ND FOOTBALL: Buckeyes bring their own luck, silence Irish in 17-14 win

Sep. 24—SOUTH BEND — Green with envy is the best way to describe a shocked Notre Dame Stadium following No. 6 Ohio State's game-winning touchdown drive to beat No. 9 Notre Dame 17-14 Saturday night.

The Buckeyes' final drive, a 15-play, 65-yard series that left one second left on the clock, silenced the Notre Dame crowd as another opportunity against a top-10 team slipped away.

This time it was closer and down to the final minute, but the result was all too familiar for Notre Dame.

"To be on the losing side, it hurts, it stings," a dismayed Marcus Freeman said afterwards. "We got to get back to work on Monday and use the pain of this loss to really help us find a way to get better."

"We are disappointed, but we'll move forward."

Ohio State marched down the field with one timeout and worked past a 4th-and-7 at the Irish 39-yard line. Facing a third down and 19 yards to go on the Irish 22, starting quarterback Kyle McCord hit Emeka Egbuka for a gain of 21.

That set up the fatal final set of downs from the Notre Dame goal line. The Irish had stood up the Buckeyes on the opposite goal line earlier, but it was different this time.

Unsuccessful on the first two plays, Ohio State turned to DeaMonte Trayanum who ran in for the winning touchdown with a measly second left on the clock.

The Irish had only 10 players on the field for the winning play.

"We were trying to get a fourth [defensive] lineman on the field and I told him stay off because I didn't have any timeouts," Freeman said with a bit of awe and disbelief in his voice. "We couldn't afford a penalty there. It's on us; gotta be better."

The Irish had taken the lead for the first time Saturday night, scoring on a two-yard completion from Sam Hartman to Rico Flores Jr. It gave Notre Dame a 14-10 advantage with a little over eight minutes left in the final quarter.

"It was a tremendous feeling; I don't even remember it, I'll have to watch it later," Flores Jr. said.

It was the second straight Irish drive which resulted in a touchdown. Following a 3-0 deficit out of the break, Notre Dame trailed by 10 after a 61-yard touchdown run from Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson put the Buckeyes up 10-0.

The Irish answered on the following drive, inching the ball past the goal line for a one-yard score from Gi'Bran Payne.

Ohio State put up 366 yards of offense while Notre Dame compiled 351.

Hartman started the game 9-10 but finished 17-25, totaling 175 yards and the lone touchdown pass. Tight end Mitchell Evans grabbed a team-leading seven receptions, totaling 75 yards.

Notre Dame wanted to play aggressive.

"Anytime we're across the 50 [yard line], I'm probably going to go for it on fourth-and-one," Freeman said. "Obviously when you don't get it, its terrible, but the percentages show you that on fourth-and-one across the 50, you have to go for it."

Hartman was stopped at the marker on two fourth downs keepers. Similarly, Ohio State was stopped at the goal line in the first half as well as on fourth down late in the fourth quarter.

Spencer Shrader also missed a 47-yard field goal early in the second quarter as the scoreless, defensive battle remained as such.

The points left on the board and the final defensive drive doomed Notre Dame who is just beginning a stretch against three ranked opponents over the next four games. They start 0-1 on that campaign, getting No. 18 Duke next week, unbeaten Louisville the following week and No. 5 USC in South Bend Oct. 14.

"We know we have a lot of season left," captain J.D. Bertrand said. "We gotta learn from our mistakes, we got to go in tomorrow and be better than we were this past week in preparation and make sure that we as leaders lead and take a big step in leadership."

Now sitting at 4-1, Notre Dame's margin for error thins. Finishing 11-1 may be enough to sneak Freeman's team into the playoff if the schedule stays strong in its midsection. Another loss, however, would likely make a playoff appearance unlikely.

No. 9 Notre Dame has little time to rest and reflect. The Irish will travel to Durham, N.C. to take on the No. 18 Duke Blue Devils Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

ESPN's college football pregame show "College GameDay" will be with the Irish for a second-straight week.

How Notre Dame's opponents faired: Navy (1-2) OFF / Tennessee State (2-1) OFF / NC State (3-1) W 24-21 at Virginia / Central Michigan (2-2) W 34-30 at South Alabama / #6 Ohio State (4-0) W 17-14 at #9 Notre Dame (4-1) / #18 Duke (4-0) W 41-7 at UConn / Louisville (4-0) W 56-28 vs Boston College / #5 USC (4-0) W 42-28 at Arizona State / Pittsburgh (1-3) L 24-41 vs #17 North Carolina / Clemson (2-2) L 24-31 (OT) vs #4 Florida State / Wake Forest (3-1) L 16-30 vs Georgia Tech / Stanford (1-3) L 20-21 vs Arizona

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

No. 6 OSU — 0; 3; 7; 7 — 17

No. 9 ND — 0; 0; 7; 7 — 14

SCORING

First quarter

N/A

Second quarter

OSU 0:26 — Jayden Fielding's 31-yard field goal is good (OSU: 3-0)

Third quarter

OSU 11:14 — TreVeyon Henderson 61-yard touchdown run; Fielding's PAT is good (OSU 10-0)

ND 3:35 — Gi'Bran Payne takes the direct snap as scores the one-yard Irish touchdown; Spencer Shrader's PAT is good (OSU 10-7)

Fourth quarter

ND 8:22 — Sam Hartman pass complete to Rico Flores Jr for two-yard touchdown; Shrader's PAT is good (ND 14-10)

OSU 0:01 — DeaMonte Trayanum rushes for one-yard touchdown; Fielding's PAT is good (OSU 17-14)

STATISTICS

Sam Hartman: 17-25, 175 yards, TD

Audric Estime: 14 carries, 70 yards

Jeremiyah Love: 8 carries, 57 yards

Mitchell Evans: 7 catches, 75 yards

Rico Flores Jr. 3 catches, 20 yards

Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.