Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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TURNING POINT After sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer found senior Chris Brown on a four-yard touchdown pass to pull within 28-21 with 8:56 remaining in the third quarter, Notre Dame had scored 14 unan- swered points and established some momentum and energy. The Fighting Irish then forced Ohio State into a third-and-five at its 48-yard line, but a quick pass to wide receiver Jalin Marshall picked up the needed five yards. On the next play, running back Ezekiel El- liott romped through the middle for a 47-yard touchdown. That answer by the Buckeyes proved crucial because the Irish were unable to make it a one-score game again over the final 21 min- utes of the contest. The run by El- liott was perfectly executed block- ing up front and by the pulling tight end, and the running back quickly spotted the opening. STAT OF THE GAME Ohio State outrushed Notre Dame 285-121, a telling sign of which team controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame had averaged 214.8 yards on the ground coming into the game, highlighted by a sterling 299 yards and 8.5 yards per carry in the 38-36 loss in the regular-season finale at Pac-12 champion Stanford. With Ohio State's top defensive tackles sidelined either because of suspension (Adolphus Washington) or injury (Tommy Schutt), and then consensus All-American end/tackle Joey Bosa ejected with 5:26 left in the first quarter because of a target- ing call, there was an opportunity by the Irish ground attack to exploit those setbacks. But much more of an onus was put on the passing game, especially after falling behind 28-7. DEFENSELESS MINUS JAYLON SMITH Notre Dame's chances at victory reached extremely slim proportions when Butkus Award winner and junior Will linebacker Jaylon Smith was lost the remainder of the game at the eight-minute mark of the first quarter. The Irish already were behind 7-0, and Ohio State scored from 15 yards out the first play after Smith's departure. The Buckeyes might have scored 40 points even with Smith in the lineup, but without him the Irish were going to need to force about three or four turnovers to have a chance at victory. Ohio State scored touchdowns on four of its five first-half possessions, but the Irish defense performed com- mendably to limit the Buckeyes to 16 second-half points. Once again, defense and the future of coordinator Brian VanGorder will be the top topic during the 2016 off- season. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY LOU SOMOGYI