Ohio State graduate cornerback Cameron Brown (26) lines up prior to the snap during then-No. 2 Ohio State’ss 21-10 win over then-No. 5 Notre Dame Saturday. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
Even under the bright lights with stakes high during No. 3 Ohio State’s first top-five season-opener against then-No. 5 Notre Dame, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and the Buckeyes kept their defense simple.
The Buckeyes made adjustments at halftime Saturday, overcoming a 10-7 deficit by shutting out the Fighting Irish and limiting them to 72 total yards in the second half. Despite hype surrounding the new-look defense, Knowles said Ohio State was “rather basic” in applying new concepts.
“There’s still a lot of things that we haven’t shown,” Knowles said. “I wanted to keep it that way for the players so they could play fast and not worry about making mistakes.”
Notre Dame outdueled Ohio State in the first half, totaling 181 yards of offense to the Buckeyes’ 149. On the first offensive play in the first quarter, Fighting Irish second-year quarterback Tyler Buchner completed a pass to second-year wide receiver Lorenzo Styles Jr. for 54 yards.
The opening reception was among Buchner’s eight first-half completions, but he was held to two throughout the third and fourth quarters. Safeties coach Perry Eliano said Tuesday Ohio State’s secondary and defense overall took the coaches’ message throughout the preseason and rose to the occasion against Notre Dame.
“I was more proud because we were tough. We were physical,” Eliano said. “I’m more proud about that, that we really, really stepped up to the challenge of being able to respond when adverse situations hit and also being able to be physical and tough and make sure that they felt this at the end of the game.”
Neither Notre Dame nor Ohio State committed a turnover in the season-opener, and both teams nearly matched one another in the run game in the first half behind 53 and 50 rushing yards, respectively.
However, Ohio State pulled away in the trench battle in the second half, running for 122 yards and a score while holding the Fighting Irish to just 23 yards on the ground.
Head coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish battled over field position, making it important to maintain possession of the football.
“When you’re playing against a team that wants to run the ball, you have to be smart because all it takes is one turnover, and you could be up against it,” Day said. “We tried to do the same thing — run the football, take care of the football and win that style of game — which is a different style of game than maybe we’ve been in the past.”
Rather than risk a turnover on downs or giveaway, Day opted to punt in some scenarios and put faith in the Buckeye defense, such as when the Buckeyes chose to not go for it on fourth down with three yards to go on Notre Dame’s 39-yard line while trailing 10-7 with less than nine minutes left in the second quarter.
Ohio State’s defense responded by allowing the Fighting Irish to gain 23 yards on the ensuing drive, the first after Notre Dame took the lead on a go-ahead touchdown earlier in the quarter. The Buckeyes didn’t allow another score, and that motivated their offense to generate their comeback victory, according to third-year quarterback C.J. Stroud.
“It’s definitely a great feeling as an offense knowing that you have a great defense that you can rely on,” Stroud said. “Even on some of those fourth downs where I thought that we’re going to go for it, coach Day decided to punt, which I had no problem with, because he has so much trust in our defense.”
