Like a grizzly bear on a moose carcass, the first game of the 2022 Notre Dame football season was a study in contrast.* At times the Irish played like a team ready to compete with the best in college football and at other times they looked outmatched. The first offensive play for Notre Dame was itself a study in contrast as it featured great individual efforts contrasted with terrible execution. Let’s take a look at the film and I’ll show you what I mean.

* Note – the bear / moose metaphor makes absolutely no sense. However, since I am Canadian I am contractually obligated to refer to moose, bear, beaver or Canadian Geese in every 18 Stripes article. As such, I have fulfilled my contractual obligation and now we can get down to looking at the film.

We didn’t have to wait long for things to get exciting. This is the first play of the game. Notre Dame comes out with two tight ends lined up as H backs and two wide receivers. The tight ends will move across the formation and look to block the first defenders they see (gold lines), while the wide receivers will run patterns (gold arrows).

QB Tyler Buchner, #12 (green arrow) will read the unblocked defensive end (blue circle) and decide if he is going to hand the ball off to running back Audric Estime, #7 (gold star), keep it himself or throw the ball to one of his receivers.

The Irish offensive line will look to block the remaining three down lineman (blue lines) with tackle Blake Fisher, #54 and center Zeke Correll #52 either going straight to block the linebacker or double teaming and eventually working to the linebackers (blue lines).

Pre snap, Buchner should recognize that something doesn’t make sense with the defensive alignment. The Ohio State linebackers (well technically two linebackers and a hybrid safety) are over shifted to the wide side of the field (red lines) even though Notre Dame is in a relatively balanced set. This leaves a lot space off tackle on the short side of the field (blue circle).

Buchner should expect that Ohio State will fill the weak side off tackle gap after the ball is snapped. The most likely scenario is the safety (red star) will come down late to fill that gap (red arrow).

Ohio State ends up doing something a little different. Instead of bringing the safety down, they will blitz the corner (red arrow) and have the safety replace him in coverage (red arrow). To add a little more confusion Ohio State will slant the defensive tackles to the strong side (red arrows).

This is a pretty standard run / pass option play. Buchner is going to read the unblocked defensive end (red arrow). Once he makes his read, he will have three choices. Hand it to the running back (blue arrow), keep the ball and run with it to the perimeter (yellow arrow) or throw it to Lorenzo Styles #4 (bottom of screen, purple arrow).

Just after the snap of the ball, Notre Dame is actually in pretty good shape. We have three blockers Blake Fisher #54,  Michael Mayer #87, Kevin Bauman # 84, in excellent position (blue arrows) to block the three play side Ohio State defenders (red circles). All we have to do is execute the blocks.

A fraction of a second later and all three Notre Dame blockers missed their blocks (blue arrows). This is not ideal.

Fortunately not all is lost. Buchner correctly read the unblocked defensive end was coming directly for the running back so he did not hand off the ball. Although he  is about to get absolutely destroyed (blue circle), he has the presence of mind and the athletic ability to make a quick throw.

At the same time, Styles recognizes the corner blitz, realizes he is the hot read and immediately turns his head to look for the ball (purple arrow).

Buchner makes an incredible throw. Not only is he able to get the ball away while he is being hit (and can’t step into the throw), the location is perfect. High and to the outside where only his guy can make the catch. There are very few quarterbacks in college football that could make that throw.

Lorenzo Styles also did a great job of recognizing the blitz, looking back immediately and throttling back his speed so he didn’t run into the safety (or outrun the throw). He is now in the process of catching the ball (purple arrow) and is about to take off for a big gain for the Irish.

Final Thoughts

This play is a perfect example of the good and bad with the Notre Dame offense. Obviously, the missed blocks were a problem on this play. Unfortunately missed blocks were a reoccurring theme with the Irish offense on Saturday. However, the throw by Buchner showcases his elite athletic ability and the quick adjustment by Styles shows a deep understanding of his role in the overall structure of the play.

Make no mistake, Marshall is going to employ a similar game plan against the Notre Dame offense including shooting gaps with the defensive line, very aggressive play from the linebackers and frequent blitzes from the secondary. While Marshall doesn’t have anywhere near the athletes that Ohio State does, if Notre Dame does not execute better, it will be a frustrating game to watch.