Who is Steve Angeli? Meet Notre Dame QB who briefly replaced Riley Leonard in Orange Bowl

Notre Dame won the Sugar Bowl in spite of its offense, with special teams and defense making all the difference against Georgia. Something likely had to change for the Irish to win the Orange Bowl, but no change was evident in the first half of the College Football Playoff semifinal.

Riley Leonard struggled all around as he dealt with poor protection against a stellar Penn State defense, going nowhere on the ground and tossing an early interception. 

The situation went from bad to worse for the Irish when Leonard was pulled off the field to be evaluated for a head injury, forcing backup Steve Angeli into the game. As fate would have it, Angeli led Notre Dame’s most efficient drive of the first half, with six completions leading to a field goal.

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 10, 2025Here’s what you need to know about Angeli, who could be in line to start for Notre Dame in 2025.

LIVE: Follow updates from Penn State vs. Notre Dame in Orange Bowl

Who is Steve Angeli?Angeli is a redshirt sophomore who has spent his entire college career at Notre Dame. He has only one start under his belt, but it was an excellent one. Angeli went 15-of-19 for 232 yards and three touchdowns in a Sun Bowl win over Oregon State in 2023, leading the Irish to a 40-8 win after Sam Hartman opted out.

Angeli entered Thursday with 10 career touchdowns to one interception over 72 passes, enough production in a small sample size to make him the favorite to start for Notre Dame next season.

While Marcus Freeman pulled his last two starting quarterbacks out of the transfer portal in Hartman and Leonard, that doesn’t appear to be the plan this offseason.

“We have no plans on going to the transfer portal for a quarterback,” Freeman told reporters on National Signing Day.

Unless that stance changes in a dwindling market, Angeli appears to be fully in line to get his long-awaited starting opportunity in 2025 — and his College Football Playoff experience could prove to be valuable.

Here’s a look at how Angeli landed at Notre Dame.

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Steve Angeli high schoolAngeli attended Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey and was a three-star prospect in the class of 2022.

Ranked by 247 Sports as the No. 43 quarterback in 2022, Angeli committed to Notre Dame in early 2021 and has remained steady in that commitment even in an era of constant turnover in college football.

That patience could pay off in 2025, and his presence on the depth chart gave the Fighting Irish a bit of a spark exactly when they needed one Thursday night.