Notre Dame Notebook: Irish Players Talk Ohio State

As this Saturday night’s showdown between No. 9 Notre Dame (4-0) and No. 4 Ohio State (3-0) inches closer, the buildup has been pretty civil, at least from the teams. The public war of words that preceded last week’s Colorado – Colorado State rivalry has been absent. There has been no social media shade thrown from the head coach of one program toward another (see Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin).

It’s been pretty much nothing but respect coming from Notre Dame’s campus before the Irish host their neighbors from the east.

"It’s a huge opportunity for us as a program and as a team to go out there and show what we’ve got,” Fighting Irish quarterback Sam Hartman said this week. "It’s exciting. It is a big game. I think to shy away from that is foolish. But I think it’s going to be like every week. It’s about us executing at the highest level and like Coach (Marcus) Freeman probably already said, reaching our full potential.

"I think it’s big for the university, big for our team and this season,” Hartman continued. "Obviously, the road to the finish line leads through this game and really every game for us. But obviously it’s a big challenge. It’s going to be a huge crowd, a huge ordeal here, with College Game Day and everything included. But we’re going to try and keep our blinders on as much as we can and understand that it’s going to be one play one life.”

Big Outside Matchup

Notre Dame’s secondary has the task of covering Marvin Harrison Jr. and the ultra-talented Ohio State receiving corps. Harrison is arguably the best receiver in the nation. The son of former Indianapolis Colts Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison led the Buckeyes with 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. He already has 14 catches for 304 yards and three touchdowns this season. He’ll obviously have the attention of veteran Irish cornerback Cam Hart and the rest of the secondary.

"The guy’s really good,” Hart said of Harrison. "Obviously the intangibles. Everyone knows that. He’s got great speed. Can run every route. Has a really good catch radius. For his size and speed, him being able to run every route is something that he really does well. I think that’s what differentiates a really good receiver from an average receiver, if they can make all their routes look the same. There’s some guys I can tell what route they’re running after two steps. If you make everything look the same it’s really hard. That’s one thing he does well.”

There’s more than just Harrison to contend with. Emeka Egbuka is also back. He was Ohio State’s second-leading receiver with 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns of his own. Ohio State had eventual No. 2 draft pick CJ Stroud at quarterback last year. This year it’s Kyle McCord making his fifth career start.

"I think we’re focusing this year on their whole offense with Kyle being a new quarterback,” Hart explained. "Last year we knew: great quarterback, great receivers so it was more, 'Okay, we’re going to attack this from an outside-in perspective: cornerbacks, defensive backs, to the front seven.’ Now with a new quarterback, I think we’re taking a holistic approach rather than breaking it down with the receivers like we did last year.”

Run Game Assessment

Fighting Irish linebacker JD Bertrand returns to the field this week after missing last week’s game with a concussion. Bertrand and company will look to shut down Ohio State’s run game, that is led by TreVeyon Henderson, who was one of three OSU backs to rush for at least 550 yards last year. He comes into Saturday’s game with four touchdowns and 191 yards while averaging 6.4 yards per carry.

"They're obviously a great all-around team, and that's them every single year, especially this year, with the run game, they have some great backs, same as last year,” Bertrand said when asked about the Ohio State run game. "But obviously, it's a new year, and the majority of times, you get better from last year, and you can see it in these backs. The biggest thing is we have to be able to neutralize that.”

Bertrand had three tackles against Ohio State last year.

"The biggest thing is, for us, we're just trying to make sure we make it about us, do what we do and prepare the way we've been preparing each week, but find a way to get better,” Bertrand explained. "Coach Freeman challenged each guy to write down something this morning, what's something that they need to get better on at practice and focus on that. So we're trying to make sure that focus is really on us and doing our jobs and being the best we can do at it.”

In The Trenches

Like Bertrand and Hart, Irish left tackle Joe Alt played at Ohio State last year. He’ll be part of one of the other bigger matchups in the game – down in the trenches facing Ohio State’s defensive front.

"They have a really good front seven,” Alt gauged. "They’re physical, they’re experienced, they have a lot of games played, they have a leader in the middle with their middle linebacker who’s played a lot of football for them. I think he kind of gets that group going. For us, it’s just how are we going to get ourselves ready to play this game, focus on us, focus on what are the things we need to improve in from last game, from this practice and get ourselves ready and focus on us. That’s the biggest thing.”

The Fighting Irish know this is a big game. There’s no way around that. Ohio State has been one of the top programs in the nation in recent years. They are one of five programs that has won a national championship in the College Football Playoff era.

"At the end of the day, it’s another football game, but obviously it’s a big one,” Alt said. "It’s at home, it’s a big opponent. You want to play to the best of your ability. So, for us, the biggest thing is just reaching our full potential on Saturday. That’s what we want to do. By doing that, it starts with each and every day and winning today. Winning what you want to do. Having an intent going into practice of what you want to work on, what the group wants to work on, and just going at each and every day and trying to win what you’re going to win. What drill am I going to win? What skill am I going to win? What technique am I going to win? Just stack those on top of each other each and every day and to reach our full potential on Saturday is always our goal.”

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