Game Thread | Notre Dame vs. Ohio State

(7) Notre Dame vs. (8) Ohio State

Mercedes-Benz Stadium| 7:30 PM ET | ESPN | Line: Ohio State -8.5 | Total: 45.5

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Five Players To Watch

Notre Dame LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa
KVA looked a lot closer to 100% against Penn State and led the defense with three pressures. He should be the healthiest he's been since he was originally injured against Army back in November. The Irish will need him and the rest of the linebackers to create havoc to get Ohio State's offense off schedule.

Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson
Henderson's 75-yard touchdown on a screen pass against Texas was reminiscent of his 61-yard touchdown run against Notre Dame last season. It was an example of him being the type of weapon who can flip a game with one explosive play. The Irish defense has to keep him and Quinshon Judkins in check enough to force QB Will Howard to be the one who has to beat them.

Notre Dame CB Leonard Moore
Moore was just named the FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and it was well earned. He's been phenomenal replacing Ben Morrison in the starting lineup. He's come a long way from his start against Louisville and matching up with these Ohio State receivers will be a tough task. The Notre Dame secondary has met every challenge so far and they'll have to do it again while facing a loaded wide receiver group.

Ohio State DE Jack Sawyer
People will remember Sawyer's strip sack of Quinn Ewers that led to a scoop and score and secured the win for Ohio State against Texas. His impact has been far greater than that one particular play, though. In OSU's three CFP games he's racked up 12.5 havoc plays, which includes him batting down seven passes. He's taken his game to another level when they needed him to.

Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love
We've seen what Love can do when healthy and we've seen what he can do when he's not healthy. Whatever his status is during a game, he is capable of the spectacular. Notre Dame will need something extra spectacular from him and we could see him get more touches in this game than he has in any single game this season. Look for him to be an all-purpose machine running and receiving.

Ohio State S Caleb Downs
Ohio State might have 10 starters selected in the upcoming NFL Draft. Downs won't be one of them, but only because he's a year away from being eligible. He will be a first round pick when he is. As good as the rest of the players are for them, the addition of Downs from Alabama has taken their defense to a different level.

Notre Dame OL Charles Jagusah
Jagusah had a season-ending injury before the season even started. Notre Dame kept extending their season, which gave him a chance to return to the lineup. With Anthonie Knapp out after injuring his ankle against Penn State, Jagusah will likely step into the left tackle spot that was supposed to be his to begin with. He'll be challenged against a great set of Ohio State edge rushers.

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith
Smith has lived up to the hype and then some as a true freshman. He's so good that Texas built their entire game plan on defense around stopping him. It worked well with only one catch for three yards, but not well enough because of Ohio State's other options. Ryan Day and Chip Kelly will do everything they can to get the ball to him more often this week and 

Notre Dame WR Jaden Greathouse
The Irish have been waiting for a receiver to step up in a big spot for most of this season and Greathouse delivered against Penn State with the first 100-yard receiving day of the season. He won contested catches and won as a route runner as well. Whether it's a breakout game or not, Greathouse was clutch just like he was in high school. He has the Texas state record for receiving yards in a state championship game and he won't be afraid of the moment against Ohio State.

Ohio State C Carson Hinzman
Hinzman is part of a reconfigured offensive line with him stepping in at center after Rimington Award winner Seth McLaughlin was lost for the season. The reason that Ohio State brought in McLaughlin was to replace Hindzman, who struggled last season and had a tough game against Notre Dame. The Irish have to win up front in this game and exploiting the matchup with Hinzman could end up being massive in this matchup.

Quotes of the Week

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:“
”I've got a job to do to make sure this group is ready. You cheer for us or you don't. It is what it is; no hard feelings. But my focus is on making sure this team is ready to perform on Monday. For all those that are cheering for us, we appreciate it.”

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock: 
”I don't know if I feel pressure as much as I do being excited for the players. The pressure that I put on myself is more to make sure I'm giving them the best opportunity I can for them to have success. The rest of it is -- this is awesome. The atmosphere is awesome, and playing in a National Championship is awesome.

“If I was playing against Al Golden's defense on Tuesday in training camp and I didn't do a good job of putting the guys in position to compete against his defense in a training camp practice, I'd be upset with myself.

:So I try to always keep the same mindset as far as my mind is on making sure that scheme-wise, schematically, personnel-wise, we've got the right people in the right spots, and the scheme fits what we're trying to get accomplished, and we're giving our guys the best opportunity we possibly can for success.”

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden:
”Just trusting the players. It's just the way we've kind of grown into that over the last year and a half. And really that's what got us here -- being aggressive, being on body as much as we can, changing some of the looks up. It's hard at this stage of the season to do anything else. So that's our focus. That's who we are. That's part of our DNA, and we have to challenge.”

Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love:
“I feel great. We've got great training staff. So they made sure that I was good physically. Going into the last game, it was really just going to be a mental thing. I had to overcome a mental hurdle. During the events of the last game, it happened throughout the game where I started trusting my knee more and just started to play a little bit more free.” 

For Your Nerves 

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