Steve Angeli recalls learning he would be Notre Dame's starting quarterback

Bowl season has become an interesting time for players like Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli, a backup who was simply biding his time and waiting for an opportunity.

For a variety of reasons, the morphing of the college football postseason in recent years has meant the proliferation of opt-outs. Those have led the way for players like Angeli, who were waiting on the fringe, to get a fresh chance.

“When Sam (Hartman) said he was going to opt out and coach (Marcus) Freeman and coach (Gino) Guidugli gave me a call and said, ‘Hey man, it’s your time to go,’ I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t kind of jumping on the couch a little bit,” Angeli said. “I was excited.”

Prior to the team’s bowl game, Angeli had played in six contests on the season, seeing pretty sparing action. He was 19-of-25 passing for 272 yards, with four touchdowns and just one interception.

His biggest workload had come in a game against Tennessee State, where he had thrown 11 passes.

The chance to start in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl with Hartman on the sidelines offered Angeli the chance to get a whole lot more snaps. But he treated everything about the same.

“Really throughout the whole season I prepare like I’m the starter,” Steve Angeli said. “My preparation didn’t change, but realizing that I would have this opportunity, especially in a bowl game and even at the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, it’s really awesome.”

So Angeli set out to work preparing for the Sun Bowl against Oregon State.

Judging by the results, he was more than ready to make his starting debut. Angeli led Notre Dame to a 40-8 win with 468 yards of total offense.

He finished the game 15-of-19 passing for 232 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

With the bowl game in the books, Steve Angeli can begin pondering what a whole season of starts might look like in the future. There remains a lot of work to get there, though.