Notre Dame Debriefing: Ohio State's Revamped Defense Stepped Up When Offense Sputtered Early

Defense wins championships.

Ohio State lost to Oregon a year ago because its defense wasn't up to snuff. They lost to Michigan in a butt-whupping to put an exclamation point on the problem. Ryan Day noticed, and blew things up in the offseason, bringing in a $2 million coordinator and nearly all new assistants, saving only future Hall of Famer Larry Johnson.

Against a Top-5 opponent in a primetime season opener, it looks like the plan worked. While the vaunted Buckeye offense sputtered through the first 30 minutes, the Silver Bullets took care of business.

TL;DR: JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM

It was a tale of two halves for C.J. Stroud and the Buckeye offense. In the first, the Buckeyes scored just a single touchdown, missed a field goal, and managed only 50 yards rushing.

But in the second, things opened up a bit for the home team, as Stroud settled in and Day remembered that he could in fact call a rushing play. The Buckeyes increased their offensive output by 65% after intermission and scored two additional touchdowns thanks to Xavier Johnson and Miyan Williams.

But the story of the night is how for the first time in forever, Ohio State could count on its defense to get the job done. Tommy Eichenberg and Mike Hall Jr. were sensational, the play calling was pretty much spot on, and fans could see plenty of reasons to be excited about things to come from the Jim Knowles-led regime.

HOW IT WENT DOWN

OFFENSE

They made you sweat early, that's for sure. Just 149 yards of total offense in the first half, and it seemed like with Jaxson Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming both out of commission, that things were trending in the wrong direction for the best offense in the country.

The unit certainly didn't look like the unstoppable juggernaut previewed at the Rose Bowl nine months ago, with just a touchdown alongside a missed field goal to show for their first-half efforts.

Ryan Day apparently gave the right halftime speech, because the offense looked much more confident in the second half, reeling off 246 yards in a much more run-focused attack. Day called only 11 carries before halftime, but dialed up two dozen in the second. Running the ball paid dividends, with Treveyon Henderson and Miyan Williams combining for 171 yards on the ground at an average of 6 yards a clip.

Questions for this unit coming into the season were who would step up to be the big playmakers with Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson off to The League, and if the offensive line was up to scratch. Both of those questions were tested Saturday night, as JSN and Julian Fleming were non-factors in the game due to injury concerns and Notre Dame's defense seemed like it was in Stroud's face too much for comfort.

Emeka Egbuka stepped up as the team's leading receiver, not entirely surprising given the expectations for him, and he and the rest of the receiving corps did Brian Hartline proud on a night that wasn't perfect, but was good enough to get the job done. Day may need to lean on his ground game more than he might prefer given his pass-first mentality, but he clearly has the horses to get the job done by land or by air.

It is worth noting that Ohio State's 21 points are its lowest total output since the 2017 loss to Oklahoma, and the team recorded <400 yards (395) for just the second time in the Ryan Day era.

Helmet Stickers

CHOP CHOP CHOP: It took Ryan Day too long to start running the ball like he meant it, but when he finally pulled the pin, Miyan Williams was fantastic. Oh, and did you see that sideline catch late in the game?!?
Xavier Johnson: On a night when the name brands on the Buckeye offense didn't have their best outing, Johnson stepped up in a big way with a make-or-break touchdown.
C.J. Stroud: There were some throws early that didn't look great, but with a depleted receiving corps he still managed to complete 71% of his passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. That'll do.

DEFENSE

Will you look at that defense, huh??? After an ugly opening drive spotted Notre Dame 71 yards and a field goal, and a 10-play, 87-yard bleeder added another touchdown early in the second quarter, the Irish just couldn't move the ball against Knowles' aggressive, confident Buckeye defense.

It was a revelation after last year's turgid ode to mediocrity.

Players made some big plays, the scheme looked every bit as good as advertised, and more than anything it looked like a unit built to keep Ohio State in big games regardless of what might be happening (or not happening) on the other side of the ball.

With three sacks and six tackles for loss to their credit, the Knowles unit looks like it is prepared to feast on Big Ten teams in the weeks ahead, and more especially like one that can keep Ohio State on track to win in November and beyond.

Jim Knowles: Theres still a lot of things we havent shown. Tonight we were rather basic.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) September 4, 2022

Consider that Notre Dame punted the ball on 8 of its 10 drives, and recorded just 12 first downs all night. Or that Irish quarterback Tyler Buchner started the game completing eight passes in a row, but then completed just two of his final 10 passes.

Yeah, that seems like a good start to a rebuilding project.

Helmet Stickers

Tommy Eichenberg: 9 total tackles, 2 sacks, 3 TFLs... this guy looked like he was everywhere. He looked fast, he looked confident, he looked like the defensive leader Knowles promised during the offseason.
Mike Hall Jr.: 4 total tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFLs... Hall was a monster in the middle, and was a big part of the reason that Notre Dame averaged a paltry 2.5 yards per carry.
Jesse Mirco: Yeah, the punter isn't technically part of the defense, but the big boot had Notre Dame backed up against its own endzone most of the night. Four of his five punts were downed inside the 20, and the average starting position for the Irish was the 17 yard line.

DID THE DEFENSE SUCK 30% LESS THAN LAST SEASON?

Loyal listeners of The Eleven Dubcast (subscribe wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!) will know that I've repeatedly rejected the notion that Ohio State's revamped defense needs to be among the Top 5 in the country. As good as Ryan Day's offenses have been (yes, I know, this wasn't their best game ever), Jim Knowles doesn't need to turn the Silver Bullets into the '85 Bears to win championships, they just need to suck 30% less than they did last season.

To put that into perspective, last season's defense coughed up an average of 372.9 yards and 22.8 points per game. It hurts just writing that, trust me.

So it seemed only logical to include a new feature in The Debriefing each week this season to gauge how well the defense is meeting that goal, and at the end of the season to see if "The 30% Hypothesis" holds water.

Notre Dame managed just 253 net yards of total offense which IS better than 30% less than Ohio State's average allowed last season, and just 10 points, which is ALSO better than 30% less than last year's average points allowed.

VERDICT: YES, Ohio State's defense sucked at least 30% less than last season!

JIM TRESSEL'S LEAST FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE GAME

Coach Tressel loves nothing more than seeing his young people grown up and successful, so the 20th Anniversary of his team's 2002 National Championship was a wonderful opportunity to see some of his favorite players and revel in the upstanding men he always knew they could be.

Donning a well-loved sweater vest, he looked at Miss Ellen and said, "You know, it just feels right," as they left the hotel for one more trip to that hallowed ground where he ushered in the modern era of Ohio State football.

While the premium suites aren't quite as comfortable as his broken-in armchair, being back on campus and feeling the energy from 106,000 friends and neighbors was more than worth the trouble. The thoughtful staff had even stocked the mini-fridge with ice-cold whole milk ("You're cheating yourself if you drink skim," he once explained), and had warm chocolate chip cookies brought in at halftime.

The punting was fantastic all night long, and the Buckeyes were winning against a Top-5 team by relying on their defense and superior field position! Day wasn't going for it on fourth down like some riverboat gambler high on goofballs or whatever the kids are huffing these days.

It really felt like the universe knew exactly the kind of game he needed to see to make a wonderful weekend just about perfect. Not a bunch of this flash and dash stuff and running up the score on a worthy opponent; just honest, sound, fundamental Ohio State football.

With a nearly-perfect game to savor, the living legend's least favorite thing was seeing a beloved protege fall to 0-2 as a head coach. "It'll come, Marcus," he said to himself as C.J. Stroud took a knee to seal the victory for the home team. "Stay the course; it'll come."

IT WAS OVER WHEN

...Miyan Williams punched it in from the 2-yard-line with under 5 minutes left in the game to put Ohio State up 21-10. The Buckeyes wouldn't cover the 17.5-point spread, but in the biggest game of the weekend showed that the biggest issue plaguing last year's team is well on its way to being solved.

UP NEXT: Ohio State goes from hosting College Gameday for one of the biggest games in the season to hosting a typical September nooner against Arkansas State, a team from the Sun Belt Conference.