What can Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman learn from CFP championship loss to Ohio State?

ATLANTA Jack Kiser walked up the tunnel toward Notre Dame s locker room beneath Mercedes-Benz Stadium, tears welling in his bloodshot eyes, as if the linebacker had anything else to pour out.

Behind him, all the scarlet and white confetti had fallen as Ohio State s national championship party swayed, after the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame 34-23 in a game that felt like compelling evidence of what the Irish have become under coach Marcus Freeman and where they still need to go.

Advertisement Kiser wont be part of Notre Dames next run through the College Football Playoff , whenever it happens.

Maybe next year.

Maybe not.

But if Notre Dame does get there, it will be hard to look back at this march to the national championship game and not see it as a stepping stone.

For Notre Dame.

For its coach.

Tough moment.

Tough outcome, Freeman said.

We obviously didnt play the way we needed to to get the outcome we wanted.

Theres not many words to say when everyone is hurting.

Im proud of what theyve done, Im proud of who they are.

As Freeman tried to make sense of his third seasons anticlimactic conclusion, quarterback Riley Leonard sat to his right, apologizing for Notre Dames dormant offense that vanished during the games decisive middle.

To his left, Kiser continued to wear the weight of six seasons, 70 games and Notre Dames best shot at a national championship since the Irish last won one 36 years ago.

Asked to make sense of it all, Kiser barely could get out the words.

To have Coach Freeman ...

Kiser said, his voice trailing off.

The people thats made this place different.

It just shows where this program is heading.

The people in this building are the best, absolute best.

Notre Dame wont get over this.

It cant.

It shouldnt.

Ohio State played the better game with better athletes and better coaching, but at the same time, Notre Dame never quite showed why it got here in the first place.

A coach who built this season around whip-smart preparation and know-thy-self game plans watched Notre Dame get outside its comfort zone.

On a night when Notre Dame needed to drag Ohio State into a rock fight, the Irish fumbled to find one to throw.

After an 18-play, 75-yard opening touchdown drive that felt like offensive coordinator Mike Denbrocks masterpiece, the Irish were left to scribble with crayons as Ohio State rolled to four consecutive touchdowns to blow the game open.

Notre Dames explosive run game was shut down, without a double-digit gain for the first time all season.

The nations top pass efficiency defense was picked apart by Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard , who had more touchdown passes (two) than incompletions (one) in the first half.

Advertisement Notre Dames linebackers misfit runs, including Quinshon Judkins 70-yarder to start the second half.

Defensive backs missed tackles, turning the Buckeyes receivers loose in the secondary.

Notre Dame could live with all-world receiver Jeremiah Smith putting his stamp on the game, and the freshman did, although not until the very end.

What Notre Dame couldnt endure was Ohio States supporting players getting theirs, too.

Instead, the Buckeyes overwhelming collection of skill players broke the Irishs backs.

There was some things on both sides of the ball that we dont normally do and some communication mistakes, self-inflicted wounds that we havent been doing the past few weeks, Freeman said.

Youre always making mistakes, but those type of detrimental mistakes when you play a really, really good football team cost you points.

Notre Dame rallied in the final stages via two Jaden Greathouse touchdowns.

The sophomore posted six catches for 128 yards and pulled the Irish within 31-23 after Jordan Faison s two-point pass to Beaux Collins with 4:10 to play.

But from there Ohio State did to Notre Dame what Notre Dame had done to so many this season: grind the game down along the lines of scrimmage and turn the quarterback into a battering ram.

The difference was when Ohio State needed an explosive play, it had Smith on the outside and a quarterback with a trusted arm.

From there, Christian Gray couldnt keep up, as Smith went 56 yards straight down the sideline to set up the closing field goal.

We gotta get them stopped.

At the moment, we thought the best way to get him stopped was run cover zero, Freeman said.

We have to have faith at some point that we can make a play.

Notre Dame didnt make many of those plays, nor did the coaching staff put the Irish in a position to make them.

Too often, Notre Dames defense looked frantic before the snap, unsure of what it was seeing.

When the Irish wanted to steal a possession, they called a fake punt that the Buckeyes had covered.

And when Notre Dame had a chance to put pressure on Ohio State early in the fourth quarter by driving inside the 10-yard line, Freeman strayed from his aggressive default settings, settling for a 27-yard Mitch Jeter field goal on fourth-and-9.

Advertisement It clanged off the left upright.

We didnt get it done, and it hurts, Freeman said.

My job is to figure out why.

And I will.

Unlike Notre Dames most recent brushes with a national championship, the coach wont have to squint to see solutions.

This felt like it could have devolved into replays of the BCS championship loss to Alabama or previous CFP losses, but this Irish team didnt let go of the rope.

Notre Dame didnt play to its full potential here, to spin a Freeman catchphrase.

And that should hurt.

But in previous trips to the mountaintop, Notre Dame was exposed for barely playing the same game as the team on the other sideline.

This was not one of those games at the start, and certainly not at the finish.

If Notre Dame ever lifts the trophy under Freeman, this night must be the reason why.

If losing to Northern Illinois shaped this season, losing to Ohio State can hold even more power.

The Irish dont feel like theyre going away, even if theyre going home without a trophy.

You sit up here, and you listen to these two guys speak and the passion they have for Notre Dame and each other in that locker room ...

one of the greatest gifts in life is to be able to be the leader of this program because you have great young people like this, Freeman said.

But we just have to be better.

Ive got to make sure we prepare better for this next opportunity that we have in the future.

(Top photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images).

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