Urban Meyer: Biggest question for Ohio State, Notre Dame ahead of Saturday showdown
On Urban’s Take with Tim May, former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer broke down the highly anticipated, marquee matchup between the Buckeyes and Notre Dame. Meyer first recognized the recruiting efforts of the Ohio State coaching staff, and how they’ve built on of the most consistently strongest rosters in the nation year after year.
“Ohio State is unprecedented what they’ve done, Brian Hartline, Corey Dennis, Ryan Day with the offensive recruiting they’ve done. It’s hard to imagine they lose three first-rounders, Jameson Williams, Chris Olave, and Garret Wilson, and from my understanding the two they have coming back with some others right behind them are as good or better. Think about what I just said, you lose three first-rounders, and then at quarterback, you go from Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields to CJ [Stroud], and then behind them they really like these quarterbacks. So at Ohio State what I’m hearing, depth at the offensive line is a concern, but they feel really good about their team, they just got to stay healthy and get them to the dance,” Meyer said.
Ohio State should feel good about what they’ve got entering their week one showdown, as they boast one of the strongest rosters in all of college football. Meyer believes that as long as they stay out of their own way this season that they’ll be primed for big success beyond week one.
Notre Dame on the other hand has a few more question marks heading into the season. They’re led by star tight end Michael Mayer, but will have some fresh faces that will have to come up big against the Buckeyes if they want to win this Saturday.
“Notre Dame’s best player’s their tight end, they have a new quarterback that’s gonna go into a tough environment. So there’s a lot of unknowns there, but their best player, he’s an NFL player their tight end. Their defense is very good, but the weakness I would say the quarterback taking those first snaps at Ohio Stadium,” Meyer said.
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner will be making his first start for the Irish this weekend, but did appear in 10 games for the Irish last season. In those games, Buchner showed off his dual-threat abilities rushing for 336 yards and three touchdowns as well as passing for 298 yards and three touchdowns. His debut versus Ohio State will be the biggest test of his career, but he’s proven he does have the tools to play at an elite level on a big stage.