Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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20 MARCH 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. This Notre Dame Team, Once Again, Found A Way To Keep Fighting Rocco Spindler isn't much for postgame inter‑ views, particularly after a game like this. But when he overheard a question asked to his Notre Dame teammate, Pat Coogan, he had to speak up. Coogan was asked how the Irish clawed back into the national championship after trailing 31‑7. Almost under his breath, Spindler responded, "Keep punching." "Just one play at a time," Coogan added. "Can't score 24 in one play." Senior quarterback Riley Leonard and sopho‑ more wide receiver Jaden Greathouse led the way for the Notre Dame offense, connecting six times for 128 yards and leading two touchdown drives. Both included successful two‑point conversions, including a reverse pass from sophomore wide re‑ ceiver Jordan Faison to graduate student wideout Beaux Collins. Imagine the shock Ohio State's defenders, four of whom thought they had snuffed out a reverse to Faison and were prepared to tackle him, felt in that moment. The Irish just would not go away. Ohio State scored touchdowns on each of its first four possessions. Somehow, some way, Notre Dame allowed only two field goals in the remain‑ ing 27:46 of game time. "I think our kids kept fighting," defensive coor‑ dinator Al Golden said. "You can't call anything if the kids don't keep fighting. The kids kept fighting. It's in their DNA." This, as we've written before at Blue & Gold Illustrated, is what's special about this football team. These guys just refused to lie down all season long. NIU didn't break them. Season‑ending injuries to six key starters didn't break them. Even an immensely talented Ohio State team asserting its dominance for two quar‑ ters and change didn't break them. When the Buckeyes lined up for a 33‑ yard field goal with 26 seconds left to put themselves up by two scores, the block unit threw every ounce of fire‑ power it had left at Ohio State junior kicker Jayden Fielding. It wasn't enough. The Irish fell short. But it wasn't too little, too late either. Notre Dame gave itself a shot. 2. Notre Dame Believed Its 24-Point Deficit Was Self-Inflicted When the Irish said they didn't care about being heavy underdogs and were there to win a football game, they meant it. They truly meant it. On both sides of the ball, but par‑ ticularly on offense, they believed that their second‑half performance was who they really are. Notre Dame recognized the role Ohio State played, but the players thought the 31‑7 third‑ quarter deficit was in large part due to self‑inflicted wounds. "We did a lot of stuff to shoot ourselves in the foot, and that killed us early," sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse said. "That's literally what cost us the game," senior tight end Mitchell Evans said. "We just did what we knew we were gonna do the whole game, but we just couldn't do it." On Notre Dame's second drive, a false start on graduate student wide receiver Beaux Collins and holding penalty on sophomore left tackle Charles Jagusah doomed the Irish. One possession later, Evans and/or Coogan mistimed a pre‑snap mo‑ tion on third‑and‑5, creating a fumble. The former picked up the loose ball, but it killed the play be‑ fore it started and forced a punt again. Ohio State was awfully good, but Notre Dame didn't give itself a chance in that second quarter. 3. However, It's Almost Impossible To Stop Ohio State When Will Howard Plays Like That Notre Dame hurt itself by failing to put pressure on Ohio State's signal‑caller (more on that later). But when Howard plays as well as he did in that first half — completing 14 of 15 pass attempts and throwing 2 touchdowns — the Buckeyes are unbeatable. Several times, Howard had a running lane but he kept his eyes downfield and distributed the ball to Ohio State's many weapons. His timing was impeccable. He was extremely accurate. There was one dig route to sophomore wideout Carnell Tate against sophomore Irish cornerback Christian Gray that prompted me to think, "I have no idea what Notre Dame is supposed to do about that." It was just tremendous quarterbacking from the Kansas State transfer. Say what you will about playing man coverage late, the Irish called plenty of zone in that first half. Howard picked it apart. 4. I Had No Issue With The Fourth-Quarter Field-Goal Decision Sometimes, the phrase "two‑score game" can be a little disingenuous. On fourth‑and‑goal from the Ohio State 9‑yard line, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman sent out his kicking unit. The Irish trailed by 16, so technically, even with an additional three points it still would have been a two‑score game. However, making up 16 points requires a pair of two‑point conversions. Two‑point conversions are hard. So, by the way, is converting fourth‑and‑goal from the 9‑yard line. Plus, the dream scenario that comes with being down 16 is sending the game to overtime; with being down 13, it's win‑ ning in regulation. In the moment, not enough people consider the difference between those two outcomes. With 9:31 to go, the best way for Freeman to increase Notre Dame's win probability was prob‑ ably doing what he did. "I just thought instead of being down 16, let's try to go down 13," Freeman said. "I know it's still a two‑score game, but you have a better prob‑ ability of getting 14 points than you do 16 points. "If it was a shorter fourth‑and‑goal situation, I probably would have gone for it, but I just felt fourth‑and‑9 was not a great chance for us to make it and decided to kick it." Of course, Mitch Jeter doinked the kick off the upright. No matter the deci‑ sion, players have to execute. 5. Defensive Line Injuries Finally Caught Up To Notre Dame Notre Dame survived — thrived, even — for so long without three of its four best pass rushers and the fourth, grad‑ uate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III, limited with an ankle injury. But in the national championship game, the Irish felt the absence of Ry‑ lie Mills, Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore. Not only did they not pressure Howard nearly enough, but they al‑ lowed 219 sack‑adjusted rushing yards on 39 carries (5.6 yards per attempt) and 2 touchdowns. Their only tackle for loss came from graduate student safety Xavier Watts, who sniffed out a jet sweep and stopped freshman Buck‑ eyes wideout Jeremiah Smith five yards behind the line of scrimmage. An undersized and undermanned defensive front lost their battle, and a rash of injuries finally caught up to the Irish. FIVE THOUGHTS BY JACK SOBLE Notre Dame — which had only graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III (No. 56) available out of its top four pass rushers — was unable to get enough pressure on quarterback Will Howard or slow down the Buckeyes' run game (219 sack-adjusted yards and 2 scores). PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER