Ohio State’s biggest concern against Notre Dame after thrilling win at Texas

Ohio State Football now they can try it. The Buckeyes are four quarters away from winning their ninth national championship. They are rolling after pulling off Texas in the Cotton Bowl on Friday and will be the favorite to top Notre Dame.

Ohio State shouldn’t worry about the Fighting Irish, right? Absolutely not, when you go back to the Buckeyes’ last game.

The Longhorns may have underachieved. But Texas found some flaws on Ohio State’s side.

The Buckeyes may seem like a team of destiny during this run to a national title. But make no mistake: Ohio State comes with big dilemmas in Atlanta. Here’s the biggest concern on the Buckeyes side.

Texas unveiled a blueprint for how to bottle Ohio State’s Jeremy Smith

The Longhorns have heard all the chatter about how unstoppable Jeremiah Smith has been. The explosive freshman crushed Tennessee and Oregon for a combined 13 catches, 290 yards and four touchdowns in the College Football Playoff.

Texas, however, bottled him up for one stunning catch, good for just three yards. How did Longhorns defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski cage the monster that plagues the defense?

Kwiatkowski bracketed Smith with none, but three different defenders. Furthermore, Texas made sure there was a safety over Smith, as identified by Jordan Reed of ESPN.

Texas handed Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman a blueprint for how to contain Smith. It doesn’t help OSU and Smith that Freeman is a defensive whiz. Freeman is guaranteed to develop a similar philosophy and make Smith work for his receptions and yards.

Ohio State’s running back faces another stout run defense

Smith wasn’t the lone Buckeye star to struggle against Texas. The attack on land did not fare much better. The Longhorns shut down running lanes and forced OSU to average just 3.4 yards per carry. Quinshawn Judkins scored both of his rushing touchdowns from the 10-yard line.

Texas is giving up an average of 109.6 yards per game to opponents, including just 3.2 yards per carry. Notre Dame’s defense isn’t far behind.

The Fighting Irish allowed 3.7 yards per carry. Opponents are averaging just 133 yards per game against ND.

Penn State watched its duo of Ketron Allen and Nicholas Singleton combine for 166 yards. But like Judkins, Singleton scored all of his touchdowns on short runs of 10 yards.

However, Freeman’s defense provided the stronger offense against Georgia. No Bulldog player went 39 yards. Indiana was another high-octane offense that struggled to establish the run against the Irish.

This is an ND run defense that, like Texas, will make opponents work for their yard after taking the handoff. Judkins, TreVeion Henderson and company are in for a tough night against this run defense.

Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard rediscovered the passing touch

Irish quarterback Riley Leonard produced his worst passing game of the season in the Sugar Bowl. But Notre Dame still beat Georgia by double digits.

Leonard looks like he’s rediscovered his streak in the Orange Bowl. He came back from a scary headache to lead the scoring in the first half. And his first pass sailed 36 yards to Aneas Williams to ignite a third-quarter surge.

The two-time passer had his biggest hits during the second half, leading to a 27-24 victory. Now he faces a Buckeyes pass defense that struggled when Quinn Evers had time to throw.

The Texas QB watched five of his wideouts grab at least one reception of 22 yards or more. The Buckeyes, however, were able to take advantage of a poor offensive line by sacking Evers four times.

Ohio State can still turn to rival Penn State’s offense for Leonard. The Nittany Lions beat him for five sacks. But the last thing OSU wants to see is a red-hot Leonard, especially on the aerial side.

Will Howard has this offensive engine hum. But the Buckeyes KB almost came out with a multi-turnover game against Texas.

He fired an interception to David Gbenda, then nearly lost a fumble. He can’t afford to lose the ball more than once against this defense.

He also needs to avoid becoming the last KB star to fight ND. This defense kept Drew Allar from throwing one touchdown pass and allowed just 135 yards to the PSU star. Georgia’s Gunnar Stockton fumbled twice and lost one by ND while finishing with -23 yards. Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke had three sacks, one interception and passed for just 215 yards against this defense.

Howard has to do more than just play without mistakes. He needs to take care of the football to increase Ohio State’s chances of winning.