Bobby Carpenter: Ohio State linebackers vs. Audric Estime is the matchup to watch

Much of the conversation is about the quarterback battle between Ohio State and Notre Dame ahead of this week’s showdown in South Bend. Kyle McCord is officially the guy for the Buckeyes after beating out Devin Brown, while Sam Hartman enters the game leading the nation in touchdown passes through four games.

But, according to former Buckeye Bobby Carpenter, the biggest piece in the matchup will be between the Buckeyes linebackers and the Fighting Irish’s leading rusher.

Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg have been staples of the Ohio State defense for three years now. They’ll have their hands full this week, though, going against Audric Estime. The 5-foot-11, 227-pound running back ranks second in the nation with 130.25 rushing yards per game. That’s why containing him will be huge for the Buckeyes Saturday night.

“You look at Steele, you look at Tommy. Both of those guys now have started for three years,” Carpenter told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “And Audric Estime is the key. We can talk about Kyle McCord, we can talk about Sam Hartman. Notre Dame has two high-quality NFL tackles. They love to run the football. They’re going to try to pound it.

“Audric Estime is big, he’s thick, he can run through tackles. It’ll be up to Chambers and Eichenberg to not only hit, but you’ve got to wrap. You have to get him down. You can’t let a two and three-yard run get bled into five to six because that changes the math dramatically on the second and third downs.”

It won’t just be on Chambers and Eichenberg to keep Estime at bay, though. Sonny Styles will also play a key role because of his versatility. Carpenter said Styles’ ability to bounce around the defense is critical to stopping the high-powered Notre Dame run game.

If Ohio State can stop Estime from running all over the field, that will greatly help the Buckeyes’ chances of fighting off an upset.

“The third piece of that is Sonny Styles, who is kind of like the hybrid linebacker-safety,” Carpenter said. “The guy can run like a safety, but he’s about 225 pounds. So him being involved in that mix, as well. If the defensive line does their job, it’s going to come down to being able to get Audric Estime to the ground and make sure that he’s not rushing for 150 yards.”

It’s shaping up to be quite a battle at Notre Dame Stadium. The Fighting Irish and Buckeyes will kick off Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.