Know Your Opponent: Buckeyes Take On Notre Dame

The Ohio State Buckeyes are slated to square off against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Fiesta Bowl

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish finished the season with two losses, but don’t let the record fool you. The Irish were a handful of plays away from winning both of those games, and would have been included in yesterday’s unveiling of the second ever College Football Playoff. Both of those losses came to teams that were ranked in the top 6 of the final rankings.

An early October showdown with Clemson, then ranked 12th, saw the game come down to an Irish two point conversion that was thwarted with just seven seconds left in the game. Dealing with monsoon conditions, Notre Dame fell into a hole early, and it only got deeper as the second half got started. A Clemson touchdown less than a minute into the second half put the Irish down 21-3, but the Irish would outscore Clemson 19-3 in the fourth quarter to pull within two. They couldn’t finish off the comeback, suffering their first loss of the season. Sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer, a Toldeo native, played well in just his third start. He completed 19 of his 34 attempts for 321 yards and two scores. He also ran for 55 yards and a score.

Despite that October loss, Notre Dame still found themselves right in the thick of the playoff conversation on the final week of the regular season. Traveling West for a big one against Stanford, Notre Dame engineered one of the most impressive drives of the season to take the lead with just 30 seconds left. That drive spanned 15 plays and covered 88 yards. 30 seconds proved to be too much time, though, as the Cardinal went 45 yards in 5 plays, setting up a game-winning field goal. That field goal, along with the failed two point conversion against Clemson, are why Notre Dame is playing in the Fiesta Bowl and not in a national semifinal.

More from Scarlet and Game

• Ohio State Football: How Denzel Burke has bounced back so far this season
• Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes conference schedule is set
• Ohio State Football rolling into form at the perfect time
• How Ohio State football has done historically versus new Big 12
• Ohio State Football: We need to see “Killer Ryan Day” at South Bend

Given the adversity that the Irish have had to overcome, the fact that they came into the final weekend of the regular season with legitimate playoff chances is something to behold. After all, every Buckeye fan can appreciate the “next man up” mentality. Junior Malik Zaire was expected to be the guy to lead the Irish offense in 2015. In his first ever start, the season opener against Texas, Zaire was lights out. He completed all but three of his 22 attempts, throwing for 313 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-3 rout of the Longhorns. The performance went a long way in silencing one of the biggest questions surrounding the team.

Unfortunately, Zaire broke his ankle the following week and was lost for the season. DeShone Kizer has filled the void nicely since he was thrust into the spotlight. He has completed 63% of his passes for 2,600 yards and 19 touchdowns. Kizer is a true dual-threat quarterback as well, amassing 500 yards on the ground and scoring 9 times. He has been prone to turnovers at times this year, tossing 9 picks. Having a future first round pick to throw to always helps the cause, and the Irish certainly have that in Will Fuller. Fuller has been as good as it gets at the receiver position. He has over 1,100 yards receiving this year, and has caught 13 touchdown passes. While the catches are down a bit from the 76 that he caught last year, he has done more with less, averaging just over 20 yards a catch.

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame’s leading rusher from last year, Tarean Folston, tore his ACL on the second drive of the opener against Texas. C.J. Prosise has proven to be more than capable in his absence, rushing for just over 1,000 yards and 13 scores. He has been banged up this season as well, but the rushing attack still hasn’t missed a beat. Freshman Josh Adams turned in the best performance of his young career against Stanford, carrying the ball 18 times for 168 yards and a score. Prosise should be ready to go against the Buckeyes, giving Notre Dame two quality backs to turn to.

As is the case with any offense, success on offense will be a product of the offensive line play, and Notre Dame has a good one. Anchored by two future pros, the unit has paved the way for an offense that has averaged 35 points a game. Center Nick Martin has started 36 games in his career, and tackle Ronnie Staley has made 38. Staley would have been a first round pick last year, had he declared. They have given up 22 sacks this year, though, providing a reason for optimism for Bosa and Co.

The other side of the ball has seen mixed results. On paper, the Notre Dame defense doesn’t appear to be all that stout. They rank only 65th in rushing defense, giving up an average of 166 yards per game. Numbers do, in fact, lie sometimes. That number is inflated by the 534 combined yards they gave up against option teams in Georgia Tech and Navy. In the Stanford game they were able to keep Christian McCaffrey under 100 yards, despite the fact that he was nearing 30 carries. McCaffrey came into the game having hit the century mark in nine straight games. Outside linebacker Jaylon Smith is as good as there is in the country. A Butkus Award finalist, he has racked up 114 tackles this year.

The pass defense is yielding just under 200 yards a game, but took a hit a few weeks ago when KeiVarae Russell broke his leg in the game against Boston College. The following week Kevin Hogan torched Notre Dame for 269 yards and 4 touchdowns. The defensive line does not help their secondary out much, either, registering only 23 sacks this season. That is tied for 77th most in the country. Romeo Okwara has 9 of those sacks, to go along with his 13.5 tackles for loss. The unit could also get a major boost if Jarron Jones is able to go. Head coach Brian Kelly has said in recent weeks that Jones is about 4-6 weeks away, putting him on a timeline that could have him ready to take his first snaps of the season. Notre Dame is -5 in turnover margin, having only forced 13 turnovers while turning it over 18 times.

The special teams have been kind to the Irish this year, and they may have found a budding star in C.J. Sanders. Sanders has returned both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns. Kicker Justin Yoon is 15 out of 17 on field goals for the year, including a 52 yard make.

As always, Notre Dame has NFL talent all over the field. Depth has allowed them to overcome numerous injuries that would have derailed a lot of seasons. The Buckeyes match up well with the Irish on paper. This will be the most dynamic offense they have seen this year, and containing mobile quarterbacks hasn’t been easy in years past for the Silver Bullets. Offensively, balance is always key, and it will be especially big in this one. Notre Dame’s defense, while not poor, is very susceptible to the big play. Keeping their defense on their heels will yield chunk yardage. Expect points to be scored in this one, and the game may very well come down to which defense can get that one or two more stops in a back and forth affair.

Next: Spartans A Team of Destiny?

No matter what is said, it is impossible to believe there isn’t a great deal of disappointment from both programs over not getting into the playoff. Both teams were just a few plays away. But, as far as consolation prizes go, this matchup is as appetizing as it gets. Two of the true titans of college football, with something to prove, on New Year’s Day. It isn’t a national title, but the fun quotient on this one should make it a special Fiesta Bowl nonetheless.