become the protagonist of not just this defense but potentially of this college football season and perhaps reality itself, being involved with So Many Things both good and bad. I was offended on his behalf that the squeaky clean snag was reviewed but at least it gave us an opportunity to see it in slow motion from every possible angle.
Penn State didn’t have a single completion to a wide receiver, a testament to guys like Leonard Moore and Jordan Clark being incredible but also a reminder they simply didn’t have the goods on the outside. Kotelnicki would occasionally get too cute but I thought he called a helluva game considering the limitations at receiver and quarterback, despite Allar having the size and arm to mandate aspirational NFL projecting.
The Irish defense also kept Warren from putting up a ridiculous stat line and prevented any giant plays on the ground, with home run threat Nick Singleton's long rush being only 13. (Kaytron Allen got loose for 20, but otherwise was limited to 62 yards on 18 carries.) Tough game for Adon Shuler and relatively quiet one for Xavier Watts (still eight tackles, but no havoc and a long night tangling with the Mackey Award winner). Howard Cross is battling but we have to hope the extended time between games lets him heal up a little more. Overall, it shows how good Al Golden is that despite a rough start with his depleted roster against a capable team he was able to rally them to do just enough.
Brief sidebar: There are two Orange Bowl recap episodes available wherever you get your podcasts (Spotify) (Apple). The first was recorded shortly after the game went final and is well-meaning lunacy. The second is a more coherent walkthrough of the game with a lot of on-the-ground details from Hard Rock Stadium. Thanks to everyone who took the time to chat this season, I hope they were enjoyable listens.
3) Four games into the season I put together an arbitrary checklist1 of what Notre Dame needed from Riley Leonard in order to be a successful offense in 2024 (and little did I know, for three additional games in 2025). Let’s take a look at Thursday evening through that lens:
* Be a threat in the run game: Absolutely. The numbers weren’t the biggest due to some sacks and not breaking a long one (game-high of only six yards) but there was Leonard converting multiple third downs and scoring via two goal-to-go runs. For anyone who watched the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl, converting on the doorstep like that is not a guarantee.
* Make enough of the short throws that it doesn’t turn into a late 2017/early 2018 situation: Not an issue and hasn’t really been an issue at all for the final months of the season. You don’t complete 66% of your passes missing a bunch of easy stuff.
* Hit enough deep shots to keep the defense slightly honest: Yep. The throw to Aneyas Williams to set up the first touchdown was great, and while not a true deep shot, the back-shoulder to Jaden Greathouse on third-and-nine on the second touchdown drive was pretty as well. (That drive also had a throw to Eli Raridon in the endzone that would have been a touchdown if not for pass interference.) The Greathouse touchdown that became the longest pass play of the season was a great move aided by a bit of cornerback folly, but it was on Leonard to take advantage and not blink when presented with the opportunity. There was also the perfect throw to Mitchell Evans to convert a third-and-long on the opening drive that traveled about 30 yards in the air.
I did not expect to have Greathouse, Williams and Mitchell Evans combine for 17 catches and 229 yards but their production was a very pleasant surprise with Jordan Faison bottled up and Beaux Collins missing most of the game with a calf injury. No one is ever going to confuse this passing attack with an elite one but it came through when it needed to as it has throughout this 13-game win streak. Bonus points to Jayden Thomas for turning a third-and-one jet sweep into a chunk play that was the team’s longest rush on the day. Negative points to Leonard for the two bad picks but much like Gray he has thankfully developed a very short memory and doesn’t allow mistakes to linger.
All available points to Steve Angeli, whose relief performance got Notre Dame on the board by going 6 for 7 and surviving the terrors of a revved up Penn State pass rush. The last time Notre Dame played in that stadium a backup quarterback was moving the ball at the end of the half before throwing a crippling pick six* and Angeli not just avoided mistakes (and bailed his line out on a bad snap/horrific-protection-against-Carter combo that could have easily turned into disaster) but set the Irish up for a crucial three to provide a boost going into the half.
* That backup quarterback ended up as the all-time wins leader at Notre Dame, so it worked out.
Great adjustment by Mike Denbrock at halftime to come out and hammer it up the middle, and great effort from a banged-up Jeremiyah Love to deliver. As some of you might remember, Love had a 98-yard touchdown in the first playoff game and I think you can make the case his 2-yard score against Penn State was even better. The first Nittany Lion hits him two yards deep in the backfield. After escaping that and nearly getting back to the line of scrimmage, he’s hit again. As he’s struggling to escape that defender, two more come flying at him. Love then shakes off all three of them just as a fourth reaches him and dives in for the score. King shit.
The offensive line situation is so dire that a guy who suffered what we thought was a season-ending injury is now one of the best five options available. Incredible effort by Charles Jagusah not just playing well in this game but doing the rehab and work to get to a position where he was able to return to the field. Tosh Baker stepped in as well to contribute to the win and we’ll likely need more from him in a week because Anthonie Knapp has been ruled out and Rocco Spindler’s status is up in the air. What a season by Joe Rudolph, who hasn’t caught a single break but keeps finding guys who are capable. If Notre Dame can retain the services of the full trio of Love, Jadarian Price and Williams for the 2025 season behind a healthy and further improved offensive line?2 Oh baby, you got yourself a stew.
4) Mr. January Mitch Jeter came through yet again and is now seven for eight in the playoff, the only miss coming on a blocked kick and all but one make coming from beyond 40 yards. How many things ran through your head during the quarter-second where the game winner started to flutter right before correcting back to the left and victory? Time really does slow down sometimes. It was a positive sign for this game when it started the same way as the Sugar Bowl, with Jeter booming the opening kickoff for a touchback. So happy for Jeter he has this legendary kick because his overall season numbers aren’t going to reflect how good he was when healthy, especially in the big games (at Kyle Field and the most recent three).
Mostly a quiet day for the rest of the special teams unit save for Wyoming’s finest Luke Talich blasting a punt returner. Solid again by James Rendell and neither a block by nor a single running into the kicker flag on the punt team. Marty Biagi’s body of work this season psyched James Franklin out enough he didn’t send everyone on the game-winner, a very curious decision because faking it there would have been genuinely insane. Speaking of Biagi, here is the package College GameDay did on him — a warning that it will get dusty if you watch.
No fourth down attempts by Notre Dame, which was good enough on third down (11 for 17) this game to avoid needing the extra snap to convert.
Sean McDonough might be the best play-by-play guy in the game and he crushed the call on the game-winning field goal. I challenge Greg McElroy to disagree with one (1) flag thrown during the course of the next game he broadcasts. Overall, though, a really pleasant booth experience for three playoff wins and in a just world they’d get the call in the national championship game.
5) Winning Is Hard, James Franklin Edition: In a rare twist for Franklin, he didn’t do anything catastrophic in the final minutes of a close loss, as I suspect he did not instruct Allar to throw that pick. However, his cowardice in the early going of kicking a field goal from the three-yard line allowed Notre Dame to keep within striking distance despite struggling for the game’s opening 29 minutes. He also punted from the Notre Dame 44 on fourth and eight on the first drive, which is a little more understandable that early in what was expected to be a close brawl but if you’re trusting your defense there you must trust them to get you the ball right back on the fourth-and-goal decision.
It is so funny how Franklin’s press conference performance on Wednesday further elevated this game for everyone from your regular Irish fans who watched all the way up to Freeman himself. Following the game, Watts said of his head coach, “He was angry. He was angry with the press conference thing, whatever was going on between that. He was mad about that. All the anger went toward us and that anger went onto the field.”
The case against Notre Dame’s lack of conference affiliation is particularly sad coming from someone associated with Penn State, who won a pair of titles in the 1980s as an independent before joining the Big Ten in 1993. Over the course of the following three decades, the Nittany Lions were unable to establish a conference rival and never played for a national title during the BCS or playoff era. (For the sake of fairness, they have a legitimate gripe about 1994.) It’s also unfortunate when someone associated with Florida State takes shots, as the Seminoles were successful as an independent before joining the ACC in 1992. Over the last year, they have sued to get out of their conference affiliation and showed how they were so far above their current league by putting forth a 2-10 season.
I am far from the first person to make this observation, but Franklin or anyone else involved with college football calling for uniformity across programs and conferences is missing that much of the appeal about this sport is how chaotic it is. It also seems odd for Franklin to crow about being in a conference when he’s only made the Big Ten title game twice in 11 years, the second visit coming this year after the Nittany Lions only had to play one of the league’s three other playoff teams (a game he lost, at home, despite a 10-0 lead) (10-0 leads are a trouble spot, I guess) and then benefited from Ohio State’s surprise home loss to Michigan. Franklin took advantage of that opportunity by falling behind 28-10 to Oregon, a deficit they could not make up despite a spirited rally.
Additionally, I would not say a word about another team’s schedules if my school’s 2025 non-conference was Nevada, FIU and Villanova, but hey, that’s just me. The best season of Franklin’s career ends with his three best wins being against a Group of 5 team, a team that was Group of 5 in the previous season and Illinois. Good job, good effort.
6) Despite Franklin being a dweeb, that was a heckuva Penn State team and any Irish fan who extrapolated “They’re overranked by a couple spots” to “They stink” had an extra rough watch. Notre Dame going from no BCS/New Year’s Six wins in three decades to two in the same postseason is a nice way of getting that particular graphic nixed from future broadcasts, and that’s even before mentioning the minor accomplishment of cruising to a home playoff win over an 11-1 Big Ten team.
There is a disconnect with the 2024 Fighting Irish I’m still trying to finish processing even after 15 games. On one hand, this is a flawed team with limitations, down so many amazing players due to injury and featuring a passing offense lacking any true stars/obvious high draft picks. And yet — and yet! — this is an elite team by any objective metric you want to use, be that any advanced statistical ranking or the fact they’ve won three playoff games and if that tally ticks up by one more victory they will be the goddamn national champions. What a sport.
I understand what I’m about to write is going to summon a 50-point Buckeye win or the most soul-sucking late-game collapse by Notre Dame you’ve ever seen, but I already said it on last week’s pod so I might as well put it in print: Nothing that happens in Atlanta will change my view of this season for the negative, which is that it was a massive success courtesy of a head coach who proved himself after the lowest of lows in Week Two, his talented staff who came through all season and a roster of guys who kept stepping up as those around them fell. 14-1! That’s so many games and so many wins. The special night against the Hoosiers, downing the SEC champs and then winning an instant classic Orange Bowl is already so much of a blessing it would be greedy to ask for more.
…but sometimes it’s okay to want a little extra. This Ohio State team is awesome. For as much of a step up it was going from the meager rushing attacks of Indiana and Georgia to Penn State’s, going from the Bulldog and Nittany Lion wide receivers to this cavalcade of athletic freaks the Buckeyes are rolling out is going to be even more of a leap. Their defensive line is full of talented veterans, they’ve got a pair of tailbacks as good as anyone and Caleb Downs is one of the few safeties in the country you can credibly compare to Watts. As we saw against Tennessee and Oregon, they have the best fastball in the nation and they’re a large favorite for a reason.
That doesn’t mean Notre Dame is doomed. This team is tough as hell and I’m not putting anything past them in a single game. Put up the umbrella coverage like we saw from Michigan and Texas and make Will Howard stay consistent for long, sustained drives without a mistake if Ohio State wants to score. I have no idea how what’s left of this offensive line is going to be able to hold up against the likes of Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau but at this point putting blind faith in Denbrock and Leonard to figure something out is justified. As far as the kicking game, the calendar will not have flipped for Mr. January by the time this game begins.
To close: I woke up Friday morning pondering what lyric to use for the title of this review (a monumental win almost demanded The Hold Steady) and my mind drifted to “I was half dead, then I got born again — I got lost in all the lights but it was okay in the end.” Fitting, yes, but then I remembered the only problem is I already used it back in December 2021 when Notre Dame made the decision to hire Marcus Freeman. Those lines apply to this season and this program, as a lot has happened but we are very much okay (and then some) in the end.
Thank you all so much for allowing me to go on this journey with you over the course of the season. One more. Just one more. We’ve come this far, so it would be silly to do so and not win the title. Go Irish, Beat Buckeyes.
(Also if you know of a ticket or two available for Monday night, give me a shout. Not sure when the title game review will drop. Being realistic, probably Thursday the 23rd.)
This was a fun one to go back and revisit from our current perch.
I don’t have any indication this won’t be the case, but similar to coming into a season with a QB room of Leonard/Angeli/Minchey/Carr (which happened!) during the current era of college football it would be a blessing we should really appreciate to keep this trio together for another autumn.