by Kyle Golik
In the annals of college football, you can find many examples of mistakes that came back to bite a team in a game. Notre Dame is the most recent example.
In the Fighting Irish’s 17-14 loss to Ohio State, Notre Dame on the sideline wasn’t aware of the number of players on the field and played two critical plays with 10 defensive players instead of 11.
When head coach Marcus Freeman recognized the mistake just before the final play, he realized it was a little bit too late to do anything about it.
“We were trying to get a fourth defensive lineman in the game,” Freeman said. “I told him, ‘Just stay off, we can’t afford a penalty.’ I didn’t have any timeouts left.”
On the final play, Ohio State running back Chip Trayanum scored from a yard out with the final seconds ticking away.
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While this loss could be deflating for a lot of teams, here are three reasons why Notre Dame won’t be phased by the miscue.
3. Notre Dame Controls Its Own Destiny
The Fighting Irish might be disappointed by the outcome, but they quickly have to understand they do control their own destiny. A one-loss Notre Dame team can jockey into position for a College Football Playoff spot; it will need help with other Power 5 conferences having two-loss teams.
A quick examination of Notre Dame’s remaining schedule, Southern California visits South Bend. That is a major resume enhancer with a win. Road games at No. 17 Duke and Clemson aren’t easy games by any stretch, but the Irish are still likely to be favored in both.
The Fighting Irish, since 2017, have won 33 of 34 regular season ACC contests, and if they continue this dominant trend, this will aid in their bid to return to the College Football Playoffs. The Irish will have a series of trap games along the way against Pitt, Louisville, Wake Forest, and Stanford (who shocked Notre Dame last season in South Bend 16-14).
Bottomline: Win and you are in.
2. While Not Explosive Against Bucks, Irish Showed Offensive Prowess
Defenses rule in South Bend, but what should give Notre Dame faithful hope is their offense demonstrated it can go toe-to-toe with an elite offense.
No one questions the offensive abilities of Ohio State, who entered the contest averaging more than 40 points a game. More of the questions were on the new-look Irish offense behind transfer quarterback Sam Hartman.
While Hartman was not as explosive as he was in his first four games, where he set a school record with 13 touchdowns, he was nonetheless efficient. Hartman finished his game completing 68% of his passes on 17 for 25 passing for 175 yards and a passing touchdown.
In the past, Notre Dame quarterbacks were not able to rise to even this level, and Hartman positioned the Irish to win, something that didn’t happen in the past as quarterback play was a major liability.
But the story from Notre Dame’s offense from Saturday is that it out-rushed Ohio State 176 to 126. Running back Audric Estime averaged five yards a carry, and, overall, the Irish ground game averaged 4.5 yards per carry against a Buckeye defense that was off to its best start since 1975 and amongst the Top 5 in total defense in the nation.
While the wide receiver room is still a work in progress, the Irish receivers played against the best secondary it will face all season and still made key plays. This should be a confidence builder moving forward.
Overall, Ohio State outgained Notre Dame on offense by 15 yards (366 to 351), but Notre Dame had a decisive advantage in time of possession, holding the ball for nearly 10 minutes longer than Ohio State, and an edge in first downs (22 to 19). The Irish offense is only going to get better and stronger.
1. Notre Dame Has an Elite Defense
While the competition leading up to the Ohio State game may not have been a “murderer’s row” for Notre Dame, the Irish displayed and demonstrated on defense it will be a force to be reckoned with for the rest of the season.
Ohio State entered Saturday averaging nearly 475 yards of total offense. The Irish defense kept them more than 100 yards below their season average.
Notre Dame entered Saturday leading the nation in defensive passing efficiency, held Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord in check for much of the game, and not allowing the Buckeye offense to take off.
Historically, under Ryan Day, the Buckeyes have been held to under 400 yards of total offense six times, and Notre Dame is responsible for two of these. Other than Southern California’s visit to South Bend, the Irish won’t face an offense that has the offensive firepower and explosiveness that Ohio State possesses.
Outside of the mental errors on the final two plays, where Notre Dame only fielded 10 players, the major area they have to improve on is third down defense. Ohio State converted on 10 of 17 third down situations, including going three of four on the final series of the game.
This also included a third-and-19 situation that Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord took advantage of the soft coverage, connecting with wide receiver Emeka Egbuka on the critical down.
These will be addressed moving forward. I don’t expect Notre Dame to have many more mental errors like they had Saturday night lining up. I do expect a Notre Dame team that will contend for a College Football Playoff spot.
