Instant Reaction | Ohio State 21 Notre Dame 10
Holding Ohio State to 21 points is a scenario that any Notre Dame fan would take. Holding them under six yards per play, limiting them to only one play of 30-yards or more, and holding CJ Stroud to 6.6 yards per attempt is about better than any defense has done against the Buckeyes.
That’s one reason why this loss stings. Al Golden and the Irish coaching staff had the game plan. They outcoached Ryan Day and his staff. They played more than good enough for Notre Dame to win.
The Irish didn’t win, though. They couldn’t move the ball consistently on offense and, most importantly, couldn’t run the ball. They needed more points than 10 and never came close to scoring in the second half. A few explosive plays got them their chances for points, but without those, they weren’t getting first downs.
It ends up as a missed opportunity for what would have been the biggest road win for the program since 2012. The program didn’t take a step back today or get run out of the stadium like some expected them to. They just didn’t take the step forward that people were hoping for.
- Some might compare this type of game to Georgia in 2019, but that was a great defense and not a great offense. This was different.
When’s the last time Notre Dame played a great offense and held them in check like this for the majority of the game? It never happened during the Brian Kelly era and they had some pretty good defenses.
- Maybe the most surprising piece of this game was Notre Dame losing the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Ohio State was better up front. That was the biggest difference in the game.
They ran for 4.9 yards per carry and the Irish only averaged 2.5.
The interior of the line really struggled to move the OSU defensive tackles off the ball. The defensive line didn’t create the Havoc that could have sparked a turnover. OSU’s O-line was great in protection and Notre Dame’s best pass rushers, Isaiah Foskey and Jayson Ademilola, were ineffective.
- If I said that was going to be the case before the game, I think many would have predicted a blow out in OSU’s favor. That didn’t happen and a lot of that had to do with the play of the secondary.
Outside of the one nightmare Cam Hart series and Jaden Mickey getting beat for a touchdown, they played as good as could be expected against a group of really talented athletes. It helped a lot that Jaxon Smith-Njigba was out, but even that wasn’t a fluke play. That happened because Brandon Joseph screamed in like a missile to deliver a big hit.
The corners were really good tonight.
- Obviously Jarrett Patterson was greatly missed. I don’t imagine he’ll be back any time soon. If he couldn’t go for this game, you’re not trying to force him back earlier than BYU.
In the meantime the line has a lot of questions. With line play, I always want to go back and watch without making any sweeping conclusions, but the concern was the guards before Patterson moved there and that remains a concern.
- How do we judge the way Tommy Rees called this game? It’s difficult to do fairly because he was the one calling plays when his offensive line was losing against Ohio State’s defensive line. They couldn’t move people in the running game and that essentially tied one-hand behind his back when calling the game.
How do we judge Tyler Buchner? There were certainly some good things from him, but he also only played 48 plays and that’s not a lot to go on.
How do we judge the receivers? Only three were targeted all game for a total 8 targets.
How do we judge the backs? They certainly didn’t have a lot of holes to run through, although Audric Estime made some holes by himself.
It’s really hard to know what we have with the offense because we barely saw them in camp and then barely saw them in this game. The results weren’t good tonight, but we don’t know how much Buchner will grow or how quickly he will. We don’t know if the line got overwhelmed by a defensive line tonight that isn’t comparable to any they’ll face for a while and they’ll look much better in the coming weeks. (I think so, but I don’t know)
I can’t say Rees called a great game, but it’s easy to call games when your offensive line is winning all the time. It’s a lot harder when they’re not.
- I think some fans are going to be frustrated thinking this is yet another indication that Notre Dame isn’t there yet with the Ohio State’s of the world. But if you read the predictions we made before the game, then you know that everyone at ISD already believed that. There’s a reason the spread was where it was.
Ohio State has a better roster than Notre Dame. That’s just a fact.
Usually the team with the better roster does what Georgia did to Oregon today. It happened to Notre Dame under Brian Kelly a lot. That didn’t happen tonight for Notre Dame and while no one should ever revel in something as phony as a moral victory, I do think this was a game where the Irish didn’t hurt themselves going forward.
They hung with Ohio State on the road. They held an offense that will score a ton on everyone to their lowest point total the Buckeyes have put up in four years. They didn’t embarrass themselves and while that is nothing to celebrate, it is something that matters when it comes to how things might play out the rest of the season if they get things rolling to be in playoff contention. It also matters in recruiting and there were plenty of recruits there watching this game.
I don’t know the ceiling for this Notre Dame team, but I think they did a heck of a job with this defense and that can carry them while they figure out who they are on offense. The result might be disheartening, but week ones don’t normally feature a top-5 opponent on the road.
Playing offenses of this caliber haven’t featured Notre Dame playing this well in recent years. On that side of the ball, it was a pretty big step for the Irish. On the other side, there are many more questions to be answered.
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