Read more about the Notre Dame's national championship matchup agains the Ohio State Buckeyes through this this film review analysis.
Photo by The Irish Tribune
The 2024 season has breathed new life into the storied Notre Dame program. Despite facing immense pressure for majority of this season, the Fighting Irish will take the field Jan. 20 in hopes of capturing college football's highest honor for the first time since 1988. There are not enough accolades to describe the fight and determination this version of the Blue and Gold has shown this year, especially after dropping a week two matchup they had no business losing. Head Coach Marcus Freeman is now truly one of the faces of the sport, and he leads a team into battle that has the belief that they can beat anyone. That anyone this time around, just happens to be the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Ohio State did not get through this season unscathed themselves. A one point loss on the road, to Big 10 conference newcomer Oregon, can almost be overlooked in certain aspects. A fourth loss in a row to a bitter rival who was in the midst of a reloading year, not so much. Despite a stellar win-loss record throughout his career, there were some who called for Ryan Day's job after dropping another game to Michigan. Day and his team responded to that gut punch of a loss by simply being the most dominant team throughout the course of the playoffs. After blowing out Tennessee at home in round one, they completely flipped the script in their rematch versus Oregon at the Rose Bowl, leaving California with a twenty point victory. They knocked off Texas in the semifinals to complete their climb to a spot in the National Championship, a spot many people had written off for them after that rivalry week disappointment.
Now two teams that have felt the lowest of lows, and highest of highs in 2024, will get an opportunity to cement their names in the history books. This upcoming clash is one of perseverance and would not have even been possible in previous renditions of the College Football Playoff format. After receiving a new lease on life in terms of their aspirations for a national championship, both teams seized the moment, and now only have one roadblock remaining to overcome, each other. I studied Ohio state top to the bottom, and proudly present to you this season's final film review.
When Notre Dame is on Offense:
The defensive ends for Ohio State get a lot of attention and I'll talk about them throughout this article as well, but the first person on their line that stood out to me was No. 91, Tyleik Williams. Williams may very well be selected in the first round of this year's draft and rightfully so. At 330 lbs, he moves very well laterally and gets upfield in a hurry. He has quick hands, a great swim move, and can both stop the run and push the pocket. When Notre Dame looks to attack inside, he may be someone that they want to target with double teams; however, he can anchor and hold the point of attack against doubles as well.
Ohio State mixes a lot of coverages, but they play a fair amount of Cover 1, just like Notre Dame. It makes sense, because All-American safety Caleb Downs is their version of Xavier Watts and it shows on film. Downs is excellent in run support, and is a high IQ player when in coverage. Besides coming down as a "Robber", OSU will actually line him up at linebacker, which shows how much trust they have in him holding up in the box. Aside from Downs individually, both safeties do an excellent job communicating to one another in identifying where the strong side of the formation is and rotating to match. I'd love to see Notre Dame mix in some weak side runs to work away from Downs. Although there are fewer blockers on the front of the weak side run, a player like Jeremiyah Love has the ability to make the first man miss. If he can do that, there should be additional yardage to be had.
Although the safeties do a good job working off each other, they do sometimes rotate late pre snap. The linebackers do the same, and it seems at times their sideline is getting adjustment calls in to them late. Notre Dame should look to work in some quick snaps throughout the course of the game to try to catch them unprepared.
Defensive end JT Tuimoloau is another play-maker on their front four that needs to be accounted for. One thing that stands out is how hard he crashes inside. It's no secret Notre Dame will work in some read option plays for Riley Leonard in this game and when they do it, it may be beneficial to do run it to Tuimoloau's side and use his aggressiveness against him. If Leonard can get around the edge, Irish fans know how dangerous he can be.
Linebacker Cody Simon is very proficient timing his blitzes and they will use him a ton on what is called a "Green Dog Blitz". This means when he is in man coverage on the tight end or running back and recognizes they are staying in to block, Simon is free to then rush the quarterback. He processes things very quickly and once he decides to rush, he gets there in a hurry. Simon is a key player that Leonard will need to identify pre-snap.
Both their linebackers and defensive backs have great recovery speed. When they drop into zone coverage, Leonard will need to throw with anticipation to open windows and not hold on to the ball too long allowing the defenders to close on the receiver. They also like to drop defensive ends into zone which Leonard will need to be very aware of. Against Penn State, Riley's second interception came trying to drop a pass over a defensive end that dropped into coverage. Notre Dame was able to survive that mistake, but against Ohio State, they may not be as lucky.
Ohio State is not afraid to blitz and play man coverage behind it. Although their safeties are excellent, I think their cornerbacks are much more susceptible to giving up plays through the air. Both their starting corners tend to bite on double moves, and Davison Igbinosun in particular gets called for a lot of defensive holds as he has a tendency to reach out and grab when he feels like he is getting beat on a route. Leonard built some confidence through the air against Penn State and when those one-on-one shots on the outside are there versus the Buckeyes, he needs to take them.
Goal-to-go defense has become almost a specialty as of late for Ohio State. Once a team gets to the five yard line it has been tough sledding coming away with more than three points. They are not afraid to sell out versus the run, and all of their big down linemen do a good job of not getting blown back off the snap. When you try to go outside like Texas did in the Cotton Bowl on their biggest possession of the game, Downs can knife in and drop ball carriers for a loss. The one thing I don't feel Ohio State has had to face down in the tight red zone this year is a true dual-threat QB. Because of how quickly their LB's flow to the ball and Leonard's ability to pull and keep it, this could be quite an advantage for the Irish. His legs around the goal line may be a four-point difference on any given possession.
Players To Watch:
No. 2 Caleb Downs - Have I mentioned Downs yet in this article? He is too good to exclude from this section and reiterate what a menace he can be both against the run and the pass. He is a sure tackler who takes excellent angles and a lot of times is simply too fast for the blocker to even reach. When he drops into his lurk look out of a cover 1, Notre Dame should attempt to run the opposite way. Leonard and Denbrock need to account for him on every play and do not stare down receivers when he is playing underneath in zone. He is much more likely to be around the line of scrimmage than he is to be playing deep halves because they like to give him a chance to make a play on every down.
No. 33 Jack Sawyer - I couldn't do a whole Ohio State defensive write up without including the hero of the Cotton Bowl, Jack Sawyer. The senior defensive end is the heart and soul of the defense and they feed off his energy. Sawyer is a bull rush specialist and has an excellent motor, meaning he will continue to work to the QB regardless if his first, second, or third move is stifled. Leonard's pocket awareness needs to be extra-elevated in this game and he must feel the rush coming from Sawyer, in which he makes sure to keep two hands on the ball as he works up in the pocket. A lost fumble would be too costly in such a high stakes game and after Sawyer sealed their last game with a forced fumble, it is clear he is a hungry for more.
When Notre Dame is on Defense:
Ohio State is not going to shy away from trying to out-athlete other teams. They will look to spread defenses horizontally and make them defend every blade of grass. Something they do very well is running cross-action in the backfield, a lot of times with Jeremiah Smith, and just simply allowing him to try to get wider than the defense and use his after-the-catch abilities to create big plays. The cornerbacks for Notre Dame will need to do a good job being physical and getting off blocks to try to rally to the ball and not allow explosive plays. Defenders in the box will need to have a sense for these plays and not allow themselves to get too far inside reading the run to the point they can't recover and help chase down the perimeter throws.
Ohio State, like Notre Dame, has dealt with some attrition on the offensive line. They lost left tackle Josh Simmons and All- American center Seth McLaughlin to season-ending injuries at various points this season. Texas was actually the first team to get a sack against the Buckeyes since their game against Indiana all the way back on Nov. 23. Still, the interior of their line is the area Notre Dame would want to attack the most. Defensive tackles will need to shoot off the line quick and play with good pad level. The pocket can be pushed and Will Howard hates dealing with middle pressure. A few errant throws can be the difference in this one.
Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka eat up cushion versus off-coverage very easily and get out of their breaks with suddenness. The defensive backs for Notre Dame will need to get hands on them and try to reroute them off the line. They need to do so with caution though, as a missed jam, or a false step at the line could easily result in six points for the Buckeyes.
The speed all of Ohio State's receivers posses also means the deep defender(s) for Notre Dame will absolutely need to make sure they are playing with proper depth. Even being a couple of yards off their mark could result in a big play for the offense. Egbuka in the slot is deadly, and because he has two-way goes from that spot, they do a good job using him to draw an additional defender and setting up one-on-one shots for their outside WRs.
QB Will Howard will sometimes lock onto Smith and miss other open reads. It's not abnormal for a quarterback to want to get it to his number one option, but if Notre Dame can more or less limit Smith, Howard may start to press and start forcing things to him.
It's not rocket science to say a quarterback does not like dealing with pressure in his face, but Howard has shown he will put the ball in harms way before he takes a sack or tries to throw it away. For whatever it's worth, some of his biggest interceptions have come when throwing outside the numbers to the right side of the field. I didn't see anything in his throwing mechanics that changed based off where he was throwing, but this is still something to keep in mind.
Under offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, OSU has become very diverse and creative in their run game. They love pulling offensive linemen, as they'll trap with their tight end, and run off-bunch formation. They have two very good running backs, but TreVeyon Henderson is a game-breaker. He showed what he can do in the passing game in the Cotton Bowl, and as a runner he is just as dangerous. He does a good job pressing the hole and then bouncing outside; so Notre Dame will need to rally to the point of attack, but not over pursue on the backside. The Irish cannot give him an opportunity to bounce off traffic and get around the edge of the defense because he is a burner in the open field.
Will Howard is an extension of their run game, and has some similar qualities to that of Riley Leonard. Defensive ends will need to play with good eye discipline and not crash too quickly and linebackers will need to be ready to scrape and keep him from getting outside on option plays. When he does run, Notre Dame needs to make him feel it. It's not always easy to lay the wood against quarterbacks without drawing penalties, but once he becomes a runner, it's a different story.
Ohio State has been and will continue to be aggressive on fourth down. They believe if their offense has four shots to pick up a first, there is not a defense that will stop them from doing so. Notre Dame will need to watch the ball and not fall for any hard counts. Getting the Buckeyes off the field on fourth down is going to play a factor in this game at one point or another and the Irish can not afford to give them any free yardage or extra downs.
Players To Watch:
No. 1 Quinshon Judkins - I spoke about Henderson and the type of runner he is earlier but Judkins is someone to keeping your eye on, as well. During the Texas game, he was running with a different kind of intensity. The Ole Miss transfer has excellent contact balance and will look to run through somebody every time he gets some space. He has 27 touchdowns in the last two seasons, and will be featured in short yardage and around the goal line. Notre Dame defenders must wrap up and match his physicality.
No. 2 Emeka Egbuka - I am not naïve to the type of game-wrecker Jeremiah Smith is, but because of how Notre Dame likes to play defense and the way Ohio State uses Egbuka, I believe he becomes the receiver to keep an eye on the most. Efficient slot receivers are always the hardest to cover one-on-one because of the amount of space they get to work with. A cornerback defending a WR on the perimeter can at least play with a certain leverage to utilize the sideline as an extra defender. In the middle of the field, there is no such advantage. Egbuka is a great at selling short routes to get a defender to bite then taking off deep. Notre Dame needs to be weary of the slant-and-go, and when a corner is lined up in man over him, they need to do their best to leverage him into where they have the most help. Al Golden and Mike Mickens' group cannot let him make a living in the middle of the field.
This is it. Four more quarters of football before a champion is crowed. Each of these teams have fought to get here and deserve the utmost respect. Some people will say this game comes down to scheme, some will say it is about how many 5-stars are littered across each roster, and some will point to past performances as an indication of future results. Ultimately, I just think it will come down to the team that executes the best and wants it most, and I haven't seen many teams hungrier than Notre Dame.
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