Notre Dame Football: How Irish score on Ohio State in Fiesta Bowl

The Ohio State Buckeyes have one of the nation’s best defenses, but can they slow down the Notre Dame Fighting Irish offense in the Fiesta Bowl?

The Irish offense vs. the Ohio State defense should be one of the most intriguing matchups of the bowl season. Both units have seen great success this season.

The Notre Dame football team has been tested this season playing the likes of Clemson, Boston College, Temple and Pittsburgh. While those defenses were ranked in the top 30, the Irish offense was still able to put up at least 430 yards of offense and each of those games.

Ohio State has the 10th ranked defense, but they have really only played one elite offense and that was Indiana. The Hoosiers were able to put up 27 points and over 400 yards of offense against the Buckeyes.

Notre Dame will arguably be the most talented offense Ohio State will see all season, and they will be without one of their best interior defensive linemen in Adolphus Washington as he has been suspended for the game.

Without Washington in the middle, the Irish should have a little easier time running the ball against OSU’s No. 21 ranked rush defense. C.J. Prosise’s status for the game is still unclear, but if he isn’t able to go the Irish have Josh Adams who is more than capable to shoulder the load.

Prosise was not able to go in two of the season’s last three games and Adams stepped in and the Irish run game didn’t miss a beat.

In games against Wake Forest and Stanford Adams rushed for 141 and 168 yards. Quarterback DeShone Kizer has also mightily contributed to the run game as well. He has rushed for 499 yards and nine touchdowns this season.

Notre Dame has been able to run the ball all year behind a stout offensive line. Even though Ohio State has a great front seven, expect the Irish to get things going on the ground.

One area where the Irish will need to capitalize is in the red zone and not just capitalize with field goals, but with touchdowns. That was one of the things that plagued ND in the season-ending loss to Stanford. Coincidentally the Irish are tied at 89th with Ohio State in red zone conversion rate.

Ohio State has been one of the top teams in terms of not letting up touchdowns in the red zone. They have given up just 16 touchdowns in the red zone this season which is good for 11th nationally.

There are a few individual matchups to watch in this game. The first is between two All-Americans, Ohio State’s defensive end Joey Bosa and Notre Dame’s left tackle Ronnie Stanley. Bosa and Stanley are sure-fire first round picks in the upcoming NFL Draft. Bosa coming off the edge and Stanley trying to stop him will be a matchup worth watching.

The other matchup to watch is on the outside between Notre Dame’s All-American wide receiver Will Fuller and Ohio State’s top corner Eli Apple. Fuller has had an outstanding year. He has amounted 1,145 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. He is one of the ND’s big play threats. Expect the Irish to take their shots with Fuller if he’s matched up one-on-one with Apple.

So can the Irish exploit the Buckeye defense?”

I am going to with the Irish offense in this matchup. This is one of the Buckeyes real first tests of the season, and it’s coming in January.

The Irish are going to have to follow a similar game plan that Indiana had for Ohio State. In that matchup the Hoosiers controlled the clock and tried to establish a ground game. Notre Dame will need to do much of the same. The less time that J.T. Barrett and Ezekiel Elliot spend on the field will be for the better.

Notre Dame will need to take shots down the field when they get the chance. Fuller has been a big-play threat all season. When he makes big plays it usually translates to Irish wins. If Fuller gets matched up one-on-one it will be game over.

The Irish have had success against other stout defenses this season. I don’t think it should be any different in this matchup. As long as the Irish can follow the game plan I stated above, and limit turnovers and convert in the red zone, it should mean more success for the ND offense.

Kizer has played at an elite level for most of the season. He needs to limit the turnovers. If he does, expect him to have another great game on the big stage.

Ohio State’s offense will have the advantage over the ND defense, so this should be a high-scoring affair, much like the ND vs. Stanford game. And just like that game, whoever has the ball last could be the winner.