Key Takeaways From The Notre Dame Defense vs Ohio State

Breaking down the important observations of the Fighting Irish defense from its loss to Ohio State

Notre Dame didn't get it done last night against Ohio State, falling to the Buckeyes by a 21-10 score. Despite the loss, there were certainly plenty of bright spots, especially on defense. Notre Dame held Ohio State to its lowest point total since 2018 and its lowest yardage total and yards per play average since the national title game against Alabama back in 2020.

Here are my key takeaways from the defensive performance last night.

Golden Shines In His Debut

Defensive coordinator Al Golden was thrown into the fire by having to face an Ohio State offense that ranked No. 1 in the country last season in scoring, total offense and yards per play. He was also going up against Ryan Day, who is considered one of the best play callers in college football.

Last night Golden showed he was more than up to the task, and in many ways he out-coached Day and the Ohio State offense. Star quarterback CJ Stroud had a tough time getting comfortable in the pocket. Notre Dame did a great job disguising their coverages and looks, and getting Stroud looking in one direction based on the pre-snap look, only to take away his top options. When Stroud did make big plays in the second half it was primarily when he was forced out of the pocket.

Notre Dame’s game plan against the run was quite good early, and the Irish were able to balance slowing down the ground attack while also being in position to handle the perimeter pass. Ohio State makes a living attacking teams with the quick perimeter throws and the quick game, but Notre Dame was more than ready to take it away both schematically and with a group of secondary players that for the most part did a great job of funneling everything back inside.

The fourth quarter saw the defense wear down a bit, and Ohio State started to push the Irish line around, something that Golden and his staff will need to address, but the Irish offense also needs to give an assist there and do better.

The one black eye was the clear miscommunication on Ohio State’s first touchdown of the second half, which will need to be addressed. Both safeties blitzed and freshman cornerback Jaden Mickey defended the inside post route like someone who was expecting inside help. Clearly either Mickey or one of the safeties were in error, and based on what we saw all night from the defense my guess is one of the safeties made a mistake and failed to cover the middle of the field, and it proved costly.

Secondary Silences Doubters

The biggest question mark about the Fighting Irish defense was the secondary, especially in the matchup against the powerhouse Ohio State pass offense that ranked third nationally in passing yards a season ago.

Notre Dame held Ohio State to just 223 passing yards and 6.6 yards per attempt. The 6.6 yards per attempt was Ohio State’s lowest average since the national title loss to Alabama in 2020 (5.9 YPA). Ohio State also averaged just 9.29 yards per completion, its lowest output since the Buckeyes lost to Clemson in the 2016 College Football Playoff semi-final.

Notre Dame did all that without much of a pass rush, which is the one thing we thought the Irish would have against the Buckeyes. The secondary was the primary reason for this success. It didn’t start out well, and standout cornerback Cam Hart was flagged for a pass interference penalty on the same drive he misplayed a stop route that resulted in a 31-yard touchdown.

Hart settled in and played better after that, and the rest of the secondary was outstanding for the remainder of the game outside of the aforementioned miscommunication.

Fifth-year senior TaRiq Bracy was brilliant all game long both in coverage and as a perimeter support defender. He earned Irish Breakdown’s player of the game honor, and most of the other contenders for that honor were secondary players. Junior cornerback Clarence Lewis had one of the best games of his career, limiting Ohio State to short completions when they did go at him.

Freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison got a good amount of playing time last night and he was excellent. Ohio State challenged Morrison but he was more than up to the task. He was sticky in coverage and played with a great deal of confidence. Transfer safety Brandon Joseph was also quite good as a help cover defender and against the perimeter runs and throws.

If the secondary can build on this performance it will be a significant strength of the defense.

Defensive Line Was Up And Down

Notre Dame’s defensive line was expected to be the strength of the defense in 2022, if not the entire team. There were some bright spots, but overall the line wasn’t nearly as effective as it needed to be in a game of this magnitude.

Ironically, it was the new starters that played the best football. A case could be made that junior Rylie Mills was the best lineman for the Irish last night, with Mills producing multiple edge pressures, and he was solid on the edge against the run. Nose tackle Howard Cross III earns that honor if it doesn’t go to Mills. On top of earning a sack early in the game, Cross was one of the more disruptive front players for the Irish.

I’ll have more about the other linemen below, but overall the one disappointing aspect of the game was the inability to be more disruptive against Ohio State. Notre Dame managed just two tackles for loss and one sack in the game, and while they flushed Stroud at times they didn’t get enough consistent pressure on him. To make matters worse, one of the two tackles for loss came from a cornerback.

Stars Didn't Play Like Stars

There are two ways to look at my next statement, and that is that outside of Joseph the Notre Dame stars on defense did not play like stars last night. We didn’t see much from standout edge Isaiah Foskey, who finished with four tackles but didn’t generate much pressure in the game.

Defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola also was quiet for much of the game and failed to be disruptive up the middle. Notre Dame needed Foskey and Ademilola to play to their potential and their billing and neither did so. In the fourth quarter this was especially true. When the defense needed the line to step up and make a play to stop the bleeding they couldn’t get it done, and when that happens you have to look at the best players.

Linebacker Marist Liufau had some good moments but overall he wasn’t overly impactful in the game. Hart settled in, but his mistake early in the game cost the team points, and in a game like this those types of mistakes can prove very costly.

The other way to look at it is to be encouraged. We have seen Foskey, Ademilola and Hart all play much better than they did last night, including in big games. They will be fine, and they will get back to their normal form. If the other players who did play like stars last night can build on their performances this Irish defense could be special if that is complemented by the stars getting back to playing like stars.

Tacking Was Better Improved, But Not Enough

This one is simple, Notre Dame tackled better last night than they did for much of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but it still needs to get better. The secondary had a few too many missed tackles and the linebackers took questionable angles for much of the night and wasn’t overly impactful on the ball. It was better, just not good enough yet.

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