PHEW! Talk about a dogfight! For the better part of three quarters, Notre Dame kept Ohio State all out of sorts, especially offensively, and the Irish showed that they are every bit the #5 team in the land (even though they may drop a couple spots).
They are definitely a Marcus Freeman-coached team. The old saying is that a team takes on the personality of their coach, and this definitely seemed to be the case with the Irish. Coach Freeman is a calm coach who doesn't seem to let many things bother him. Notre Dame gave the Buckeyes their best shot, and they never really seemed rattled at any point, even though they lost. They were definitely not intimidated by the atmosphere at Ohio Stadium.
But thankfully for the Buckeyes, Notre Dame made a critical mistake that allowed Ohio State to turn the tide of the game. The Irish defense was stout all night long, but late in the third quarter, they gambled. They came after CJ Stroud on the blitz, he saw it, and delivered a perfect touchdown strike to give the Buckeyes a 14-10 lead late in the third quarter.
After another critical stand by a much-improved Buckeye defense, CJ Stroud finally got the offense into gear, engineering a textbook 14-play, 95-yard touchdown drive to put the game out of reach. But this certainly won't be the last people hear of the Fighting Irish. They are a dangerous football team, and Ohio State had to earn this win. 100 percent.
Let's take a look at the key matchups and see where this one was won for Ohio State!
New Ohio State DC Jim Knowles and the Ohio State defense vs. Notre Dame offense and QB Tyler Buchner: For the majority of the first half, Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner basically got everything he wanted against Ohio State. He was playing pitch and catch with his receivers, and the Buckeye defensive front couldn't get home to bring him down. But in the second half, Ohio State definitely made their presence felt on defense. For the game, Buchner went 10-18 for 177 yards, and in the second half, Ohio State finally got to him, sacking him three times. An impressive stat that tells the story of how dominant the Buckeye defense was in the second half: Notre Dame ran 20 offensive plays for 72 total yards, and zero points. That is the kind of defense Jim Knowles is aiming to install at Ohio State, and he certainly got off to a good start tonight. Impressive!
Ohio State defense vs. Chris Tyree: Even though he had some good bursts, the Buckeyes largely contained Irish running back Chris Tyree, and he only had six carries for 28 yards. As a team, Notre Dame ran the ball 30 times, but only picked up 76 yards. Ohio State largely bottled up the Irish rushing attack.
The Ohio State offense vs. the Notre Dame secondary: This one definitely was a struggle for the Buckeyes. Minus the game-sealing drive, the Irish largely kept Ohio State off balance offensively, and never allowed CJ Stroud and a normally powerful Buckeye offense to get into a rhythm. Stroud went 24-34 for 223 yards and two touchdowns, but this offense definitely has a lot to work on for the rest of the season. Thankfully even though the offense had issues with the passing game, had no trouble running the ball on the ground. They pounded the rock 35 times for 172 yards and a touchdown!
The Buckeyes won ugly against a great Notre Dame team. But sometimes a team needs to get punched in the mouth and shown that they have weaknesses before they wake up and get rolling. This kind of win is humbling, and can be good for Ohio State moving forward.
Next up for the Buckeyes? Arkansas State on September 10th. GO BUCKS!
Final Stats
CJ Stroud: 24-34, 223 yards, 2 TDs
TreVeyon Henderson, 15 car., 91 yards
Emeka Egbuka, 9 rec., 90 yds., TD
Source: ESPN
Picture Credit: nitrobetting.eu
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