QUICK RECAP: Notre Dame punts away chances against Ohio State and lose 21-10

The game didn’t go exactly how the experts thought, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish put up a huge fight to start the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The game didn’t finish that way though as the game slipped away from the Irish in the second half for 21-10 loss.

The Irish struck first with a big play on the first play from scrimmage. Tyler Buchner hit Lorenzo Styles for a 54 yard gain, but they fizzled out right away and settled for a Blake Grupe field goal to go up 3-0.

The Irish did a nice job of getting OSU off of the field quickly on the Buckeye’s first drive, but a 3 and out sent a short punt back to the Scarlet and Gray. The Buckeyes took advantage of the short field and went 54 yards on 4 plays with a 31 yard touchdown strike from C.J. Stroud to Emeka Egbuka to make it 7-3 OSU.

The two teams traded a pair of 3 and outs, and then the Irish finally got some consistent play on offense. Notre Dame went 87 yards on 10 plays to punch it in the endzone with a one yard run by Audric Estime.

Up 10-7, Notre Dame stopped Ohio State short of the redzone on the next Buckeye drive, and forced a field goal attempt. Noah Ruggles missed the 39 yard field goal. With 25 seconds left in the half, Notre Dame really screwed with its clock management and was forced to punt before the half ended.

The second half just got worse for Notre Dame even with Jaxon Smith-Njigba out for the game. Notre Dame went on a run of 5 straight punts while allowing Ohio State to score two touchdowns to take a commanding 21-10 lead (Xavier Johnson TD reception and Miyan Williams TD run). The Johnson TD reception came on 3rd down in the redzone while blitzing both safeties.

Notre Dame gave up a deep sack on a 3rd down right after the Williams touchdown, to punt for the 6th possession in a row.

Ohio State ran out the clock with physical running — and the clock hit zeros. More to come on OFD