Here are 4 things we learned from the Ohio State Buckeyes' win over Notre Dame

After three pretty run-of-the-mill warmup games, fans got a thriller to remember in Ohio State's 17-14 win over Notre Dame on Saturday.

An offense that failed on two fourth-and-1 tries managed to punch it in with 1 second left for a dramatic win.

A huge play was quarterback Kyle McCord's 21-yard pass to Emeka Egbuka on third-and-19 to put the ball at the 1 and set up the game-winning touchdown.

That keeps Ohio State's drive for another playoff spot alive, with two tough games remaining, vs. Penn State on Oct. 21 and at Michigan on Nov. 25.

Here are four things we learned from Saturday's game:

Buckeye fans should hope Lou Holtz keeps talking

Most of the time, Ohio State coach Ryan Day is a nice guy, calm under pressure and fairly understated. The last few days were the exception.

He admitted to being ornery leading up to the game against Notre Dame, and on game day he was outright livid. He didn't go full-on Deion and yell "We comin!" and "It's personal!" over and over, but he was plenty emotional immediately after the win.

Day is tired of his Buckeyes being called soft. And the one who hit the nerve more than anyone was 86-year-old former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, who said Friday that Day's teams were, well, soft.

"You look at coach (Ryan) Day — and I coached at Ohio State under Woody Hayes," Holtz said. "We won the national championship when I was there. I'm proud of that. However, he has lost to Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Michigan twice. And everybody (that) beats him, does so because they are more physical than Ohio State. And I think Notre Dame will take that same approach."

That had Day boiling, and he let it go after the game.

"Toughness. Toughness. That's it," Day said when asked what was the difference in the closely contested win. "Physicality, across the board. Finish it off. Having guts. And I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team - what he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team. We're proud to be from Ohio. It's always been Ohio against the world. And it'll continue to be Ohio against the world. And I'll tell you I love those kids."

The "soft" label actually originated in Ann Arbor after a Michigan win had Wolverines coaches ripping the Buckeyes. Bottom line is that until they match up physically with Michigan, the label will stay.

Offensive line is still a problem

Which brings us to the trenches. The Buckeyes were unable to run the ball consistently, and quarterback Kyle McCord was consistently under pressure. They were stopped twice on fourth-and-1, in the second quarter with an incomplete pass into the end zone and in the fourth quarter on an Emeka Egbuka jet sweep, before finally getting a muscle yard when it counted at the end, but there is a lot of work to do on the line.

Notre Dame can't count

On the two biggest plays of the night, and perhaps the season, for Notre Dame, the Irish had only 10 defenders on the field. And lucky for Ohio State, the Buckeyes ran the winning play to the side missing a defender. In fact, the right side of the Notre Dame defense had no linemen.

In a game of inches, that mattered.

Pass rush needs to be more of a factor

Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman had too much time to pass, just as previous opponents' passers did. Hartman was hurried only three times, most notably on blitzes. Star defensive end J.T. Tuimolau played a great game, with six tackles and a pass breakup, and is extremely active, but he is not looking like a pass rusher. Same with the other end, Jack Sawyer, who had one tackle and one pass breakup. Neither has a sack yet this season, and neither had a hurry on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame regularly harassed McCord. Leading the way was end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, a transfer from Ohio State who had eight tackles and a hurry.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football defeats Notre Dame: 4 things we learned about OSU