For just the sixth time in their history, the Ohio State Buckeyes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish would square off in the 2016 BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. The last time these two national powers faced off was back in the 2005 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, a game the Buckeyes would win 34-20.
Notre Dame would receive the kickoff to begin the game and it didn’t start well for them at all. It was a quick three and out for DeShone Kizer and the Irish offense. The Buckeyes would promptly march the ball down the field. They went 80 yards in nine plays. The drive was capped off by an Ezekiel Elliot two yard plunge into the endzone. It would not be the last time Elliot would be celebrating with his teammates.
After yet another three and out, Notre Dame had to punt and Ohio State got great field position. The started at the Irish’s 43 yard line and it took only three plays for them to score again. J.T. Barrett found wide receiver Michael Thomas for a 15 yard touchdown pass to put the Buckeyes up 14-0 halfway through the first quarter.
On Notre Dame’s third drive of the game, they finally recorded got the ball moving when they recorded a first down for the first time in the game with 6:28 remaining in the first quarter. Two plays later, it appeared that Kizer made his first crucial mistake of the game. He was intercepted by Tyvis Powell, but the play would not stand as Ohio State’s Joey Basa was called for targeting. After being reviewed by the officials, the call on the field was confirmed and Basa was ejected from the game. From that point on, Notre Dame was able to finally move the ball a little bit better.
Notre Dame finally got a stop on Ohio State’s third drive of the game and forced the Buckeyes to punt. After driving 70 yards on 13 plays, freshman running back Josh Adams found the endzone to get the Irish to within seven points.
Ohio State would go right back down the field and score. The drive was all Barrett and Elliot as they combined for 59 yards on the ground during their 11 play, 62 yard drive. Elliot had 31 yards on the ground while Barrett added 28 on the ground and three in the air. Ohio State was able to extend their lead to 21-7 after Elliot scored from one yard out.
Just as soon as you thought the Irish were ready to play, they went three and out again and punted the ball right back to Ohio State after only eating up 1:03 on the game clock. Ohio State would take the ball right back down the field on a six play, 63 yard drive to extend their lead to 28-7. Once again it was Elliot would found the endzone from one yard out.
Knowing that they must answer, Notre Dame put together a nine play, 75 yard drive in just 1:19. There were several big plays made in this drive. At one point, Corey Robinson caught three straight passes (14, 12, and 15 yards) to move the Irish right down the field. A few plays later, Kizer would score from a yard out to cut the lead to 28-14 just before halftime.
Ohio State would get the ball to begin the second half and it appeared it would be more of the same for the Buckeyes. Luckily, the Irish got a break and Joe Schmidt was able to pick off a pass to stop a promising a drive by Ohio State. The Irish would only need seven plays to go 58 yards. Kizer threw his first touchdown pass of the game to Chris Brown for a two yard touchdown and would find themselves only down 28-21 with a lot of game to go.
The Buckeyes would have known of that and promptly drove right back down the field. The drive was capped by a 47 yard touchdown run by Elliot, his fourth of the day. His fourth touchdown tied a Fiesta Bowl record that was set by Arizona State's Woody Green against Missouri in 1972.
Notre Dame tried to respond, but Kizer threw an interception six plays later. He was picked off by Powell, who earlier had his interception called off after Bosa was flagged for targeting. 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.
Notre Dame would not give in. They would score just two plays later when Kizer hit junior wide receiver Will Fuller for an 81 yard touchdown. Fuller broke one tackle and was off to the races. As the commentators said on the broadcast, not many players in college football will be able to catch Fuller once he gets going. The Irish were down 38-28 with over 12 minutes to go in the game.
Ohio State would kick two more field goals to extend their lead to 44-28. The Irish would mount one more serious drive, but it ended on a strip sack by Daron Lee. The fumble was recovered by Tracy Sprinkle. Ohio State would punt again, but Notre Dame was finished. They completed one more pass and the final whistle was blown.
Ohio State is clearly a superior team and Notre Dame is not quite ready to compete with the big boys. Ohio State finished the season with a record of 12-1 while Notre Dame finished the season 10-3. This was their first double digit loss of the season for the Irish.
Many fans will say that Ohio State deserved to be in the College Football Playoff over Oklahoma. They may have a point. The Irish will have a huge decision to make next year. Who do they start? Will it be Kizer or will it be Malik Zaire, who Kizer took over for after week 2. If Zaire recovers well from his broken ankle, it will more than likely be him. Brian Kelly should feel good knowing he has two solid quarterbacks that can lead his team.