Final Standings:
1.) Draper 53-18 (2-12 upset)
2.) Hoying 52-19 (3-11 upset)
3.) Seeberg 51-20 (3-11 upset)
4.) Schweinfurth 48-23 (1-13 upset)
THE Ohio State University Buckeyes vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Draper: The day has finally arrived, and the story of the season
will finally have been written. Will
this Buckeye class live forever as gladiators that arose from the ashes to be
crowned kings or live in infamy as the top class that never beat TTUN or won
any hardware? After suffering the slings
and arrows of the fanbase, I’d be hard pressed to have found a team that has
rallied more strongly to each other, to their coach, and to a mission. This is the day where it comes to
fruition. From an Xs-and-Os standpoint,
the Buckeyes have advantages all over the field. The one advantage held by the
Irish would be the mobile nature of Riley Leonard. I expect Downs to play a lot of the game in
the box to curtail the running and daring Leonard to go over the top where
Ransom and Co. will be waiting. Much of
the onus will fall on Cody Simon’s shoulders to muster the run defense and keep
the bullets tight in the run game. The D-line
will get pressure against a good Irish O-line with the freshman left
tackle. On the other side of the ball,
Howard will continue dealing. Most talk
about the Irish secondary (which is very good), but I believe the Longhorn secondary
is better. Expect Smith to get involved this game more, because the Irish can’t
hold up in the front seven without support. If he is taken out, the myriad
other weapons will be activated. Tre busts a few chunk plays, Q pounds the rock for short yardage, Howard deals and runs more than expected, and the receivers ball out as usual. If we
don’t play the UM ‘shoot ourselves in the foot at every juncture game’, I don’t
see the Irish path to victory. Keep it
clean, limit turnovers, play your game, and we hoist the trophy tonight. One more, then forever. Go Bucks! OSU: 27--ND: 13
Hoying: Unless you thought that the five advantages for
the Irish that I had to rack my brain to produce are all total gamechangers,
you already know who I’m picking in this one. The Buckeyes have proven this
season that they can lose to an inferior, borderline-bad team (albeit one on a
steep upswing). But as I said in my Tennessee preview, that basically required
the Buckeye offense to do exactly as much, no more, no less, as it took to lose
that game. Every game since has proven that Chip Kelly took the loss to TTUN as
personally as Knowles took the loss to Oregon. I think the Irish are going to
need all of their lucky charms to win this one. Riley Leonard is just plain bad
under pressure, and none of the Buckeyes’ Playoff opponents have found a way to
slow down the Buckeye pass rush, even with enough opposing offensive lines
dishing out more hugs than the Tanner family on Full House. And they haven’t
faced near the injuries that Notre Dame has. Joe Alt isn’t walking through that
door anytime soon to save them. The Irish pass defense is elite, but they’re
not good enough to manage Smith, Egbuka, and Tate one-on-one. You cheat back a
little and that opens the door for Judkins and Henderson to do what Chip
Trayanum and, well, Henderson did to them last year. Notre Dame does not have
the interior line strength to put six in the box and dare Ohio State to run.
Basically, they have to hope that Howard completely implodes to the point that
it makes his performance on November 30th look like Dwayne Haskins’, then turn
the resulting basket of sacks and turnovers into short enough fields that the
Silver Bullets don’t have time to bend before they break. This is the most
pissed off Ohio State team since…well, the last time these two met in the
postseason, and we saw what happened on that day even after Joey Bosa’s career
ended on the ticky-tackiest targeting call this side of Denzel Ward’s BBQ
Shack. The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and
those Ohio State opponents who enter by it are many. The gate is narrow and the
way is hard, that leads to life against the Buckeyes, and those who find it are
few. They won’t find it tonight. OSU: 28—ND: 13
Schweinfurth: The long and winding road of this season ends tonight. A lot of ills and wounds can be healed by one more victory. Jack Sawyer and company have been playing the type of defense Buckeye fans have been clamoring for since the 2014 team. The Silver Bullets have been absolutely dominant all season. One more test in a bit of a paper tiger offense. If the Bullets can keep the Irish offense bottled up, it could be over quick. Especially if Notre Dame decides man coverage is a good idea. There are so many weapons on the Buckeye offense and I'm not sure the Irish have faced a team like this. The Irish offensive line is beat up (yes, so is Ohio State's, but they had time to adjust) and Sawyer, JTT, and Tyliek should eat well. Finally, this team plays hard for Ryan Day. They love the man, and I get it. Lou Holtz started running his mouth again (FWIW) and my have started writing checks the Irish can't cash. Go Bucks. Let's get #9! OSU: 31--ND: 10
Seeberg: Look, this game has been broken down ad nauseum the last week and change. The fact is that there are more ways to victory for the scarlet and gray. Talent and scheme favor the Buckeyes. But the last two years have taught us that this will still be a four quarter contest. I hope to see a similar defensive plan as Oregon. Simon spied Gabriel beautifully and first-read throws were largely taken away. Another fast start is paramount to get the Irish uncomfortable and for our seniors. They have prepared and preached about playing one more week in the scarlet and gray. Well, there’s no more games now. An early deficit coupled with that realization could be disastrous. But despite the circuitous route, this team is right where many of us thought they would be when things kicked off 5(!) months ago. In recent Buckeye history, this game has the feel of 2023 OSU-PSU to me. Bucks will appear the superior team but ND won’t beat themselves and hang in well past half. In the end, however, a big drive or a clutch stop (preferably both) will finally put the golden domers away. Enjoy the night Buckeye Nation! OSU: 24—ND: 13
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