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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Michael Chen

5 stars: The best and worst of Ohio State’s epic win at Notre Dame

The Ohio State Football team gritted out a road win against Notre Dame, virtually walking the game off with a Chip Trayanum 1-yard touchdown plunge to a final score of 17-14.

When you get a top-10 win away from home, there isn’t much that you can complain about, but as we always do with our Buckeyes, we want more. That might be a curse, but when we are talking about Ohio State, we just want the best.

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There was a whole lot of good from this game too, so let’s break down who played very well, 5-stars, and who didn’t in Ohio State’s thrilling 17-14 victory in Notre Dame Stadium. (Note: I didn’t have any parts of the defense on here because they were awesome. No complaints from me there.)

5 ⭐️ - Running back TreVeyon Henderson

Why

The workhorse for the Buckeyes was awesome. Over 7 yards per-carry, scoring the long touchdown and being a threat in the receiving game. Yes, he didn’t catch a ball, but as a decoy along with getting a pass interference call during the fourth quarter, he did his job.. Henderson is officially back.

4 ⭐️ - Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka

Why

For the second time this year, Marvin Harrison Jr. was ineffective, partially due to injury, some due to going up against a first round pick in Benjamin Morrison. Egbuka stepped up big time, catching 7 receptions for 96 yards. He didn’t find the end zone but huge chain moving catches late were the difference.

3 ⭐️ - Play calling

Why

It wasn’t great for the majority of the game. There were some plays that we had not seen up to this day, but to me, they really didn’t do much. The motion to get the defense confused really just was window dressing and didn’t account for much. A lot of credit has to go to the Notre Dame defense, but a win is a win.

⭐️ - Right tackle Josh Fryar

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Why

You can’t have costly penalties in a game of this magnitude and Fryar had two. A false start on the first drive of the game, followed by personal foul late in the third quarter that wiped out a third down conversion. For a unit that needed to play a clean game, when just one cog makes a mistake, the whole offense pays.

⭐️ - Short yardage conversions

Why

This one is pretty obvious and it cost the Buckeyes points midway through the second quarter. Three obvious runs, then a play-action pass that was tipped for a turnover on downs. The fourth down play call was also obvious, hard to see how they could fool anyone with that. Third-and-one late in the fourth quarter, Henderson get’s stopped just short. Right after that a jet sweep to Egbuka, another short side run that didn’t work. As frustrating as this was throughout the game, they made up for it on the game winner.

Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X.

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