Notre Dame football: Takeaways from a tough loss at Ohio State
By Tyler Kruse
Notre Dame football: Takeaways from a tough loss at Ohio State
The Trenches Were Lost
Unequivocally the most disappointing thing seen throughout the night, on both sides of the ball for Notre Dame, was the inability to win in the trenches. It was rare to see the offensive line move the pocket forward or create significant gaps for the talented running back committee.
Instead, too many times, a free rusher was allowed to run freely to a back or Buchner untouched. The O-Line must be better, whether with the scheme or missed reads.
A massive win last offseason saw Isaiah Foskey and the Ademilola brothers return for the Irish defensive line. There was a bit of talk from the trio of returning D-Linemen leading up to this game about how the Irish were underdogs, fueling the fire for them. But unfortunately, it seemed to be more in their heads than something shown on the field.
Two personal fouls early from Ademilola and Foskey cost the Irish heavily in the first quarter. Together the trio tallied nine tackles with zero sacks and zero QB hurries. Had they put more pressure on C.J. Stroud, the outcome could’ve been entirely different.