Written By: Phil Kowalis｜Writer｜Twitter: @PhilKowalisIT
Photo by CBS Sports
The game most Notre Dame fans have had marked on the schedule, since Ohio State's 21-10 victory over the Irish to start the 2022 season, has finally arrived. The Buckeyes come into the game with a 3-0 record and ranked sixth in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Notre Dame enters the matchup at 4-0 and ranked ninth in the AP poll.
Let's take a look at some of the players of note for the Buckeyes ahead of Saturdays top 10 tilt.
Photo by FOX Sports
Offense:
Ohio State will boast the most potent offense the Irish defense has faced this season as the Buckeyes have an embarrassment of riches on the offensive side of the ball.
The goldmine of offensive talent starts with a wide receiver unit that is arguably the best in college football.
Leading the Buckeye pass catchers is Marvin Harrison Jr., who is simply one of the best wide receivers in college football.
Harrison comes into the contest with 14 catches for 304 yards and three touchdowns on the season and is coming off a five catch 124-yard effort last week as the Buckeyes trounced Western Kentucky 63-10.
Joining Harrison Jr. will be Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming.
Egbuka has recorded 12 catches good for 167 yards and three scores and Fleming has added 11 catches and 100 receiving yards on the season.
Tight end Cade Stover has hauled in 10 catches for 100 yards on the season.
The Ohio State rushing attack will be led by TreVeyon Henderson. Henderson has rushed 30 times for 191 yards and four touchdowns on the season.
Chip Trayanum comes into the game as the Buckeyes second leading rusher on the season with 133 yards on 19 carries and he has one touchdown on the season.
Miyan Williams has added 73 yards on 18 carries and has scored twice for the Buckeyes.
Kyle McCord is the Buckeye signal caller and after struggling in the season opener on the road at Indiana has settled in and has had solid performances the last two weeks.
McCord has completed 69.7 percent of his passes on the season completing 53 of his 76 attempts for 815 yards and has thrown six touchdown passes and only one interception.
Devin Brown would backup McCord if necessary.
Photo by ON3
Defense:
Linebackers Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers are the heart and soul of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles unit.
Eichenberg leads the Buckeyes in tackles on the season with 20 and has one of the teams five sacks on the season.
Chambers is second on the team in tackles with 19.
The Ohio State defensive front has been far from dominate to this point in the season as the Buckeyes have only recorded five sacks on the season with only three of the sacks coming from down linemen.
Defensive tackle Tyleik Williams leads the defensive line in tackles with 17, and defensive ends Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau will look to get the Ohio State pass rush going against Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman.
The Ohio State secondary is led by cornerbacks, Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock.
Igbinosun leads the secondary in tackles with 14 and Hancock is second with 11.
Burke leads the team in passes defensed with four and safety Josh Proctor is second with three pass break ups.
Special Teams:
Place kicker Jayden Fielding is a perfect 16-for-16 in PAT's and has made all three of his field goal attempts on the season.
Punter Jesse Mirco has averaged 39 yards a punt on his nine attempts on the season
Comments