As the clock hit zero and confetti fell in Mercedes Benz Stadium, Notre Dame found themselves on the wrong side of a celebration. Let's take a look at what the Irish could have done to position themselves better for victory.
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After what was undoubtedly the best season under Marcus Freeman's tenure, and one of Notre Dame's best non-championship seasons overall, the Fighting Irish have much to be excited about going forward. Plenty of young talent across the board got experience throughout the year, and another promising recruiting class coming in will help bolster the depth. The litmus test results on whether or not Freeman can have his team focused and ready to go week in and week out for another full season will be revealed quickly, as the Irish's schedule is very front-loaded. Within the first six games, they will open on the road in primetime vs a Miami team who barely missed the playoffs, and just added Carson Beck through the portal, which is followed by another heavy-weight fight vs Texas A&M. A first-ever matchup with 2024 playoff participant Boise State is sandwiched between a showdown in Fayetteville with SEC opponent Arkansas, and a home tilt vs bitter rival USC. Plenty of storylines and things to look ahead to next season, but not without first putting a final exclamation point on the magical run that was. After reviewing the All-22 film of the National Championship, there are plenty of things to discuss, so let's get into it.
There isn't a specific player that should shoulder the blame for this type of loss. Plenty of players made mistakes just as many made some incredibly positive plays. The purpose of this article is just strictly breaking down the things that jumped out on film in some of the biggest moments. First, I will touch on some of the critical drives that helped decide the game, followed by specific positional and player breakdowns.
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1) Notre Dame's Opening Drive
With the final results already known, it is still very much worth highlighting one of the greatest opening drives we have seen in the modern college football playoff era. The offensive line was very in sync the whole drive. On the very first QB run, Rocco Spindler and Aamil Wager perfectly executed a combo block. They attacked No. 91 Tyleik WIlliams in unison, Wagner worked up to the second level, and Spindler was able to drive Williams another ten yards downfield. That's teach tape in the O-line room.
Spindler was not done showing out. On a crucial 4th and 1 from the five-yard line, after pancaking his assignment, he helped chip a second defender and created a huge hole for Leonard to run behind. Excellent work by him.
In terms of blocking, I was also very impressed by Beaux Collins. It is not always easy for a wide receiver to stay engaged on such a long drive where the ball isn't really coming his way, but he was the ultimate teammate. Early in the drive, he was 20 yards downfield still attacking his defender, and on the opening touchdown, he came in motion across the line of scrimmage and blew up All-American safety Caleb Downs to clear the way for Leonard.
You can't speak about the opening drive without zeroing in on Riley Leonard. What Leonard did kind of transcends the film itself, and just speaks to the heart he played with no matter the situation. You can see he was becoming visibly gassed as the drive lingered, but they kept calling his number and he kept delivering. Even with some shortcomings in certain areas, Notre Dame would not have reached the heights it did this year without him,
2) Ohio State's Opening Drive
Ohio State's first big play of the game was a run by Henderson. Jack Kiser shot the A Gap and got washed out by the guard. Howard Cross III could not hold at the point of attack, which allowed the center to work up the second level and get hands on Drayk Bowen. Xavier Watts, who is normally excellent at fitting the run, took a bad angle coming from his deep zone once it bounced outside, and it resulted in a big play. It was just a case of a lot of players losing their one-on-one battles at the same time.
In general, the linebackers were a little late triggering vs the run, and that was the case on the opening drive as well. Some poor gap integrity on the second level was allowing Ohio State's running backs to find cutback lanes.
On the touchdown to Jeremiah Smith, I have seen different takes from different people as to what happened. In my opinion, it was pretty cut and dry that it was a blown coverage by Christian Gray. It was Man Coverage across the board, and Gray's reaction on realizing Smith was going to go in motion seems to indicate that he thought once Smith went across the LOS, everyone would bump down and take the next available assignment, meaning Gray thought he would be responsible for Emeka Egbuka who was the next WR in the formation to his side. Smith ended up running what is called an Orbit Motion and worked back to the side he started from, and by that time, Gray was across the field chasing Egbuka who was already being covered by Jordan Clark. One of the keys I spoke about in my film review of Ohio State's offense leading up to the game was being able to play with good eye discipline when OSU used Smith out of the backfield, and in this case, ND was unable to do so.
3) Notre Dame's Last Offensive Drive Before Half
This drive hurt Notre Dame's chances some. Leonard picked up a solid five-yard gain on first down on a QB keeper. On second down, the offensive line did a good job of providing protection and Eli Raridon was running a shallow cross from the slot and got behind his defender. If Leonard throws the ball with some anticipation it's a first down, the drive will continue and Notre Dame has a shot to hold on to the ball until half, and possibly come away with some points. But Leonard did not seem to trust his eyes, pulled the ball back down, and by that time the defensive line for Ohio State forced him out of the pocket and he had to throw the ball away. It was something that plagued Leonard at different times throughout the season and it showed back up in a critical spot.
There was a miscommunication on third down, and the ball was snapped right into Mitchell Evans who was coming across the formation in motion. Although ND jumped on the fumble, it was a quick three and out and the defense, who were already wearing down, had to come right back on the field.
4) Ohio State's Last Offensive Drive Before Half
3rd and 7 coming out the two-minute warning, ND desperately needed a stop. Christian Gray was one-on-one with Carnell Tate who worked a deep in route. Gray did not play it poorly necessarily, but he was playing with his eyes on the QB and just never felt Tate break in behind him. Will Howard did an excellent job with ball placement putting it low and away from the trailing Gray, and was just one of those plays where the offense does everything they need to do.
Later in the drive on Notre Dame's 18-yard line, OSU tried to run Henderson on a wheel route off a tight formation. Xavier Watts did an amazing job with route recognition, worked through the traffic, and took the perfect angle to try to make a play on the ball. More times than not during his Notre Dame career, Watts has come down with those 50-50 balls, but Henderson did a good job fighting through his hands and essentially breaking it up for an incomplete pass. Notre Dame was inches away from a game-changing play, and it goes to show how little the margin for error is in these big pressure games.
I don't generally include anything related to officiating in my breakdowns, but it is worth noting on the very next play the center for Ohio State got away with a blatant hold against Donovan Hinish who beat him on his inside shoulder. A holding call would have knocked Ohio State back into a second and super long, and they may have had to end up settling for FG instead of a TD. Instead, Howard was able to take off and picked up a sizeable gain. A four-point swing on this drive was major.
The touchdown pass to Quinshon Judkins was easily avoidable. KVA and Drayk Bowen both fell into a zone at the snap. Judkins released late, but he released right into the area KVA was covering. Howard slid out of the pocket and began to take off with his legs and Bowen decided to collapse on him. Unfortunately, KVA decided to do the same even though three other defenders were rallying to Howard. If KVA continues to play his assignment, there is nowhere for Howard to go with the ball and he has to throw it away or take a sack. Poor execution in spots like that snowballed throughout the first half and contributed to it being a two-score game after two quarters.
5) 4th Quarter Drive That Ended in Mitch Jeter FG Attempt
On 1st down, it was a designed QB run, but was very poor execution by some of the offensive line. Billy Schrauth was pulling from his guard spot, but got beat to the point of attack by the defensive end. Pat Coogan attempted a Cut Block on Tyleik Williams who was on the interior, but whiffed which forced Charles Jagusah to stay on him longer than he wanted, allowing the defensive end on his side to crash without being touched. Both ends converged on Leonard, which is a shame because there was room for some yards and possibly a touchdown. Mitchell Evans came across the line as a lead blocker with great timing, Spindler did an excellent job of sealing his man to the inside, and Wagner worked up to the second level to pick up the linebacker who probably would have been the last line of defense on this particular play. Another situation where Notre Dame was a lot closer to possibly changing the outcome of this game than people realize.
Second down, I did not think it was the right play call. Mitchell Evans lined up wide to the short side of the field and ran a fade route. There was very little space for him to work with and he was never really able to work through the contact by the defensive back to have a shot at the ball.
Third down was another "what if" moment. Both Spindler and Wagner were beaten off the line by bull rushes and the pocket closed very quickly. Jeremiyah Love leaked out late on a swing route and had some space. Would have been a situation where if he could make one guy miss, it could have turned into a touchdown. Unfortunately, the quick pressure on Leonard made him get rid of the ball sooner than he wanted, and he was never able to work back through his progressions to Love.
The Mitch Jeter FG attempt was a bit of a head-scratcher to me. I do understand that scoring from the 9-yard line against the OSU defense is certainly not a "gimme", but with that being said, even if Jeter makes the kick, it's a two-touchdown deficit. There was no guarantee Notre Dame would even have enough possessions left to try to potentially win. It is very easy to play the hindsight game, but if Notre Dame was able to find a way to punch it in from the 9, and get the two-point conversion as they did the following drive, it's a one-score game with nine minutes left, which increases your odds significantly.
6) Notre Dame Offensive Drive with 5 minutes left in the 4th
On 1st and 10 at OSU's 31-yard line, Leonard took a sack he probably did not need to. He had Kris Mitchell on an in-breaking route, but again just did not trust his eyes. Mitchell could have done a better job flattening his route to ensure the defensive back could jump it, but probably still a ball Leonard should have let go. For whatever reason, Leonard and Mitchell never seemed to get on the same page this year.
3rd and 9 on this drive was the Slot Fade for a touchdown to Jaden Greathouse. One of Leonard's best throws of the season came when Notre Dame needed it the most. He was able to step up in the pocket and into his throw and delivered the ball perfectly. Greathouse did a superb job of tracking the ball over his shoulder and fighting through the contact/penalty from the DB for a touchdown.
On the two-point conversion, Jordan Faison deserves TONS of credit. The offensive line blocked down leaving Jack Sawyer untouched in space. It is amazing Jordan Faison was able to break his tackle while keeping his eyes downfield and find Collins open in the end zone. That is extremely difficult for a QB to do, let alone a wide receiver.
7) Ohio State's Final Possession
In a had-to-have-it moment, the Fighting Irish defense could not get one more stop. On Howard's scramble for a first down, it was once again just poor execution. KVA jumped inside which made Howard bounce it to the outside. Junior Tuihalamaka needed to set the edge here and allowed himself to be steered inside. Once Howard got on the corner, he used his speed and picked up a big first down.
The game-sealing play for Ohio State is the one that will really stand out for months to come. I was not on the field, so I do not know the exact play that was called, but I can tell you everything that fell apart on it. For starters, I would have much rather seen Leonard Moore as the corner lined up over Jeremiah Smith. He is more comfortable in press and had done a better job throughout the game when lined up with him. I don't know if Jordan Clark had gotten banged up, but I was also very surprised to see Rod Heard line up in the slot against Egbuka. Heard I feel was a liability in coverage, and Clark had manned that spot basically all season. On the snap, Adon Shuler took a very hard step towards the LOS before bailing. I don't know if maybe he had Henderson in man, and once Henderson stayed in to block, he decided to drop and help in underneath coverage but with Xavier Watts already coming on a blitz, I would have liked to see Shuler play with more depth. Heard ended up falling on the snap, and Shuler ended up in one-on-one coverage against Egbuka. The all-around technique Christian Gray used on this play was the real trouble. Notre Dame was sending pressure with the hopes of forcing Howard to get the ball out quickly, where they would be able to rally and make a tackle before the sticks. Gray should have been in the face of Smith, playing with inside leverage and forcing Smith to work the sideline. A successful jam would have thrown off the timing of the route and given the blitz a chance to get home. Even if the blitz did not get there, Howard would have had to make the throw in a much tighter window with Gray using the sideline as an extra defender. Even still, if Gray wanted to play as far off as he did, I do not understand why he bailed so far inside on his backpedal. He left Smith an enormous amount of room to work with vertically, and for Howard, that was the football equivalent of a lay-up. Generally, you would not play with that technique unless you have a safety over the top, but both safeties were down at the start of the play so I am not sure where he thought the help was coming from. All in all, the play call was very questionable and one I am sure Marcus Freeman wishes he could have redone.
Position and Player Overviews from the Game:
I thought Gabe Rubio held his own rather well. It was a tough ask to come in and replace someone like Rylie Mills amidst the playoffs, but Rubio showed he can hold up at the point of attack and gets some good push vs the run. He just needs to be more consistent.
I thought the linebackers in general struggled vs the run. They were really over pursuing on misdirections and jumping out of their lanes while not doing a great job of getting off second-level blocks. That being said, Drayk Bowen had one of the best plays of the game with his forced fumble. Bowen was on a run blitz and got turned and pushed towards midfield. He was the furthest player from Egbuka, but hawked him down from 30 yards out and made a huge play that gave Notre Dame life.
Watts will go down as one of the best safeties to ever wear the blue and gold, but in this particular game, I thought it was one of his roughest from a run-support standpoint. He was a tad slower than normal keying pass vs run, and where he normally takes great angles when coming down from his safety spot, he overran a few plays this time around and got himself out of position.
Not enough can be said about what Jaden Greathouse has become. His contested catch ability has shined against some really talented corners in the last two games, and he has major YAC ability. I look forward to seeing him continue to grow and become a true number-one receiver for whoever is taking snaps under center next year.
Leonard Moore's biggest stand-out play from the game may have been chasing down a TreVeyon Henderson run, going 22 miles per hour to save a touchdown, but his coverage ability is quietly among the best in the country. Even when a receiver was able to snag a catch against him, he was never out of phase and always in position to make the tackle right away - and that includes covering fellow Freshman All-American Jeremiah Smith.
The offensive line was a work in progress all season long due to injuries, but in the biggest moments like the National Championship, I thought they played extremely well together overall and continued to give the offense a shot.
I hope Notre Dame fans do not feel that this game was lost due to some major talent disparity because that is certainly not the case. Some early errors against a talented team created a hole that was a tad too deep to climb out of. Some defensive stops on third down, or a few less three and outs on offense, and this game could have been completely flipped on its head. Notre Dame is as close to reaching the mountain top as it has been in quite some time and that will not evaporate with this National Championship defeat. Marcus Freeman never lost his composure, even when his team made some fairly out-of-character blunders, because he ultimately understands that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and his squad WILL be back in the title hunt sooner than later.
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