Notre Dame football: 3 takeaways from heartbreaking loss to Ohio State

Notre Dame football came into Saturday night averaging 46 points per game. Ohio State averaged 40 points per game. Not many people predicted this would be a defensive battle. That is exactly what tonight’s home game in South Bend was. In a game featuring some of the best offensive players in the country, each team’s defense took over tonight.

Ohio State took a 3-0 lead into the locker room. Notre Dame decided they were going with what brought them to the dance: the running game. Led by junior Audric Estime, four running backs got meaningful carries tonight, and the Irish running game found its footing in the second half.

The Ohio State running game was not to be outdone. TreVeyon Henderson ran for a 61-yard touchdown in the third quarter to extend the Buckeye’s lead to 10-0. Notre Dame then scored 14 unanswered points. Much of that was due to the Irish offensive line. They kept Hartman clean and the running game moving.

In close games, one or two plays usually decide the outcome of a game. Ohio State chose to run a jet sweep instead of either a quarterback sneak or straight ahead with Henderson was one of those plays. Ryan Day’s call with less than ten seconds left was the other.

Day noticed that Notre Dame overloaded one side of the field, and he ran Chip Traynum to the opposite side for the game-winning touchdown.