Ohio

Comparing Ohio State vs. Notre Dame at Every Position

Published

1 year ago

January 19, 2025

Comparing Ohio State vs. Notre Dame at Every Position

Ohio State is one game away from proving it’s the best team in college football this year, but it has to beat one more elite opponent first.

While the overall talent gap between Ohio State and Notre Dame might be a little bigger than it was between the Buckeyes and their last two opponents – Texas and Oregon – that’s not to say the Fighting Irish don’t have plenty of great players who are capable of challenging the Buckeyes. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be in the national championship game having won their last 13 games in a row.

Given that, Ryan Day has repeatedly emphasized in the days leading up to the national championship game that Ohio State needs to play its best game of the season to hoist the trophy on Monday night.

“We know we have a great challenge ahead of us. Notre Dame’s a very, very good team and very disciplined, a lot of good players, very well-coached, as you know. Certainly complementary in all three phases, put pressure on you,” Day said Friday. “So we know we have to be at our best, and that’s the goal in this game is to play our best game of the season. I still don’t think we’ve done that, and that’s the goal.”

With that in mind, we take a look at how the two teams that will meet in Monday night’s national championship game compare at every position group – with an assessment of which team is stronger at each position entering the national title game – and put together what a composite starting lineup could look like if both rosters were combined.

Quarterback

There are several similarities between the two quarterbacks facing off in the national championship game. Will Howard and Riley Leonard each drew interest from both Ohio State and Notre Dame when they entered the transfer portal last offseason, and both seniors have drawn considerable praise for the leadership and competitiveness they’ve brought to their respective teams in the buildup to the national title game.

That said, Howard has been the considerably more consistent passer between the two this season, completing 72.6% of his passing attempts for 3,779 yards (9.4 yards per attempt) and 33 touchdowns with 10 interceptions compared to a 66.4% completion percentage with 2,606 yards (seven yards per attempt), 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions for Leonard. The Notre Dame quarterback has done more damage as a runner, gaining 866 yards and 16 touchdowns on 167 carries compared to 169 yards and seven touchdowns on 89 carries for Howard, but Howard has still been a capable dual-threat when the Buckeyes have needed him to be.

Advantage: Ohio State

Running Back

Both Ohio State and Notre Dame have elite tandems at running back. Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love are two of the most explosive ballcarriers in the country, while OSU’s Quinshon Judkins and ND’s Jadarian Price have been highly productive complements to Henderson and Love.

Cumulatively, Henderson and Judkins have combined for 1,927 yards and 22 touchdowns on 315 carries (6.1 yards per carry) while Love and Price have totaled 1,855 yards and 24 touchdowns on 276 carries (6.7 yards per carry). Love has battled through a knee injury in Notre Dame’s last two games, but has been the most productive RB between the two teams for the season as a whole, and Notre Dame also has strong depth with freshman Aneyas Williams, who caught five passes for 66 yards in the Fighting Irish’s CFP semifinal win over Penn State.

Assuming Love will be fully healthy after practicing without a knee brace this week, the slight edge goes to the Fighting Irish at running back with how efficient and productive their running backs have been.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Wide Receivers

There’s no more lopsided edge for either team when comparing the position groups in this game than Ohio State has at wide receiver.

Carnell Tate has been Ohio State’s third-most productive receiver this season (50 catches for 698 yards and four touchdowns), yet he has 13 more catches, 234 more yards and one more touchdowns than Notre Dame’s leading wide receiver in each category. The Fighting Irish don’t have any downfield weapons who can come close to comparing to Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka, and that gap is one of the biggest reasons why Ohio State is favored to win this game.

Advantage: Ohio State

Tight End

While tight end has been an advantage position for the opponent in most of Ohio State’s matchup games this season, the argument could be made in the Buckeyes’ favor for this game. Gee Scott Jr. and Will Kacmarek have been playing their best football of the season in the CFP, and Notre Dame’s Mitchell Evans – who looked like a budding star when he caught seven passes for 75 yards against Ohio State last season – hasn’t had overwhelming production this year.

The Fighting Irish’s tight end depth has also been thinned as their best blocking tight end, Cooper Flanagan, suffered a season-ending injury in Notre Dame’s Sugar Bowl win over Georgia. Evans is still the top receiving tight end in this game (39 catches for 369 yards and three touchdowns) and Eli Raridon is a solid backup for the Fighting Irish, but the gap here isn’t as big as Notre Dame might have hoped it would be.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Offensive Line

Both Ohio State and Notre Dame have been snakebitten by injuries along the offensive line this season, and the left tackle position is a particular position of concern for the Fighting Irish after Anthonie Knapp went down with a season-ending injury against Penn State. They’ll now be counting on Charles Jagusah – who was expected to be their starting left tackle entering the season but had missed the entire season due to injury before filling in at right guard in the Orange Bowl – to play the premier position on the offensive line in just his second career start.

Assuming Rocco Spindler is able to return to action after leaving the Orange Bowl with an injury of his own, Notre Dame still has one of the nation’s best interior offensive lines along with a strong right tackle in Aamil Wagner. The Fighting Irish’s strength at those positions gives Notre Dame the edge when comparing the two teams’ offensive lines as a whole, but that edge is contingent on Jagusah being the player Notre Dame thought he could be entering the season, along with Spindler’s health.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Defensive End

Like wide receiver, this is another position where Ohio State has a massive advantage. While Notre Dame has lost two of its best edge rushers, Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore, to injuries suffered in the regular season, Ohio State’s defensive end tandem of Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau has been dominant in the CFP.

In three CFP games alone, Tuimoloau and Sawyer have combined for 10 sacks. Notre Dame’s available edge rushers have combined for seven sacks for the entire season. That’s not to say the Fighting Irish can’t still generate pressure off the edge, but they don’t have anyone who can take over a game like Sawyer or Tuimoloau.

Advantage: Ohio State

JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer have combined for more sacks in the CFP than Notre Dame’s uninjured edge rushers have had all season. (Photo: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Defensive Tackle

This is another position where injury has changed the equation for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish’s best defensive lineman, Rylie Mills, suffered a season-ending injury in their first-round playoff win over Indiana.

Notre Dame still has one excellent defensive tackle in Howard Cross III, and Gabriel Rubio has stepped up well in Mills’ absence. With Mills on the sideline, however, Ohio State might have the two best defensive tackles in the national championship game in Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton, with Williams being the biggest game-wrecker on the interior defensive line for either team.

Advantage: Ohio State

Linebacker

Both teams feature an excellent veteran leader at linebacker with Cody Simon leading the way from the Mike linebacker spot for the Buckeyes and Jack Kiser doing the same from the Will linebacker position for Notre Dame.

Simon and Sonny Styles have been the most productive linebackers between the two teams this season; Simon has recorded 104 tackles with 11.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and seven pass breakups while Styles has recorded 94 tackles with 9.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and five pass breakups. Notre Dame has a deeper rotation at linebacker, however, with four linebackers who have each recorded at least 50 tackles and four tackles for loss this season.

This is the tightest comparison of any position on defense, with Simon and Kiser being the two best all-around linebackers between the two teams, but I’m giving the slim advantage to Ohio State based on how impactful Simon has been this year.

Advantage: Ohio State

Cornerback

This is another position where Notre Dame suffered a major injury loss as Benjamin Morrison, an All-American candidate at cornerback, went down with a hip injury in the middle of the regular season. Despite that loss, the cornerback position has continued to be a strength for the Fighting Irish with Leonard Moore earning FWAA Defensive Freshman of the Year honors and Christian Gray giving Notre Dame another difference-maker on the outside of its secondary. Jordan Clark, the son of former NFL safety Ryan Clark, has also been an active playmaker for Notre Dame at nickelback.

The cornerback position certainly isn’t a weakness for Ohio State either as Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock have led the way for OSU to lead the nation in passing yards allowed per game. But with Burke coming off an injury that sidelined him for the second half of the Cotton Bowl and penalties being a recurring issue for Igbinosun this season, cornerback is a slightly greater position of strength for the Fighting Irish.

Advantage: Notre Dame

Safety

National championship game viewers will be treated to watching the two best safeties in college football, Ohio State’s Caleb Downs and Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts. Both of them lead their respective defenses from the free safety spot, with Downs moving all over the field to make plays while Watts – who’s tied for second nationally with six interceptions this season – is the linchpin of Notre Dame’s Cover 1 defense.

Both teams have impactful strong safeties, too, with Lathan Ransom joining Downs to form an elite tandem over the middle for the Buckeyes while Adon Shuler has had an excellent redshirt freshman season for Notre Dame. Both teams’ safety tandems make it tough to throw the ball over the middle of the field, but there’s no better pair of safeties against the run in college football than Downs and Ransom, which gives Ohio State the overall advantage here.

Advantage: Ohio State

Projected Composite Lineup

Pos	Player	Team
OFFENSE
QB	WILL HOWARD	OHIO STATE
RB	JEREMIYAH LOVE	NOTRE DAME
WR	JEREMIAH SMITH	OHIO STATE
WR	EMEKA EGBUKA	OHIO STATE
WR	CARNELL TATE	OHIO STATE
TE	MITCHELL EVANS	NOTRE DAME
LT	DONOVAN JACKSON	OHIO STATE
LG	BILLY SCHRAUTH	NOTRE DAME
C	PAT COOGAN	NOTRE DAME
RG	ROCCO SPINDLER	NOTRE DAME
RT	AAMIL WAGNER	NOTRE DAME
DEFENSE
DE	JACK SAWYER	OHIO STATE
DE	JT TUIMOLOAU	OHIO STATE
DT	TYLEIK WILLIAMS	OHIO STATE
DT	HOWARD CROSS III	NOTRE DAME
LB	JACK KISER	NOTRE DAME
LB	CODY SIMON	OHIO STATE
CB	LEONARD MOORE	NOTRE DAME
CB	DENZEL BURKE	OHIO STATE
NB	JORDAN HANCOCK	OHIO STATE
FS	XAVIER WATTS	NOTRE DAME
SS	CALEB DOWNS	OHIO STATE

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Ohio

Warren man sentenced for Niles police chase

Published

12 hours ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

Warren man sentenced for Niles police chase

WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) — A Warren man who led police on a chase received his sentence on Wednesday.

Michael Greene, 32, was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to make restitution.

Greene pleaded guilty in February to failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and failure to stop after an accident.

Greene was charged following a November 2025 police chase in Niles.

Prosecutors say that the chase involved speeds of about 103 miles per hour.

It was discovered that the car Greene was driving was reported stolen by a family member.

Patty Coller contributed to this report.

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Ohio

A unique project asks Ohioans to map Revolutionary War graves

Published

1 day ago

May 14, 2026

Press Room

A unique project asks Ohioans to map Revolutionary War graves

Jane Imbody
| Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

Ohioans have until May 25 to help document the final resting places of Revolutionary War veterans buried across the state.

The effort is part of the Revolutionary War Veterans Graves Identification Project, a first-of-its-kind initiative led by America 250-Ohio, the commission organizing the state’s celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. The project aims to create a publicly accessible database of veterans’ graves, complete with photographs, inscriptions and GPS coordinates, according to a community announcement.

The public can submit information through the Grave Marker and Cemetery Collection Portal until May 25. Submissions will be reviewed and finalized before the database is released July 4, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Thousands of graves documented by volunteers

Launched on Memorial Day 2025, the project has mobilized about 350 volunteers who have documented more than 4,000 grave markers across Ohio. The database is expected to include information on up to 7,000 veterans believed to be buried in the state.

Clusters of graves have been found in areas such as Clermont County and regions corresponding to the original Virginia Military and United States Military Districts. The first documented entry was the grave of Nathaniel Massie, a Virginia Militia private who founded the city of Chillicothe.

A window into Ohio’s early history

Ohio is home to a large number of Revolutionary War veterans’ graves, despite not being one of the original 13 colonies. After the war, portions of Ohio’s land were granted to veterans as payment for their service, drawing many to settle and build communities in the region.

Previously, records from organizations like the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution identified about 6,800 veterans buried in Ohio, but lacked precise locations and current photographs.

How to participate before the deadline

Anyone with a smartphone can contribute to the project. No historical expertise is required. Here’s how to participate:

Visit ohiohistory.org/revwargraves to review instructions and explore the map of cemeteries already identified as likely grave sites.
Download the free Survey123 app on your smartphone.
Visit a cemetery, photograph the grave marker, record inscriptions, and log GPS coordinates.
Submit your entry through the portal before May 25.

Volunteers who do not wish to remain anonymous will be acknowledged by name for their contributions. The completed database will remain publicly accessible beyond the America 250 celebration and will be maintained by the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office and the Ohio History Connection.

A lasting legacy for future generations

The project is led by the Ohio History Connection and its State Historic Preservation Office, with support from Terracon Consultants, Inc. Submissions appear on a live, publicly viewable dashboard at ohpo.maps.arcgis.com.

“These are the very first veterans of the United States of America,” Krista Horrocks, historian, cemetery preservationist, and project manager with the Ohio History Connection said in the announcement. “Documentation is the part that will outlive all of us. Gravestones won’t survive forever, but if we can record their location and story today, that information will be here for generations to come.”

To learn more, view the live dashboard, or submit information on a grave site, visit ohiohistory.org/revwargraves.

This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.

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Ohio

Ohio governor announces new Medicaid fraud prevention initiatives

Published

2 days ago

May 13, 2026

Press Room

Ohio governor announces new Medicaid fraud prevention initiatives

COLUMBUS — Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced Wednesday that he is implementing several new fraud prevention initiatives to strengthen and build-upon long-standing efforts to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in the Ohio Medicaid system.

“Ohio has long been a national leader in fighting Medicaid fraud. Ohio has one of the best Medicaid Fraud Control units in the country, and, in 2018, Ohio became the first state to implement Electronic Visit Verification in home health care,” DeWine said.

“Today, we are ready to begin several new initiatives long in development that will enhance this nation-leading work and further protect taxpayer funds from those trying to defraud the State.

“I thank the Trump Administration for their partnership and collaboration that is allowing us to proceed with these reforms much faster than previously possible.”

New initiatives

DeWine said he is directing the Ohio Department of Medicaid to implement the following:

Statewide New Provider Moratorium. The Ohio Department of Medicaid will today ask the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) so Ohio may implement a six-month moratorium on new home-healthcare and hospice businesses being able to become Medicaid providers. This will allow Ohio Medicaid to stop enrollment of new providers and assess existing providers to help remove those at high risk for having committed fraud.
Immediate Payment Suspension to High-Risk Providers. Ohio Medicaid will today begin a policy of immediately removing and suspending payment to providers whose billing practices show “red flags” that indicate a high probability of fraud. Ohio Medicaid already has a robust payment suspension protocol that is currently used to stop payments to questionable providers. In January, Ohio Medicaid began the process of implementing new data analytics tools to help identify billing data anomalies that could better identify fraud. To date, this process has identified 87 providers who will be subject to further review and potential payment suspension.
Executive Order for Emergency Rules. The Governor will be issuing an Executive Order that will allow the Ohio Department of Medicaid to implement emergency rules to require more frequent revalidation of providers being identified as higher-risk for committing fraud. Governor DeWine sent a letter to CMS on May 1 committing Ohio to partnering with the Trump Administration and using a more stringent revalidation process to better prevent fraud.
Mandatory GPS Requirement for Electronic Visit Verification. Ohio Medicaid will file rules to require GPS for all providers using Electronic Visit Verification (EVV). Since March 2025, Ohio Medicaid has begun phasing in EVV as a mandatory requirement for home healthcare provider payment. In December, DeWine authorized Ohio Medicaid to begin the information technology investments needed to make GPS mandatory for EVV. Ohio Medicaid now ready to make this rule change to implement the requirement. Ohio Medicaid has worked collaboratively with Ohio Auditor Keith Faber on identifying solutions to issues identified in the Auditor’s audits of Ohio Medicaid, and this new rule will implement a key recommendation of the audits.
Mandatory EVV for Live-In Caregivers. Ohio Medicaid will begin the rulemaking process to require live-in caregivers to use EVV during home healthcare and as a requirement for payment. Currently, family and live-in caregivers are exempt from this requirement.

Ohio’s work in prosecuting Medicaid fraud

Ohio has been a national leader in catching and prosecuting Medicaid fraud thanks to a strong partnership between Ohio Medicaid and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the governor said.

Since the beginning of 2023, Ohio has secured 444 Medicaid fraud indictments, 481 convictions, and 146 civil settlements and judgments resulting in $78.4 million in recovered taxpayer fund.

Under Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the unit received a U.S. Office of the Inspector General’s Award for Excellence in Fighting Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in 2022, and it ranked #1 in the nation for number of convictions secured in 2015 under then-Attorney General Mike DeWine.

Utilizing home healthcare to protect taxpayer dollars

Home and community-based care programs have been a core component of Medicaid services for decades since they were initiated under Ronald Reagan’s Administration.

Ohio is one of 47 states and the District of Columbia that provides such care under a waiver granted by CMS.

Ohio’s home and community-based care programs are grounded in data showing that legitimate in-home care is typically safer for individuals and significantly more affordable for taxpayers.

In 2024, Ohio saved more than $600 million in taxpayer funds that would have been expended had patients receiving home healthcare been diverted to skilled nursing or other residential care services, saving several billion dollars over the course of the DeWine Administration.

On average, home health care costs half as much as placement in a nursing facility.

Ensuring access to appropriate home-based care is both a responsible use of public resources and a critical part of meeting the needs of our most vulnerable Ohioans who otherwise would require placement in higher-cost nursing facilities.

Additional efforts to fight fraud, waste & abuse

Providing care in a home setting requires a robust set of controls to detect and prevent fraud.

Ohio Medicaid has been proactively evaluating all program integrity initiatives to ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent and that quality care is being provided.

The governor’s office said the department has been engaged in a thorough review of programs and policies to evaluate any risks to the integrity of the program, identify potential gaps that could be exploited, and explore opportunities to leverage new and emerging AI and data analytic tools to stay one step ahead of anyone looking to exploit the system.

As part of that work, since the start of 2026, the Department has initiated new prior authorization requirements for high-risk services to ensure medical necessity.

Ohio Medicaid launched efforts to build new data analytic capabilities to identify unique outliers in billing patterns, better assess vulnerable business ownership structures, and improve coordination of fraud fighting efforts.

These efforts are designed to improve the early detection of potential fraud and identify future areas of inherent program risk.

To confirm that billed services are actually rendered, Ohio Medicaid relies on an extensive set of safeguards, including:

Comprehensive provider screening and continuous compliance monitoring.
Mandatory electronic visit verification capturing date, time, and service location.
Advanced analytics that flag unusual billing patterns or service trends.
Routine and targeted audits performed by program integrity staff.
Coordination with state and federal partners when concerns arise.

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