Report Card: Grading Notre Dame’s loss to Ohio State

By Tyler Horka

ATLANTA — One team was much better than the other in the national championship game Monday night. The winning side, Ohio State, got what it deserved, and you can say the same about the loser, Notre Dame. The Buckeyes manhandled the Fighting Irish for large stretches of the 34-23 final.

Here’s how Blue & Gold graded Notre Dame in the defeat.

Notre Dame Passing Offense: B+

It was nonexistent for a while. But when Notre Dame found its passing game, the Fighting Irish very nearly mounted a major comeback on the strength of it.

Senior quarterback Riley Leonard completed 13 of his final 16 pass attempts in the game, including a pair of touchdowns to sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse. He finished with a stat line of 22 of 31 for 255 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. In a way, it was a “best for last” type of performance for Leonard — those 255 yards amounted to a season high.

Greathouse caught 6 passes for 128 yards and the 2 scores. No other Notre Dame pass catcher had more than 52 yards. The Irish offense has long been yearning for a true No. 1 option, though, and Greathouse was exactly that in eclipsing 100 yards in each of the final two games of the season.

Notre Dame Rushing Offense: F

Notre Dame felt like it had a good chance to win if it could do what no other team in the College Football Playoff had been able to do — run the football against this formidable Ohio State defense.

Turns out, the Irish could not.

Notre Dame finished with 53 rushing yards on 26 team attempts, by far the worst output on the ground of the season. The previous season low as a team was 117 yards, twice.

Notre Dame fell behind by multiple scores in the first half and by 24 in the second, which mandated a pass-happy attack, but sophomore sensation Jeremiyah Love still only had 4 carries for 3 yards. Junior Jadarian Price had 3 for 13.

It was Riley Leonard or bust in the running game for Notre Dame, and even he only had 17 rushes for 40 yards and a touchdown. The Irish failed in this very important phase of the game.

Notre Dame Passing Defense: F

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard began the game having completed his first 13 pass attempts. He finished 17 of 21 for 231 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Notre Dame was credited with 2 sacks, but for most of the game Howard had all night to dissect the Irish defense. And he did.

The game came down to one play, third-and-11 from Ohio State territory with the Buckeyes clinging to an eight-point lead in the final five minutes, and OSU freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith burned Notre Dame sophomore corner Christian Gray deep for a 56-yard gain. That effectively ended the ballgame, which equated to a failure of the Irish passing defense to get the job done.

Notre Dame Rushing Defense: F

This might give off a “that’s too many ‘Fs’ in a national championship game that only had a margin of 11 points,” but how can you justify anything other than a failure for a Notre Dame rushing defense that let the Buckeyes carry 41 times as a team for 214 yards and 2 touchdowns?

Junior running back Quinshon Judkins had 11 carries for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. Heck, quarterback Will Howard hurt the Irish time and again with his legs in rushing 16 times for 57 yards. TreVeyon Henderson was not as dynamite as his backfield buddy; he ran 12 times for 49 yards.

The only other teams to rush for 200-plus yards on Notre Dame this season were the service academies and Penn State. With everything on the line, the Irish got gashed, plain and simple.

Special Teams: C

Saving this from another “F” is punter James Rendell, who booted his two attempts for an average of 48.5 yards. He flipped the field both times he was asked to do so.

Graduate student kicker Mitch Jeter, meanwhile, pushed his only field goal attempt wide ride from just 27 yards out. It was as deflating a moment as it sounds; many felt Notre Dame shouldn’t have kicked in the first place and instead should have gone for it on fourth-and-goal from the 9-yard line, but the safe assumption was an easy three points. It’s never safe to assume.

There was also the failed fake punt attempt, which actually should have worked if not for a dropped pass by Jordan Faison on an accurate throw from Steve Angeli, but that also felt like a strange call. Notre Dame only needed two yards and the Irish were in their own territory. Could have just left the offense on the field.

Coaching: C

Credit the Notre Dame staff for getting the Irish to play until the final whistle, but there were too many wire-to-wire head scratchers to give coaching a grade any higher than a “C.” Marcus Freeman did not coach his best game, and he’s got a whole offseason to sit on that.