Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 MARCH 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED times for 34 yards and completed 3 of 5 pass attempts for 31 yards. Notable Stats: Notre Dame out- gained Ohio State 75-62 in total yards and had 6 first downs to the Buckeyes' 4. The Irish possessed the ball for 9:45 and converted 2 of 4 third-down tries while the Buckeyes were 2 of 2 on third down. Items: Only two of the 18 plays on Notre Dame's first drive stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage … Notre Dame converted on fourth down twice, both pickups on the ground via Leon- ard's legs … Ohio State got the ball and started rolling on offense in its own right, taking the ball into the red zone on the final play of the quarter. SECOND QUARTER OHIO STATE 21, NOTRE DAME 7 Top moments: From a Notre Dame perspective, it was two punts. James Rendell booted the first 46 yards and Ohio State was pushed back another 10 yards for a holding penalty, and he kicked a 51-yarder with a negative three- yard return. Not much else to get excited about for the Irish in this quarter. Feature performer: Ohio State quarterback Will Howard completed 10 of 11 pass attempts for 106 yards with 2 touchdowns. He also ran 5 times for 21 yards. Notable Stats: Ohio State outgained Notre Dame 169-18 in total yards and had 11 first downs to the Irish's 0. The Buckeyes possessed the ball for 11:22 and converted 4 of 4 third-down tries while the Irish were 0 of 2 on third down. Items: Ohio State got a touchdown from Jeremiah Smith and two from Quin- shon Judkins … The Irish had the ball twice and went three-and-out both times … The Buckeyes' third touchdown of the quarter came with 33 seconds left and gave them a stranglehold on the game. THIRD QUARTER OHIO STATE 31, NOTRE DAME 15 Top moment: Notre Dame sopho- more receiver Jaden Greathouse caught a pass over the middle, broke a tackle and made a man miss with a spin move and ran into the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown to give the Irish life with 3:13 left in the quarter. Feature performer: Leonard sprung to life and completed 5 of 7 pass at- tempts for 62 yards, and he also exe- cuted a shovel pass on a successful two- point conversion to sophomore tailback Jeremiyah Love. Notable Stats: Ohio State outgained Notre Dame 105-68 in total yards. Notre Dame had the edge in first downs, 5-4. The Buckeyes possessed the ball for 8:43 and converted 2 of 3 third-down tries while the Irish were 1 of 2 on third down. Items: Ohio State broke the game wide open with a touchdown in the first couple minutes of the quarter; Quin- shon Judkins set himself up for a 1-yard score with a 70-yard rush on the sec- ond play of the second half … Notre Dame tried a fake punt via a pass from Steve Angeli on fourth-and-2 from its own 33; an accurate ball from Angeli went through the hands of sophomore receiver Jordan Faison … Ohio State scored a field goal off the gifted field position after the failed fake punt. FOURTH QUARTER OHIO STATE 34, NOTRE DAME 23 Top moment: Jaden Greathouse caught his second touchdown of the second half with 4:21 left in the game. The Irish were successful on the en- suing two-point conversion via a trick play pass by Faison to graduate student receiver Beaux Collins, and all of a sud- den it was a one-score game at 31-23. Feature performer: Greathouse caught 5 of 6 targets for 94 yards and the touchdown. He was dynamite. Notable Stats: Notre Dame out- gained Ohio State 147-109 in total yards and had 8 first downs to the Buckeyes' 3. The Irish possessed the ball for 7:55 and converted 2 of 4 third-down tries while the Buckeyes were 1 of 3 on third down. Items: Notre Dame elected to at- tempt a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 9-yard line trailing by 16 with just less than 10 minutes left, and Mitch Jeter booted the kick off the right up- right … On third-and-11 from the Ohio State 34 with less than three minutes left, Howard hit freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith for a gain of 56 yards; the Buckeyes kicked a game-sealing 33- yard field goal a few plays later. ✦ Senior quarterback Riley Leonard did his best to rally the Irish in the second half, completing 17 of 22 passes for 209 yards with 2 touchdowns over the final 30 minutes before the comeback bid fell short. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER