Sunday afternoon, the 8th ranked Fighting Irish (10-2) found out they will play #7 Ohio State (11-1) in this year’s Fiesta Bowl in Arizona’s University of Phoenix Stadium.
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Keep in mind that Notre Dame has not won a major bowl game since 1994 when the Irish defeated the Texas A&M Aggies in the Cotton Bowl. Notre Dame’s QB, DeShone Kizer, is an OH kid that never got a committable Buckeye offer, and he’s never forgotten about it. Daniel Cage, one of Notre Dame’s best defensive players, is an OH kid that got away.
Special teams play was rarely talked about during the season, mostly because the offense was so good and the defense was at times so bad, so those two units generally dominated the headlines.
The game also will represent Ohio State’s 46th bowl game, with the Buckeyes owning a 21-24 all-time record in bowl games.
The Road Ahead: As it turns out, Notre Dame’s streak of playing at least one Big Ten team (at the time of the game) every year since 1917 won’t be broken after all this season.
Notre Dame is going to meet a Big Ten team after all. In fact, it may be the most intriguing matchup outside the playoff.
A day late and 10 days short is what the fate of eight means to Notre Dame.
Ohio State finished the regular season 11-1, and still held out hope for an unlikely College Football Playoff berth heading into last weekend. Additional bowl appearances sent the Irish to the Gator Bowl (1976, 1998, 2002), Liberty Bowl (1983), Aloha/Hawaii Bowl (1984, 2008), Independence Bowl (1997), Insight Bowl (2004), Sun Bowl (2010), Champs Sports Bowl (2011), BCS Championship Game (2012), Pinstripe Bowl (2013) and Music City Bowl (2014). “If you look at the first eight (teams), that would be a pretty good playoff”. Iowa only dropped from No. 4 to No. 5 in the final playoff standings. “We’re a different team”, Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said.
Jokes aside, the consolation prize is no consolation to Notre Dame.
And So It Begins: Kelly deftly handled the first and perhaps most awkward of many Urban Meyer-Kelly threads to come over the next month. Everybody would be excited about it. You’ve just got to keep moving in this direction.
Ohio State: RB Ezekiel Elliott, 1,672 yards, 19 TDs rushing.
Despite the 10 straight wins, the Buckeyes entered the Big Ten Championship Game against Wisconsin as an underdog with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones at the helm of the offense. WR Will Fuller has 56 catches for 1,145 yards and 13 TDs. Notre Dame won both games in 1935 and 1936.
This game also launched Eddie George into the early Heisman Trophy discussion as he finished the game with 202 yards and two touchdowns. Coming into the year with one career start, in 375 pass blocking attempts this season, McGlinchey gave up just a single sack, two quarterback hurries and two quarterback hits, for a team leading 98.7% pass blocking percentage. Notre Dame is 28th in the nation with 195.9 average yards allowed per game.
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Plenty of Ohio State’s defensive success comes from its ability to stop the pass. Defensive backs Vonn Bell, Tyvis Powell, Garçon Conley and Ali Apple combined for 30 passes defended (interceptions plus break-ups), helping push the Buckeyes to limit opponents to a 28.7 percent passing success rate (1st).
