It is always interesting when Notre Dame Fighting Irish plays on a big stage like the one they are going to be playing on this weekend. On Saturday night, they will face the Ohio State Buckeyes in one of the biggest matchups of the entire college football season.
This matchup is one of three ranked matches this weekend as number five Notre Dame will take on number two Ohio State. The winner of this game will feel very good about their chances at the College Football Playoff late in the year.
The biggest storyline of this game going in for Notre Dame is the fact that it is the (regular season) head coaching debut of Marcus Freeman who replaced Brian Kelly (who left Notre Dame for LSU) ahead of their bowl game earlier this year.
Marcus Freeman is getting the luxury of opening this season as their full-time head coach against his alma mater, Ohio State University. He played there for a few seasons before being drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2009.
He waived before that 2009 season and then spent a few summers/practice squad sessions with the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans. In 2010, he started his coaching career as a graduate assistant with Ohio State.
From there he had stints as different types of coaches with Kent State, Purdue, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame before getting the head coaching job when Kelly left for LSU. This is a great opportunity for him to make a statement.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a big test ahead of them this weekend.
Tyler Buchner is going to be the quarterback of Notre Dame for the first time this season. He is a dynamic player that has a chance to be a difference maker. He earned the spot as the starting quarterback and should be very good for them this season.
Very few people are going to give Notre Dame a chance. Ohio State is one of the legit powers in the college football world even though they had a somewhat down year (by their standards) in 2021. Notre Dame is a very good team in its own right and should be able to compete here.
It is very hard to go on the road and win in these types of games but that is what Notre Dame needs to do. There are a lot of people that would be making a big statement with a win here. A victory for Notre Dame would flip the 2022 season upside down.
