Midway through Notre Dame’s first appearance in a national championship game since their 42-14 loss to Alabama in 2013 it looked like it was headed for yet another embarrassing blowout loss, as they allowed Ohio State to score 31 points on their first five possessions of the game and trailed 31-7.
However, things got interesting late in the third quarter as the Irish, who hadn’t moved the ball at all since their 10-minute TD march to open the game, scored a TD and got a two-point conversion to make it 31-15 and then forced a fumble by Ohio State for their first stop of the game. On the ensuing drive, the Irish drove the field and seemed to find their groove, but stalled out some once they got inside the 10. Facing a 4th and goal from the 9 with 9:27 to play, trailing by 16, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman bizarrely signaled for the field goal unit to go out onto the field. Even with a make, it would only cut the deficit to 13 points (still two touchdowns), and there was no guarantee they’d get two more possessions.
Making matters worse, kicker Mitch Jeter slammed the kick off the left upright.
It was, genuinely, one of the most baffling coaching decisions you will ever see in a big game. Even understanding that passing the ball is not Notre Dame’s strength (although, they were moving the ball well through the air on their last two drives), in that spot with the time and score, you just have to go for it. If nothing else, you leave Ohio State backed up down 16, but at least have the potential upside of a one-possession game with a touchdown. Given Jeter’s up-and-down season the field goal was not a certainty even from close range, and that proved to be unfortunately true for the Irish when he yanked it off the upright.
It was also not the first controversial special teams decision from Freeman on the night, as he went for a fake punt on a 4th and 2 that failed in the third quarter rather than leaving the offense on the field to run a real play. It was not exactly a sneaky fake (Ohio State was in punt safe) but it did at least have a chance as it was a good route and throw but dropped.
The Irish were heavy underdogs going into the game (anywhere from +8.5 to +10 on Saturday, depending on the book) and had a pretty small margin for error in the eyes of most. That got removed completely by their first half performance, and Freeman will certainly face some heat from Notre Dame fans for the field goal decision.
