Ohio State and Notre Dame Locked in First Half Defensive Struggle

The Ohio State Buckeyes and Notre Dae Fighting Irish are locked in a struggle in the first half on Saturday night

Matt Galatzan | Sep 23, 2023

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Ohio State Buckeyes

The matchup between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish was projected to be a high-scoring affair by most experts.

And with high-powered offenses, with two talented and prolific quarterbacks - along with perhaps the top receiver group in college football for Ohio State - that made sense.

But through the first two quarters of play, it was quite the opposite, with the Buckeyes and Irish locked in a low-scoring defensive slugfest.

Things all started for the Bucks with the entire secondary at large, who was able to hold Irish quarterback Sam Hartman - a Heisman Trophy contender - to just 88 yards through the air on 9 of 13 completions.

Not to mention the play of safeties Lathan Ransom and Sonny Styles, who combined for nine total tackles.

The Buckeyes' defense as a whole was also able to hold the Irish to just 54 yards on the ground in total, including just 25 yards on five carries for starter Audric Estime.

On the other side of the ball, the Buckeyes struggled to get things going themselves, with quarterback Kyle McCord throwing for just 84 yards on 9 of 16 passing, while star running back TreVeyon Henderson to just 34 yards on 10 carries.

As a team, the Bucks managed just 63 yards on 19 carries.

Luckily, the Bucks were able to break the deadlock just before the half, knocking through a field goal, and going up 3-0

Perhaps even more surprising though, were the struggles for all-world wideout Marvin Harrison Jr., who caught just one pass for seven yards.

Ohio State will hope to find a spark offensively and extend their lead in the second half.

Published Sep 23, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com, AllAggies.com, and the Managing Editor of BuckeyesNow.com and TheGroveReport.com He is also the Editor-In-Chief of RamDigest.com and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com