Sunday Rewind: Ohio State 17, Notre Dame 14
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Ohio State has been on the wrong side of high-stakes heartbreakers in the Ryan Day era.
It was in the College Football Playoff semifinal in December when kicker Noah Ruggles hooked a game-winning field goal attempt from 50 yards left of the uprights as time expired, keeping the Buckeyes from upsetting top-ranked Georgia.
In another semifinal in 2019, a miscommunication between quarterback Justin Fields and wide receiver Chris Olave resulted in an interception in the waning seconds against Clemson to also prevent them from reaching the championship game.
The only one-score game against another ranked team in Day’s tenure to go the Buckeyes’ way was the Rose Bowl against Utah two seasons ago.
That’s what made Ohio State’s 17-14 win at Notre Dame on Saturday night almost novel. It was the Irish who were in anguish, while the Buckeyes left Notre Dame Stadium in euphoria following the back-and-forth affair between top-10 teams.
The Buckeyes rallied with a touchdown in the last second to push themselves further toward contention for a berth in the playoff by notching one of the better nonconference wins in the nation so far this season.
Here are more stats and observations from the win:
Star of the game
Emeka Egbuka was a consistent receiving target for quarterback Kyle McCord, catching seven passes for 96 yards, including a 21-yard reception on a third-and-19 that positioned Ohio State at the 1-yard line for Chip Trayanum’s game-winning touchdown.
Other standouts
TreVeyon Henderson ignited the Buckeyes' offense by taking off for a 61-yard touchdown in the third quarter. McCord delivered several throws in the clutch, Trayanum had the most critical run and Lathan Ransom had a career-high 13 tackles, including one on a fourth-and-1 in the third quarter with fellow safety Sonny Styles that stuffed Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman.
Turning point
Notre Dame had an opportunity to ice the game when it began a drive with 4:12 left. But Ohio State defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau made consecutive big plays, chasing down Hartman for a loss of 5 yards and breaking up a pass to set the Irish back, leading to a punt and returning possession to the Buckeyes with 1:26 left.
Second-guessing
When Trayanum ran in for the game-winning touchdown at the goal line, Notre Dame had lined up with only 10 defenders. Coach Marcus Freeman said he was attempting to insert a fourth defensive lineman, but it was too late and he did not want to risk being flagged for an illegal substitution. But a penalty would have been the better alternative. The Buckeyes would have moved only half the distance to the goal, making up just half a yard, and the Irish would not have been outnumbered at the line of scrimmage.
Repercussions
Day bought himself some goodwill among a demanding fan base after the Buckeyes lost high-profile games at the end of last season to Georgia and Michigan. The win also proved cathartic for Day, who went off on legendary former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz for calling out the Buckeyes' toughness a day before kickoff.
Playoff forecast
A loss would have removed any margin of error for Ohio State, which would have been in the position of needing to win out in order to make the four-team postseason. The victory will be a boost. Last season’s nonconference win over Notre Dame was a factor in the Buckeyes nabbing the No. 4 seed.
Confidence calculator
9/10: The Buckeyes showed resolve, prevailing in a tough environment over a top-10 team, and the lack of super teams puts some of Ohio State’s flaws in perspective.
Numbers to know
0: Number of fourth-down attempts that were successful by Notre Dame. The Buckeyes stopped the Irish twice.
3: Penalties by Ohio State’s offensive line, which included a false start and unnecessary roughness calls against right tackle Josh Fryar and a false start by left tackle Josh Simmons.
5.5: Average yards per play by Notre Dame after it had posted a mark of 8.3 over its previous four games.
76.9%: Completion percentage on third down by McCord, who completed 10 of 13 passes for 155 yards. He was 11 of 24 (45.8%) for 85 yards on all other downs.
175: Passing yards by Hartman, his fewest since throwing for 111 yards against Virginia Tech in 2020.
Depth chart development
The Buckeyes started Cody Simon as a third linebacker alongside Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers. The use of heavier personnel was to help their defense up front against Notre Dame’s ground game. Simon made his most significant impact when he knocked Hartman out of bounds on a fourth down in the first quarter, resulting in a turnover on downs for Notre Dame.
Knee-jerk message board threads
“Jim Tressel offense, zone D” - bucknuts.com
“Did Ryan Day finally learn how to get a 4th and 1?!” - dottingtheeyes.com
“ND 2023 was a MUCH better team than ND 2022. We beat some grown men.” - theozone.net
Who’s next
The Buckeyes are idle next weekend before hosting Maryland for homecoming on Oct. 7. The Terrapins, who are unbeaten after handling Michigan State on Saturday have gotten off to fast starts in recent seasons. They were 3-1 in September last year and 4-0 in the first month in 2021. Before coming to the Horseshoe, Maryland hosts Indiana.
Final thought
Here’s a toast to this home-and-home series, which provided competitive contests in Columbus and South Bend. It’s rare for the Midwestern blue bloods to meet in the regular season. These teams' only other matchups on campus came in 1935, 1936, 1995 and 1996. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told The Dispatch last year that it’s unlikely they would schedule each other again until the 2030s. But the games were too compelling for these meetings not to become a more common occurrence moving forward.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He can also be contacted at jkaufman@dispatch.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football analysis on Buckeyes win at Notre Dame
