Rapid Reaction: Defense keeps Ohio State alive, offense arrives late in 21-10 win over Notre Dame

A year after Ohio State’s offense was the top scoring group in college football and the defense was singled out for criticism, the script was flipped.

For almost three quarters, OSU’s defense was the standout while the offense toiled for only a single score. But near the end of the third quarter, the Buckeye offense put together a 10-play, 70-yard scoring drive, culminating with a 24-yard scoring pass to Xavier Johnson that enabled Ohio State to take control and ultimately post a 21-10 victory over No. 5 Notre Dame in Columbus.

The game didn’t begin well for the Ohio State defense, as Notre Dame’s first play was a 54-yard pass from Notre Dame’s Tyler Buechner to Lorenzo Styles. A tacked on personal foul penalty started the Irish in the Buckeye red zone, but the defense held Notre Dame to a 33-yard field goal from Blake Grupe, giving the Irish a 3-0 lead with 12:13 left in the first quarter.

Ohio State struck back on a short field after the teams traded punts. Heisman favorite QB CJ Stroud connected on a 31-yard scoring strike to Emeka Egbuka. That 5-play, 46-yard drive gave OSU a 7-3 lead with 5:32 to go in the first quarter.

Notre Dame responded with a drive to end the first quarter and open the second quarter. Starting at its own 13, Notre Dame moved down the field on 10 plays, twice converting on 3rd down and eventually scoring on a 1-yard scamper from Audric Estime with 11:56 to play in the first half, making it 10-7.

The game remained 10-7 for over 25 minutes of game action. A leg injury to Jaxon Smith-Njigba deprived Stroud of his best downfield receiving threat, and Notre Dame’s defense was nearly as dogged as the Buckeyes’ group. A missed 39-yard field goal try from the usually reliable super senior kicker Noah Ruggles also kept OSU on the short end of the scoreboard.

But the OSU offense came alive late, with Stroud’s solid third quarter capped by the 24-yard touchdown pass to Johnson to give OSU a 14-10 edge with 17 seconds left in the third quarter. From there, the OSU offense controlled the game, with the Buckeyes pushing Notre Dame back from the OSU 41 early in the fourth quarter and then going on a lengthy ground-based drive to control the game. That drive finished with a 2-yard Miyan Williams run with 4:51 to play that made it 21-10 Buckeyes.

Stroud struggled to stretch the defense without Smith-Njigba, who had just 2 catches for 3 yards in the game. Egbuka was OSU’s top receiving threat, and the running back tandem of Miyan Williams and TreVeyon Henderson helped salt the game away late.

The OSU defense did not force any turnovers, but kept the Irish off the scoreboard for much of the game, a key improvement for new coordinator Jim Knowles. Linebacker Tommy Eichenberg had a pair of sacks and was the team’s leading tackler.

Ohio State will move on to face host Arkansas State next week in a decidedly lower-stress test for the Buckeyes. Notre Dame will face Marshall next at South Bend, although the Irish will likely drop a few spots from No. 5 this coming week.

Joe Cox

Veteran college writer Joe Cox covers Ohio State and college basketball for Saturday Tradition.