The Buckeyes are one of the most popular picks to win the national championship this season, but those title hopes could be dashed early if they can’t deal with an upset-minded Fighting Irish team. It’s the first regular-season game of the post-Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame, and head coach Marcus Freeman, a former Buckeye with 37 career starts and four Big Ten titles to his name, would love to start the 2022 campaign .bringing down his alma mater. With just seven meetings all-time, Ohio State and Notre Dame haven’t met as often as you might think considering their respective status as college football’s blue bloods. When they meet it’s almost always a big deal, with Saturday night marking the fourth straight meeting with the two teams ranked in the top 10 of the polls. Ohio State leads the all-time series 4-2, and the two teams are already scheduled to reunite next season for the back of that field in South Bend. Ohio State and Notre Dame would deserve your attention in any year, but this top-five matchup on the first Saturday in September is a matchup that will set the tone for two College Football Playoff contenders. View Ohio State vs. Notre Dame live score and watch live coverage throughout the game.
Ohio State vs. Notre Dame: I need to know
Big scene for Heisman Trophy favorite: The Heisman Trophy favorites haven’t always fared so well in the final voting, in part because of the scrutiny they face each week. CJ Stroud is the preseason favorite to win the award in 2022, and his fair or otherwise performance in this game will have a lasting impact for many Heisman voters. That’s not ideal, given that Freeman had plenty of success as a defensive coordinator before his promotion to head coach, and the fact that Notre Dame might have a top-15 — or even top-10 — team this season. season, led by a defensive lineman in Isaiah Foskey. But the argument on the other side is also true. If Stroud plays well against this quality opponent on a big stage, then he becomes the man to beat with a quality win that will take several weeks for another Heisman candidate to match.
Breaking down Notre Dame’s offense vs. Ohio State’s defense: One of the most talked about coaching moves of the offseason wasn’t even at the coaching level. The hiring of Jim Knowles as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator could end up being almost as significant as the dazzling head coaching changes we saw last offseason. Knowles is coming off a stellar year at Oklahoma State and his task is to lead a defense that can be a perfect complement to the explosive offense already in place. However, the first challenge for Knowles will be a bit of an unknown as the Buckeyes face a new starting quarterback in Tyler Buchner. A prospect coming out of high school in California, Buchner saw some limited action as a freshman for the Irish in 2021 as part of a three-quarterback shuffle with Jack Coan and Drew Pyne. Now he’s won the job outright, but he’s taking the field without last year’s star running back (Kyren Williams) and already down a key receiver (Avery Davis) due to injury.
An All-America matchup on Labor Day weekend: Ohio State and Notre Dame have a combined nine players who were first- or second-team selections on the 2022 CBS Sports Preseason All-America team. The Buckeyes had five with running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and offensive lineman Paris Johnson voted to the first team, while quarterback CJ Stroud and offensive lineman Dawand Jones made the second team. Notre Dame’s four selections were offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson (first team), defensive back Brandon Joseph (first team), tight end Michael Meyer (second team) and linebacker Isaiah Foskey (second team). That’s 20% of the 44 players deemed All-Americans who will be on the field at the same time, adding some legitimate star power to the clash of these iconic college football programs.
How to watch Ohio State vs. Notre Dame live
Date: Saturday, September 3 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ELocation: Ohio Stadium — Columbus, OhioTV: ABC | Live Stream: fuboTV (Try Free)
Ohio State vs. Notre Dame prediction, picks
Featured Game | Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
In a vacuum or a simulation, Ohio State wins this game by 20 points, but college football is played by people and the stage is too big to believe there will be an explosion on Saturday night. The Buckeyes play with all the pressure and there have been some nightmare nights in non-conference play in Columbus. Ultimately, Ohio State is clearly the better team and will win, but this game is an interesting one for the Fighting Irish to cover. Prediction: Notre Dame +17.5 Which college football picks can you confidently make in Week 1 and which heavy favorite will fall hard? Visit SportsLine to see which teams will win and cover the spread — all from a proven computer model that has returned nearly $3,600 in profit over the past six-plus seasons — and find out.
