GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) Ezekiel Elliott bulldozed his way into the end zone in the first half, showing off his strength as Ohio State’s drive capper.
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Kizer’s biggest play came when he threw to the sidelines to Will Fuller, who evaded a would-be tackler and raced down the sideline on an 81-yard play, the second-longest pass play in Fiesta Bowl history.
When I suggested as much in the Irish’s locker room after No. 7 Ohio State rolled to a relatively easy 44-28 victory in the Fiesta Bowl, Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer fired daggers my way with his eyes.
Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report.
But the College Football Playoff, the one they baptized last season with a 42-20 championship victory over OR, rolls on without them.
On 3rd-and-3 late in the first quarter, J.T. Barrett hit Jalin Marshall for 10 yards to kick-start the drive that started at the Ohio State five.
Ohio State marched 80 yards in nine plays, the last two yards on Elliott’s first touchdown run, to go up 7-0 the first time it had the ball.
Buckeyes QB JT Barrett was named the offensive MVP of the game after throwing for 211 yards and rushing for 96 yards.
Ohio State finished 12-1 and the senior class departed with a 50-4 record in the last four seasons.
While some of Ohio State’s players talked about “next man up” when asked about replacing Bosa, coach Urban Meyer was more anxious about his team going against Notre Dame without Bosa and suspended defensive tackle Adolphus Washington.
Both the Buckeyes and Irish lost their best defensive players in the first quarter.
As tough of a break as it was for Zaire to suffer such a catastrophic injury after waiting his turn to take over at quarterback, the fact is the Irish don’t need to look for alternatives at quarterback; they simply need to build on Kizer’s brilliant first year as the full-time starter. “You lose a guy like (Smith) early on; it significantly affects what you’re doing defensively”.
November 28 loss at Stanford: The Clemson Tigers are playing for the national championship, and Stanford won the Pac-12 title and the Rose Bowl, so Notre Dame’s losses proved its skill.
TALENT LOAD: The Fiesta Bowl might be the bowl with the most talented players.
Unfortunately, Bosa was ejected early in the game for targeting and he didn’t get the proper send off he deserved.
“That was a kidney shot”, Meyer said of the reverberation felt by the Buckeyes.
Q. Brian, it’s been 22 years since Notre Dame won a major bowl.
Tennessee 45, Northwestern 6: Joshua Dobbs threw for 166 yards and ran for two scores, helping the Volunteers rout the No. 12 Wildcats in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. The teams traded touchdowns throughout the second quarter to put the score at 28-14 at the half time break.
“He’s a physical back”.
Following an 11-yard punt return from halfback Jalen Marshall, the Buckeyes faced a first-and-10 from Notre Dame’s 43-yard line, and Barrett found sophomore tight end Marcus Baugh for a gain of 27 yards down to the Fighting Irish 16. “He did some special things with his feet today”. But time after time, the Buckeyes came up with huge plays to move the chains.
Let’s quickly appreciate 10-3 Notre Dame, too. But the Wolverines didn’t miss him, holding the Gators (10-4) to 28 total yards in the second half. They cranked out two early touchdown drives in which they only faced one third down. After the interception, the two teams traded punts before Ohio State kicker Sean Nuernberger nailed a 37 yard field goal to extend the lead to 38-21.
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I tried to warn all of you that Kizer could play.
