Cleveland, OH
Ohio State’s defense comes up big in critical moments in win over Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Indiana — Ohio State’s defense might not like the phrase bend-but-don’t-break.
But on Saturday night, that’s exactly what they did.
Notre Dame had two drives stopped on fourth down. Ohio State stopped the Irish three times in their own territory and, with the game on the line, made a final stand when it needed to.
In a 17-14 thriller at Notre Dame Stadium, Ohio State’s defense, not its offense, was the backbone of the victory.
“We were having some problems,” defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said postgame. “We definitely have some things to work on. Last drive, we made some adjustments. We had to get some more guys down in the box. But J.T. made a couple great plays. You need a couple guys that are going to make the big time plays in those situations.”
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Knowles mentioned the fourth and one on Notre Dame’s first drive of the third quarter as one of the biggest plays of the game. He said that the defense hadn’t practiced that call but made the stop on a Sam Hartman quarterback sneak attempt anyway.
TreVeyon Henderson scored a 61-yard touchdown on the very next play.
Sam Hartman finished 17 of 25 for 175 yards passing with a touchdown, and Notre Dame’s best running back had five yards per carry. Its two backup running backs each averaged more than seven yards per attempt on eight and three carries, respectively.
Notre Dame’s first two drives last 21 plays and went 110 yards — and resulted in zero points. Its first drive of the second half went 36 yards in eight plays — and resulted in zero points.
And when the Irish had the chance to put the game away in the final minutes, Ohio State’s defense forced a punt at exactly the right time.
“Sometimes when an offense drives the ball, you talk about the next play, getting a stop,” Knowles said. “It’s just something that we emphasized.”
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