Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Ohio State finished the opening quarter with 145 yards of of- fense to just 51 for Notre Dame. During the final three quar- ters, OSU outscored Notre Dame 30-28, but the Irish outgained the Buckeyes 354-351. "Obviously, their first series was outstanding," head coach Brian Kelly said of Ohio State's nine- play, 80-yard touchdown drive to open the scor- ing. "They ran the ball effectively right down the field. I just think that they executed very well early on. "It was the difference in the game really, those 14 points early. We had to play catch up from there." SOPHOMORES STEP IN Sophomore cornerback Nick Wat- kins made his first career start, go- ing from a special teams player to the team's starting cornerback opposite ju- nior Cole Luke. Injuries to both senior KeiVarae Russell and junior Devin Butler opened up that opportunity, and the Texas native responded well. "I thought Nick competed well. We knew he was going to be a target," head coach Brian Kelly said. "… I love the fact that he was out there, and he was not afraid of the moment. He didn't give up any big plays." Sophomore defensive end Andrew Trumbetti also saw his most exten- sive action of the season, and he had arguably the best game of his career. Trumbetti recorded his first sack of the season, made two tackles behind the line of scrimmage and had two QB hurries. Kelly felt that Trum- betti always had this kind of performance in him, he just had to be- come more assertive. "He made some good plays. He made the ath- letic plays," Kelly said of Trumbetti. "The one thing with Andrew is he just has to let it go. At times … he can go. Sometimes it's just a matter of letting go. "When the light goes on and he goes all the time, I think he's going to be a really, really good player for us." SITUATIONAL STRUGGLES Situational football is often the dif- ference between winning and losing, a reality that played out in the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State won the turnover battle, was better on third down and was dominant in red-zone offense. Those factors proved pivotal to the game's final outcome. Ohio State converted nine of its first 12 third downs, finishing the game 10 of 18 (55.6 percent). Combined with its performance against Stanford, the Notre Dame defense finished the sea- son allowing its final two opponents to go 18 of 30 (60.0 percent) on third down. Not being able to get stops pre- Sophomore defensive end Andrew Trumbetti recorded his first sack of the season, made two tackles behind the line of scrimmage and had two QB hurries versus Ohio State. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA