Ohio State vs Notre Dame

I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Ohio State vs Notre Dame game on Saturday night and it did not disappoint. The energy was great, and the game was close until the fourth quarter.

Ohio State entered the game ranked #2 and Notre Dame was ranked #5. After watching this game, I expect Notre Dame to stay at #5 and I expect Ohio State to move down, especially after how the Georgia game went this weekend. Notre Dame was very impressive and battled until the end whereas Ohio State couldn’t get much going at all until the fourth quarter.

Stroud, favored to be a Heisman finalist, went 24-34 for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Once he got settled in, he was fantastic. In the second half, you saw him extend plays by leaving the pocket and as he was about to get hit, he would complete a throw ten yards while on the run. Treveyon Henderson (15 carries for 91 yards) and Emeka Egbuka (9 receptions, 91 yards, TD) were the main guys to help Ohio State move down the field.

Stroud, Henderson, and Egbuka were big parts of Ohio State’s late-game success, but the defense is the bigger story. Last season, their defense was a big problem and in their first game of the new season, they hold the #5 ranked team to 10 points. It looks to be a significant improvement thus far.

Onto Notre Dame where they have a new head coach in Marcus Freeman, a former Ohio State football player and Cincinnati coach. Notre Dame put up a great fight, but ultimately Ohio State just took over. Sophomore QB Tyler Buchner was impressive. He went 10-18 and 177 yards. Those stats don’t show it, but his 138.2 QBR sure does. They got worn down at the end and couldn’t stop Ohio State, but don’t be mistaken, this team is legit. rom tailgating with fans dressed up as leprechauns to the entire stadium chanting “O-H-I-O”, it was a weekend to remember.

Photo creds - Kylee Sullenberger

Kylee Sullenberger - Beer Battered Sports/ Olde City Sports Network