Al Golden breaks down challenge of stopping Ohio State wide receivers

Notre Dame might be playing host but it’ll still be a challenge to play Ohio State, especially against the Buckeyes wide receiver according to Al Golden.

The defense coordinator knows the biggest threat on the Ohio State offense comes from the outside. With NFL talent year after year, the Buckeyes produce a factory’s worth of wideouts.

Golden spoke about what to expect from Ohio State’s best position group.

“Outstanding length and speed, ball skills and catch radius, like really excellent,” Golden said. “They’re a really, really talented group, play har … So, (they’re depth), that’s not changing. So it’s a challenge, you know, we have to find a way to obviously reduce their production there as much as we can. And that’s one of the biggest challenges in the game.”

So far this season, Marvin Harrison Jr. has 14 catches for 304 yards, three touchdowns and 21.7 yards per catch. His partner in crime, Emeka Egbuka, has 12 catches for 167 yards, three touchdowns and 13.9 yards per catch.

Let’s not forget about Julian Fleming, as Golden referred to the depth. He has 11 catches for 100 yards and tight end Cade Stover has 10 catches for 188 yards.

Safe to say, Golden has to worry about quarterback Kyle McCord spreading the ball around to his weapons.

Al Golden needs Notre Dame to contain Ohio State WRs

If Golden’s defense can’t contain the elite Ohio State wide receiver group, then the Fighting Irish offense needs to keep up.

That starts with Sam Hartman going toe-to-toe with McCord. But he has to get through a pretty impressive Ohio State defense as well.

“I mean, I think it just starts with them, they’re kind of quarterbacks, their defensive linebacking corps is two really stout players, who have been playing a lot of football,” Hartman said. “Obviously, it really just encompasses their front seven. A lot of experience, a lot of talent there, and their secondary. Brought back a lot of guys from last year. All extremely talented. So we know we have a challenge on our hands. They do a lot of things upfront. Very multiple.

“Again, you know going into this game, it’s going to be a battle for all four quarterbacks, and they’re going to bring it. They’ve got experience as well, so it’s an exciting challenge, but not something that we’re going to take lightly.”

Notre Dame hosts Ohio State Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET.