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Notre Dame against Ohio State in the national championship game.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

3 takeaways from Notre Dame’s crushing loss to Ohio State

Spenser Davis

By Spenser Davis

Published:


Notre Dame fell 34-23 on Monday night in the National Championship Game to Ohio State.

The Fighting Irish made a valiant comeback attempt after falling behind 31-7, but it wasn’t enough. The Irish got as close as 31-23, but they were unable to get a key stop late in the 4th quarter. Ohio State clinched the win with a field goal to make it an 11-point game with under 30 seconds remaining.

Here are 3 takeaways from Notre Dame’s loss:

Marcus Freeman’s rough night

Coaching has proved to be a big advantage for Notre Dame throughout the CFP, but that was not the case in Monday night’s title game. Marcus Freeman made multiple questionable decisions that contributed to Notre Dame’s loss.

He was highly-criticized for a failed fake punt early in the 2nd half that gave the Buckeyes excellent field position when Notre Dame could have just gone for it on 4th and short.

Then, in the 4th quarter, Freeman opted to kick a field goal on 4th and goal from the 9-yard line rather than go for it. The Irish were down 16 points at the time, so a field goal would have still made it a 2-possession game with under 10 minutes remaining. Mitch Jeter’s kick ended up deflecting off the post, so the Irish came up completely empty on that drive.

Notre Dame’s defense also came up woefully short in this game. The Irish gave up touchdowns on each of Ohio State’s 4 possessions to start the game. They played better in the 2nd half, but it wasn’t enough in the end.

3rd down troubles

Notre Dame really struggled on 3rd down in this game, particularly in the first half. After an 18-play touchdown drive to open up the game, the Irish ran just 7 plays for the rest of the first half. That included a kneel-down in the in the final minute, with the other 6 plays coming from a pair of 3-and-outs.

Notre Dame went 2-for-6 on third down in the first half and ended up just 5-for-12 for the game.

On the other side, Ohio State dominated on late downs. The Buckeyes went 6-for-6 on third down in the first half, leading to a trio of second-quarter TD drives. They ended up 9-for-12 for the game on third down.

Notre Dame never got its running game established

Notre Dame’s offensive identity all season revolved around its running game. Whether it was Riley Leonard, Jeremiyah Love or Jadarian Price, that’s how the Irish did the majority of their damage all season long.

But on Monday night, Ohio State shut that off. Leonard was able to make some progress on Notre Dame’s opening drive, but beyond that, it was a huge struggle for the Irish on the ground. Leonard finished the game with 40 yards on 17 carries. Price added 13 yards on 3 attempts. Love mustered just 3 yards on 4 rushes.

As a team, Notre Dame only had 53 yards and averaged just 2 yards per attempt.

Spenser Davis

Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.

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