Buckeyes vs. Fighting Irish Preview: The Unbeaten Showdown in South Bend
Written By DJ Pelles
Tonight, the Ohio State Buckeyes travel to South Bend, Indiana for a highly anticipated top 10 matchup against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Both teams head into tonight’s game boasting an unbeaten record. The Fighting Irish with wins over the likes of Navy and North Carolina State. The Buckeyes coming off arguably their best showing of the year, a 63-10 win over Western Kentucky.
The Buckeyes come into tonight’s game under pressure, with the eyes of the nation upon them. Arguably the biggest question for the Buckeyes is QB Kyle McCord. How will he handle his first true test, on the road in a hostile environment? McCord is coming off of his best performance of the year, last Saturday he finished 19-23 passing with 318 yards and 3 touchdowns. It appears that he’s finally getting comfortable with the offense and his new role as the full-time starter. RB Treveyon Henderson has seemingly solidified his place as the teams RB1, compiling 4 touchdowns over the past 2 weeks.
As for the Ohio State defense, the “Silver Bullets” will face their first true test of the season. Their main priority will be shutting down Notre Dame QB, Sam Hartman. Hartman, a transfer from Wake Forest, leads the Fighting Irish offense with 1061 yards and 13 touchdowns through the air this season. Hartman is also yet to throw an interception. The Irish rushing attack is led by Audric Estime, who has accounted for 100 plus rushing yards in all but one of his starts. Estime also currently leads the country in rushing yards with 521. Notre Dame is coached by former Ohio State linebacker, Marcus Freeman who will look to defeat his alma mater after falling just short last year in Columbus.
Tonight’s game will wrap up the home and home series between these two teams, with no scheduled meetings in the foreseeable future. The Buckeyes won last year's matchup in Columbus by a score of 21-10. In the past five meetings between these two, Ohio State has won all five with the last Fighting Irish victory in 1936. Tonight’s game will kick off at 7:30 PM ET on NBC with the Buckeyes as a 3-point favorite.