Buckeyes Defeat Notre Dame 21-10 - Post Game Wrap Up - TakeAways

Ohio State vs. Notre Dame score, takeaways:

By Tom Fornelli No. 2 Ohio State overcame lackluster play and an injury to one of their star players while battling back and ultimately beating No. 5 Notre Dame 21-10 in an exciting season opener. The Buckeyes trailed at halftime and into the third quarter before the Ohio State offense put together its best drive of the night late in the contest as star quarterback C.J. Stroud completed 24 of 34 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns That 10-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Stroud to Xavier Johnson that seemed to wake up the Buckeyes and the 100,000 in attendance at Ohio Stadium. It was the last moment they had to cheer, however, as Ohio State followed with an even better drive, going 95 yards in 14 plays to put the game out of reach. After losing star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a leg injury in the first quarter, the Buckeyes struggled to find a rhythm on offense, but Emeka Egbuka and running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams stepped up to fill the void. The Fighting Irish offense got off to a promising start, picking up 54 yards on the first play of the night, but it managed only 199 yards for the rest of the game. Tyler Buchner (177 yards passing, 18 rushing) made some plays, but Notre Dame could never find consistency against an Ohio State defense that played with its hair on fire. Tommy Eichenberg finished with two sacks for Ohio State, while Mike Hall had another sack and two tackles for loss. With their second-half comeback, the Buckeyes were able to avoid becoming the first top two team to lose its season opener since No. 1 Miami fell to BYU to begin the 1990 season. Let's take a look at the key takeaways from Ohio State's big Week 1 win over Notre Dame. Ohio State's defense won the game There were questions about how Ohio State would perform in Jim Knowles' first game as defensive coordinator. Early returns are quite promising. While the Buckeyes ended up winning somewhat comfortably, it's only because their defense picked up a lackluster offense time and again. While Notre Dame hit the occasional big play through the air, the Buckeyes did not allow the Irish to string together significant drives. It looked like a completely different unit than the one that too often allowed teams to move the ball down the field in crucial spots last season. The most significant difference was the pressure. Knowles threw all sorts of disguises at the inexperienced Buchner. All of it -- blitzes, stunts, and pass-rushers like Zach Harrison dropping into coverage -- was designed to keep Buchner guessing and unsure of where to go with the ball; it worked, for the most part. The Buckeyes finished with six tackles for loss and three sacks as they held Notre Dame to 5.3 yards per play. More importantly, it allowed the Irish to convert only 3 of 13 third downs while forcing them into third-and-long situations all night. That kept the Irish from being able to sustain drives, and it bought the Buckeyes offense more time to figure things out. Ohio State's wide receiver depth is an issue Who would've thought we'd be saying that?! Ohio State's receiver corps is supposed to be the best in the country, but Smith-Njigba suffered an undisclosed leg injury on the team's first series and saw only a few more plays the rest of the night. Julian Fleming was already banged up. That meant the Buckeyes had to play with a lot of inexperienced receivers, and it showed. There was miscommunication about where they were supposed to be on routes and the timing was off with Stroud. Still, things picked up in the second half with Egbuka emerging as the most reliable target. Egbuka finished with nine receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown. Marvin Harrison Jr. caught five passes for 56 yards, and while Johnson caught only two passes, his 24-yard touchdown proved the game-winner. In the end, six receivers aside from Smith-Njigba (two catches, 3 yards) caught passes from Stroud on the evening. Notre Dame must find a run game Coming into the evening, I thought Notre Dame's problem on offense would be a lack of explosive plays in the passing game, making it difficult to keep up with the high-powered Ohio State offense. While they weren't consistent enough throughout the night, Buchner and his receivers hooked up for four passes of at least 20 yards, including a 54-yard connection with Lorenzo Styles on the first play of the game. The problem was the Irish couldn't do anything on the ground. The Ohio State defense held Notre Dame to only 76 yards rushing on 30 carries. Adjust for sacks, and that number only improves to 95 yards on 27 carries (3.5 per touch). With a young quarterback making his first start on the road in a demanding environment, the Irish would have ideally gotten more from their ground game to take the load off Buchner. Instead, Buchner had to carry the load, and it went about as well as you'd expect in the long run. Stroud can -- and must -- do better Frankly, Stroud looked ordinary in the first half and shaky to start the second half. It wasn't until the middle of the third quarter that he seemed to find a rhythm, and from that point onward, Ohio State took control of the game. Stroud's final stat line isn't going to turn many heads (not for the right reasons, anyway), but he made big throws late when he had to and helped his team pick up a crucial win.

Thoughts After Buckeye Win over Notre Dame STOCK UP/STOCK DOWN: By Griffin Strom STOCK UP JIM KNOWLES Things couldn’t have gone much better in Knowles’ debut as defensive coordinator for Ohio State. The Buckeyes gave up just 10 points to Notre Dame, none after halftime, and allowed the Irish to total just 72 yards in the second half. Marcus Freeman made no bones about his plan to run the ball against the Buckeyes, and Ohio State held Notre Dame to just 2.5 yards per carry in the win. Knowles put a stamp on the performance by saying “I expected” the dominant effort from his defense, and that he’s hardly had to dip into his bag of tricks just yet. RELATED Ohio State Shuts Out Notre Dame in Second Half During Best-Case Debut For Jim Knowles’ Defense: “I Expected This” MIKE HALL We heard about Mike Hall all preseason, but even that didn’t quite prepare us for what he was capable of in his first-ever start. The second-year defensive tackle dominated the line of scrimmage to finish with four total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hurry as he disrupted the rhythm of the Notre Dame offense for much of the night. Hall earned Ohio State’s defensive player of the game honors for his effort and boosted his stock considerably in the season opener. TOMMY EICHENBERG Eichenberg’s monster Rose Bowl performance appears to be no fluke. After finishing the 2021 season with a 17-tackle showcase against Utah, Eichenberg picked up right where he left off, leading the Buckeyes with nine tackles against the Irish. Three of those went for a loss, and Eichenberg also sacked Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner on two occasions. If you’ve listened to Knowles and company all offseason, you’d know Eichenberg has made waves behind the scenes, and he’s already proving why at the start of the regular season. XAVIER JOHNSON With all the talent in the Ohio State wide receivers room, who would’ve thought it would take a former walk-on to make the go-ahead touchdown grab against the No. 5 team in the country? Xavier Johnson entered the game without a catch for his career, but his 24-yard score in the third quarter gave the Buckeyes a lead they didn’t relinquish at the Horseshoe. With Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming both dealing with injury issues, Johnson may have more opportunities to make an impact in the weeks to come. LATHAN RANSOM No Buckeye had more momentum at the end of the preseason than Ransom, and we found out why on Saturday. The third-year safety didn’t start the game, but he played most of it at the bandit position, finishing with the second-most tackles on the team (seven) before all was said and done. Ransom’s speed and mean streak on the field make him an asset on the back end for the Buckeyes, and Knowles said he has no problem riding the hot hand. Just eight months removed from a gruesome leg fracture, Ransom’s playing his best football as a Buckeye to start his junior year. MIYAN WILLIAMS TreVeyon Henderson’s breakout freshman year left Williams overshadowed to start the 2022 season, but that may not be the case for long. The Cincinnati native received only one less carry than Henderson against Notre Dame, and he made several big plays on the 14-play, 95-yard drive that sealed the deal for Ohio State in the fourth quarter. Williams finished with 96 total yards for the game, 84 on the ground, and a two-yard touchdown that put Ohio State up two scores on the Irish late. UPSET-MINDED FLORIDA TEAMS Elsewhere in the college football landscape, things are looking up for a couple of Florida powers that have struggled to stay at the top of the sport in recent years. In its season opener against No. 7 Utah, Anthony Richardson powered the unranked Gators to a 29-26 win with a 100-yard, three-touchdown rushing performance from the quarterback position. Florida State made noise on Sunday night as well, staving off a late comeback bid by Brian Kelly’s first LSU team to start the year 1-0 with a 24-23 upset. STOCK DOWN BUCKEYE OFFENSE Let’s be honest: we all expected more from Ohio State’s high-octane offense in the season opener. The Buckeyes scored just seven points in the first half and 21 by game’s end, the fewest they’ve put up since 2018’s blowout loss to Purdue. C.J. Stroud had the second-lowest passing yardage performance of his career, and no Buckeye running back or wideout hit 100 yards from scrimmage for the game. Ohio State put up fewer yards of total offense than it had in any game last season. I fully expect the Buckeyes to get back on track in the weeks to come, and Notre Dame could end up being one of the best defenses Ohio State faces all regular season. But Week 1 was a letdown on offense nonetheless. RELATED Ohio State Shows It Can Win Tough Against Top Competition Despite Off Night on Offense BRIAN KELLY The Brian Kelly era didn’t start off with a bang in Baton Rouge. Although the Tigers nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback late, LSU dropped its first game of the season to Florida State at the Superdome in New Orleans as a blocked extra point with no time remaining cost it an opportunity to win the game in overtime. Kelly and company can regroup against Southern next week, but didn’t get the triumphant start to the season they were looking for. OREGON Oregon wasn’t supposed to beat defending national champion Georgia in Week 1. But the final score looked more like an FCS warmup for the Bulldogs than a matchup with the No. 11 team in the nation. The Ducks have now lost three games in a row dating back to last season after their latest 49-3 loss, having been outscored 134-45 in consecutive meetings with Utah, Oklahoma and Georgia. Last year’s win over the Buckeyes looked like it could be a landmark for the Duck program, but things have gone downhill in a hurry since then.