ATLANTA — Jack Kiser walked down the tunnel toward the Notre Dame locker room beneath Mercedes-Benz Stadium, tears in his bloodshot eyes, as if the linebacker had something else to shed. Behind him, all the scarlet and white confetti had fallen as Ohio State’s national championship party swayed, after the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame 34-23 in a game that seemed like compelling proof of what the Irish have become under the leadership of coach Marcus Freeman and where they still are. you have to go there.
Kiser will not be part of Notre Dame’s next appearance in the College Football Playoff, whenever that happens. Maybe next year. Maybe not. But if Notre Dame gets it done, it will be hard to look back on this march to the national championship game and not see it as a stepping stone. For Notre Dame. For his coach.
“Difficult moment. Tough outcome,” Freeman said. “We obviously didn’t play the way we wanted to to get the result we wanted. There aren’t many words to say when everyone is hurting. I’m proud of what they did, I’m proud of who they are.
As Freeman tried to make sense of the disappointing conclusion to his third season, quarterback Riley Leonard sat to his right, apologizing for Notre Dame’s dormant offense that disappeared in the game’s decisive middle . To his left, Kiser continues to carry the weight of six seasons, 70 games and Notre Dame’s best chance at a national championship since the Irish last won 36 years ago.
When asked to make sense of it all, Kiser could barely get the words out.
“Having Coach Freeman…” Kiser said, his voice trailing off. “The people who made this place different. This just shows where this program is going. The people in this building are the best, the best. »
Linebacker Jack Kiser played six seasons and 70 games for Notre Dame. (Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
Notre Dame will not recover. This is not possible. It shouldn’t.
Ohio State played the better game with better athletes and better coaching, but at the same time, Notre Dame never really showed why it got here in the first place. A coach who built this season around smart preparation and game plans focused on self-awareness saw Notre Dame step out of its comfort zone. On a night when Notre Dame was scheduled to lead Ohio State in a rock fight, the Irish looked to find one to throw.
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After an 18-play, 75-yard opening drive that looked like a masterpiece from offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, the Irish were left to scribble with colored pencils as Ohio State drove off four straight touchdown drives to open the game. Notre Dame’s explosive running game was shut down, going without a double-digit gain for the first time all season. The nation’s most efficient pass defense was distinguished by Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard, who threw more touchdown passes (two) than incompletions (one) in the first half.
Notre Dame’s linebackers aren’t suited to runs, including Quinshon Judkins’ 70-yarder to start the second half. Defensive backs missed tackles, freeing up Buckeyes receivers in the secondary. Notre Dame could live with all-world wide receiver Jeremiah Smith putting his stamp on the game, and the freshman did, but not until the very end. What Notre Dame couldn’t stand was that Ohio State’s supporting players were getting theirs, too.
Instead, the Buckeyes’ overwhelming collection of talented players broke the Irish’s backs.
“There have been some things on both sides of the ball that we don’t normally do and some miscommunications, some self-inflicted wounds that we haven’t done in recent weeks,” Freeman said. “You always make mistakes, but those kinds of damaging mistakes when you’re playing against a really, really good football team cost you points.”
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Notre Dame rallied in the final stages thanks to two touchdowns from Jaden Greathouse. The sophomore had six catches for 128 yards and pulled the Irish within 31-23 after Jordan Faison’s two-point pass to Beaux Collins with 4:10 left.
But from there, Ohio State did to Notre Dame what Notre Dame had done to so many this season: cut the play down to the lines of scrimmage and turn the quarterback into a battering ram. The difference was that when Ohio State needed an explosive play, it had Smith on the outside and a quarterback with a trustworthy arm. From there, Christian Gray couldn’t keep up, as Smith raced 56 yards straight down the sideline to set up the closing field goal.
“We have to stop them. Right now we thought the best way to stop it was to do zero cover,” Freeman said. “We have to trust, at some point, that we can play a role.”
Notre Dame didn’t make many of these plays, and the coaching staff didn’t put the Irish in a position to make them either. Too often, Notre Dame’s defense looked frantic before the snap, unsure of what it was seeing. When the Irish wanted to steal a possession, they threw a fake punt that the Buckeyes had covered. And when Notre Dame had an opportunity to put pressure on Ohio State early in the fourth quarter by driving inside the 10-yard line, Freeman strayed from his default aggressive settings, settling for a 27-yard field goal by Mitch Jeter in the fourth and second quarters. 9.
“If it was a shorter situation with a fourth-and-goal, I probably would have gone with that,” Freeman said, “but I just thought fourth-and-9 wasn’t a great chance for us to play. ‘achieved it and I decided to kick it.’
There was a thud on the left pillar.
“We didn’t get there and it hurts,” Freeman said. “My job is to understand why. And I will.
Unlike Notre Dame’s recent national championship encounters, the coach won’t need to squint to see solutions. It might have looked like it could have turned into replays of the BCS championship loss to Alabama or previous CFP defeats, but this Irish team didn’t let up.
Notre Dame did not exploit its full potential here, to use a Freeman slogan. And it should hurt. But in previous trips to the mountaintop, Notre Dame has been exposed for barely playing the same game as the team on the other side. This wasn’t one of those matches at the start, let alone at the end.
If Notre Dame ever lifts the trophy under Freeman, this night has to be the reason. If the loss to Northern Illinois shaped this season, losing to Ohio State may hold even more power. The Irish don’t feel like they’re going away, even if they return home without a trophy.
“You sit here and you listen to these two guys talk and the passion they have for Notre Dame and for each other in this locker room…one of the greatest gifts of life is being able to be the leader of this program because you have great young people like this,” Freeman said. “But we just have to be better. I need to make sure that we prepare ourselves better for this next opportunity that we will have in the future.
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(Top photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
