Instant Reaction | Ohio State 34 Notre Dame 23
The start couldn’t have been more promising.
Notre Dame’s offense began with a methodical 18 play drive that included nine runs by Riley Leonard. It resulted in a touchdown and was almost 10 minutes long.
The follow up couldn’t have been more devastating.
Three touchdowns on three drives for Ohio State. Two three-and-outs on the next two drives for Notre Dame, with self-inflicted mistakes leading to those.
The Irish fought back, but were running on an incline the rest of the way. They were in trouble against the most talented team in college football and gave it all they had to catch up, but the hole they dug themselves was too deep to get out of.
It was a bitter end to a magical season.
- It happened. For the first time since Caleb Williams back in 2022, a quarterback played out of his mind against Notre Dame against an Al Golden defense. Everyone has been so used to quarterbacks being tortured by this defense, but Will Howard came out in the first half and threw close to a perfect game.
He was 14 of 15 in the first 30 minutes of the game and a coaching staff that has always been able to find answers had none. Chip Kelly was the one doing the torturing and he had the defense off balance with how he mixed things up.
Man or zone, it didn’t matter. Down and distance didn’t seem to matter much either. There were opportunities to get Ohio State off the field on 3rd down and they had Howard dropping back on 3rd and 7 twice in the second quarter. They couldn’t generate pressure to affect him and he picked the Irish apart.
3rd down was supposed to be the backbone of Notre Dame’s defense. They were fifth in 3rd down conversion percentage all season and 3rd and long led to more havoc than first downs for the opposition. OSU’s Achilles heel was supposed to be 3rd down as well. This matchup was supposed to favor the Irish.
It did not. They were 6 of 6 on 3rd down in the first half and 9 of 12 on the game.
- Notre Dame finally felt the impact of losing those pass rushers and Ben Morrison. Maybe it doesn’t change the outcome of the game to have Jordan Botelho, Rylie Mills, Boubacar Traore, and Morrison, but they are the type of personnel that Notre Dame needed against this loaded offense.
They needed to be able to win one on one rushing the passer and they certainly could have used one more great corner to match up against Ohio State’s receivers. It’s unfair to just insert those players in without taking into account that OSU was missing two starting offensive linemen as well, but they needed to be able to hit home with four in this game and couldn’t even hit home when they brought more than four.
- If I said before the game that Riley Leonard completed 71% of his passes for 8.2 yards per attempt and had a QBR of 88.1, I think many would have thought the Irish would end up as the winner in this game. Instead it’s just an example of why Notre Dame was able to come back and make it a game in the fourth quarter when it looked like it could turn into 2013 against Alabama.
Leonard navigated the pocket well, made some big time throws, and he got plenty of help from Jaden Greathouse and his 128 yards receiving. He had three catches of 30+ yards. Coming into this game, the Irish had only 13 of those in 15 games.
Maybe the biggest thing on offense to come out of the last two games is Greathouse showing he is that dude. He was fantastic in traffic, after the catch, and with his route running. Before the season I thought he would eventually emerge as WR1 for Notre Dame, but I didn’t expect him to take this long to do it. He was that guy in these last two games and should be heading into next season as well.
- It was shocking to see Jeremiyah Love get so few touches in this game, but to be fair, Leonard’s usage on the first drive and the fact that Notre Dame only ran 10 more offensive plays before they were down 31-7 had everything to do with that.
Mike Denbrock might have been able to get him the ball a bit more, but it was a lot of Leonard dropping back and throwing from that point on. There are more valid criticisms with Denbrock for how the three “and goal” plays on the doinked field goal drive were called than Love’s usage.
The one thing we did see in the second half on top of Greathouse and Mitchell Evans making plays was some very good protection from the offensive line. This group that has been ravaged by injuries was up against an Ohio State pass rush that was first in the country in sack rate.
Leonard had more time to throw in this game than any of the previous three CFP matchups. JT Tuimolou had a sack, but it was more of a result of the coverage than Charles Jagusah getting beat.
Aamil Wagner did a heck of a job against Jack Sawyer. Sawyer had 12.5 havoc plays in his last three games. He had zero against Notre Dame.
- While there wasn’t all that much that deserved to be celebrated about Notre Dame’s defense today, Xavier Watts has to be. Unsurprisingly, he played fantastic. He led the team in tackles and made two big havoc plays.
The second was the near pick when he was stride for stride with TreVeyon Henderson on a rail route. The only thing that prevented it from being an interception was Henderson’s effort to break it up.
This was Watts’ last game in a Notre Dame uniform and he once again proved why he is a superstar.
- It’s the last game for so many Notre Dame players. It’s tough to see guys like Watts, Jack Kiser, and Howard Cross go out without a national championship knowing how much they poured into the program.
I thought Cross left everything he had out on the field and was disruptive at times. He just couldn’t be his normal self on one good ankle.
Leonard transferred in for one season, but no one can say he won’t be remembered as a Notre Dame quarterback. He gave it all in his 16 games and busted through his perceived ceiling as a quarterback in a lot of ways.
For so many others, this will be fuel for next season. ⅔ of the players who are contributors on defense will be back next season and that doesn’t include injured players like Botelho or Traore. Notre Dame’s best two receivers, Greathouse and Jordan Faison, are going to be true juniors in 2025. Love will be back leading a deep and talented backfield and they’ll be running behind what could end up being one of the best offensive lines in the country.
Ohio State was the best team in the country. They went out and demonstrated it again tonight. They are also about to lose 10 starters on defense to the NFL Draft, most of their offensive line, and their two-headed monster at running back. Much like Michigan in the previous season, they were a team that was built to win this year.
Notre Dame wasn’t built for that, but they still managed to pull off three CFP wins and exercise a bunch of demons that have haunted Irish fans for decades. Their program has now fought in these championship rounds and they’ll be bringing back a core group that can be there for the next step.
This was the first time in a long time that people came out of the game being critical of some decisions that were made by Marcus Freeman. That’s going to happen when a team loses. No one can be critical of how hard his team played for him, even if they didn’t play their best tonight.
There was the belief from the players that they still had a fighting chance even when pretty much everyone else had given up on them. It showed when Drayk Bowen ran down a play and punched the ball out to get Notre Dame the football back. It showed when Greathouse was spinning off tackles and turning a short gain into big time yards after the catch. It showed throughout the second half when they turned a blowout into a fight.
This was a great season of Notre Dame football. This was a special team. I feel sad for the coaches and players that they came up short, but the job Freeman did this year makes me believe that this was more than a great run. This was the ground floor and things are going up for the Irish moving forward.
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