Notre Dame football's 2024 season was nothing short of remarkable and historic. The Irish came up just short in their National Championship battle with Ohio State, as the blue and gold went down 31-7 but was trying to pull off the biggest upset in College Football Playoff history.
Notre Dame might have over-performed considering that tons of media thought they wouldn't even play toe-to-toe with the Buckeyes, but in their comeback, Marcus Freeman made some questionable calls including the defensive play and formation on 3rd-and-11 with 2:45 left in the game and only down eight.
Notre Dame football's 'do-or-die' gamble costs the season
Notre Dame was down eight and was looking to get the ball back and stop the Buckeyes for the third straight possession. Freeman used two of his three timeouts and put the Buckeyes in a hard third down.
Notre Dame had the momentum on their side and OSU fans were beginning to panic. Freeman and Golden however call a Cover zero blitz and leave corners on islands including Christian Gray on Jeremiah Smith.
Will Howard would connect with Jeremiah Smith on a 56 yard go-route and seal the deal for the Buckeyes. Ohio State kicked a field goal to go up 11 and that was all she wrote. Irish play man coverage more than anyone in the nation, but when it is 3rd and long, and your offense is marching all over Buckeye’s defense, fans and analyst disagree with Freeman and Golden coverage call.
Notre Dame stemmed to a 5 man front on that 3rd & 11 and then brought Kiser on a blitz. I get having Watts on a bit of a delayed blitz to make sure Howard doesn’t escape, but you can’t leave your DBs on an island for 3 seconds when you are bringing a 7 man pressure pic.twitter.com/Vtn8kIGFmk
— LandonTengwall (@landon_tengwall) January 21, 2025
Zero Blitz from Notre Dame was…a choice… pic.twitter.com/0ohfxqDiI6
— Tim England (@tengland_150) January 21, 2025
"It was do-or-die," Freeman stated on the 3rd and 11. "It was that type of down, and we got to get them stopped and we thought at that moment the best way to get them stopped was run zero pressure."
Notre Dame defense in the second half started to turn the tide and play their game. They forced a turnover and a punt and was putting the ball back in their offense hands. Riley Leonard had his best passing game as Notre Dame quarterback, as he threw threw for 255, two touchdowns, zero turnovers and led Notre Dame in rushing attempts(17) and yards(40), and found the end zone with his legs as well.
Some fans would have liked to see Freeman and his defense play a little more conservative and zone on that 3rd-and-11 and put Gray in a better situation. Whether Xavier Watts helped or Adon Shuler, man-to-man with no help is a tall task for Christan Gray on Jeremiah Smith and with the game on the line, that is a hard situation for Freeman to make that type of a gamble decision.
Notre Dame football's season came up just a few plays short, but at the end of the day when you are playing an Ohio State roster that is clearly the most talented roster this year, you can't go down 31-7.