Offensive Takeaways: Ohio State Overcomes Slow Start, Wears Down Notre Dame Defense

Miyan Williams was terrific in the fourth quarter in helping the Buckeyes seal the game, but the Buckeyes certainly missed Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

As succinctly as I can say, the Ohio State offense was quite literally nobody's concern coming into the season. Wondering how the Buckeyes would play offensively this year wasn't even in the stratosphere of conversations as the Scarlet and Gray prepared to open the season.

But Notre Dame's defense frustrated C.J. Stroud and company in ways that most people didn't really anticipate.

At one point, Ohio State went six straight possessions without scoring.

The Buckeyes failed to score in the 2nd quarter tonight. Last season, they failed to score in just 6 quarters, tied for the fewest in the FBS. per @ESPNStatsInfo

— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) September 4, 2022

The good news is that the Buckeye defense delivered a performance (under all the pressure in the world) that will never be forgotten, suffocating a resilient Notre Dame team and leading them to victory.

A quick examination of the offense:

C.J. Stroud played fairly well, but the Irish defensive line irritated him at times. Notre Dame's secondary also played better than I expected. Stroud finished the night 24-of-34 for 223 yards and two touchdowns.

He threw an absolute dime to Marvin Harrison Jr. in the first quarter, who was unable to complete what would have been a fabulous catch.

I think fans were thrilled to see that Xavier Johnson came up with such a meaningful touchdown to put the team ahead late in the game. That was easily his most meaningful play as a Buckeye.

Unfortunately, Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a pretty tough night because he never really got a chance to get going at full health. Smith-Njigba had his left left rolled up on in the first quarter and after taking a few series to try and get back on the field, it was clear that he couldn't give his normal effort.

Emeka Egbuka was a bright spot tonight. Its clear he and Stroud have some nice chemistry and while I'm not sure how long Smith-Njigba may be ineffective, Egbuka could emerge as a star. His early touchdown was very impressive.

I was a bit surprised that Ryan Day didn't try to run the ball more often during a clunky first half. TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams ended up with more than 20 carries combined, which I anticipated as we previewed the game. But there were instances where I thought handing the ball off may have been a good idea and Ryan Day felt otherwise. Ultimately, not a huge deal.

I thought Cade Stover played really hard and I think he has a chance to be a fantastic tight end - perhaps the best at the position we've seen in a little while.

The offensive line did a decent job against a great Notre Dame front, which was certainly the strength of the unit. They largely kept Stroud on his feet and Notre Dame didn't penetrate the line of scrimmage as often in the second half. If I'm being a bit critical, I think Dawand Jones needs to play better, but he had a really tough assignment tonight.

I thought Ohio State's physicality really wore them down in the fourth quarter.

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