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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — CJ Stroud threw two touchdown passes and Ohio State’s revamped defense found a ditch with its proud offensive time.
The top-five opening matchup is the homecoming of Notre Dame first-year coach Marcus Freeman, a former Buckeyes linebacker who made a meteoric rise to lead the Fighting Irish at age 36. did.
Freeman is currently 0-2 as head coach after losing a bowl game just weeks after being named Brian Kelly’s successor.
In the storied program’s first regular-season meeting since 1996, the Irish frustrated Heisman Trophy finalist Stroud, putting together several first-half scoring drives and leading the high-scoring Buckeyes for most of the third quarter. I hung up.
But the Ohio State defense was too lenient on last season’s runs, putting a clamp on Ireland’s new quarterback Tyler Buchner in the second half.
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Ohio State manager Ryan Day handed over the defensive staff in the offseason and brought in Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State as coordinator.
It was an open question how quickly the Buckeyes would come up with more complex and multiple schemes than they had ever done before.
Game 1 was good. The Irishman managed just 253 yards and punted his final six possessions. Tommy Eichenberg had two of his three sacks in Ohio.
And Eilish D could only hold out for a very long time.
Notre Dame brought in multiple blitzers, and Ohio State gave Stroud enough time to open up deep middle Xavier Johnson for a 24-yard score. This gave the Buckeyes a 14-10 lead with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
On the next drive, Ohio State claimed. The Buckeyes saw him jump 95 yards in 14 plays, clocking 7 minutes behind, and Miyan his 1-yard surge by Williams made him 21–10.
Williams rushed for 84 yards on 14 carries, and Trebillon Henderson had 91 yards on 15 tries.
Ohio State led the nation in points scored and yards per play last season, but most of the night was a slog for Stroud and the offense.
Playing mostly without star receiver Jackson-Smith-Nigba, who hit hard in the first series, Stroud threw for 223 yards.
He and Emeka Egbuka connected on a 31-yard catch-and-run to make it 7-3 in the first quarter. But that was it for the Buckeyes in the first half.
Defending Champion No. 3 Georgia Route No. 11 Oregon, 49-3
Buchner and Eilish responded with a long touchdown drive in the second quarter when Audric Etime recorded a 1-yard touchdown leap to put Eilish up 10-7.
That’s how it was halved. By the time Freeman returned to his stadium in Ohio, things couldn’t have gotten any better.
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Notre Dame: Buchner completed the first eight passes and was 2-10 to go. The Irish were creative, making some big catches in the first half to get the ball moving, but they ran out of answers in the second half.
Ohio: Smith-Niziva finally set a Rose Bowl record, recording 3 yards on 2 catches. The Buckeyes boast a deep receiver room full of blue chippers, but it was fifth grader and former walk-on Johnson who caught the go-ahead touchdown.
star studs
Ohio State University honored its 2002 National Championship with a brief on-field ceremony in the first half with former coach Jim Tressel and dozens of former players, including Maurice Claret.
The crowd roared as Tressel was reluctantly placed on the shoulders of two former players.
The first game of the 100th season at Ohio Stadium drew LeBron James and son Bronnie to the Ohio State sidelines. With the NFL season looming a week after him, former Buckeyes Justin Fields and Chase Young were in attendance.
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Notre Dame: Freeman’s first home game is against Marshall next week.
Ohio: Toledo visits the Buckeyes.