Don’t take three consecutive seasons of Notre Dame-Ohio State games for granted. It’s never happened before.
Despite their close proximity in neighboring Midwestern states and shared status as massive college football brands, the Irish and Buckeyes have met only eight times previously. Matchup number nine will trump all others, taking place in Atlanta at next Monday’s national championship game.
Both programs share sizable pieces of the college football royalty pie. Notre Dame’s football program began in 1887, Ohio State’s in 1890. The Irish have captured 11 national titles and produced seven Heismans, the Buckeyes totaling eight and seven, respectively.
However, despite Notre Dame’s slight advantage in program accolades, Ohio State has inarguably been better in recent years, both against the Irish and in the college football landscape. The Buckeyes have won six straight games against Notre Dame, with the Irish winless in the all-time series since 1936. This year marks Ohio State’s sixth College Football Playoff appearance to Notre Dame’s third, and the Buckeyes have won two national championships since the Irish last claimed one.
Here’s how the first eight contests between these two college football powerhouses played out.
Nov. 2, 1935: Notre Dame 18, Ohio State 13
Fittingly, the series began with a matchup of unbeaten teams before World War II. Second-year head coaches Elmer Layden of Notre Dame and Francis Schmidt of Ohio State went head-to head in Columbus in front of 81,000. Neither team had allowed more than seven points in a game all season, and Ohio State had put up 85 against Drake three weeks prior.
Notre Dame started the day quite poorly, throwing two interceptions that turned into Buckeye touchdowns, opening up a 13-0 halftime lead for Ohio State. As the second half began, so did the Andy Pilney show. Before going on to a short professional baseball career, the halfback put the Irish on his back, sparking the offense with a lengthy punt return before throwing for a score of his own.
Still, Notre Dame trailed by a point in the final two minutes, but Pilney had one more heroic effort in store. On a 30-yard run that put the Irish in scoring range, he suffered a leg injury that cut his season short. Notre Dame would keep moving, though, as Bill Shakespeare, the Bard of Staten Island, hooked up with Wayne Millner for the game-winning touchdown.
Ohio State would win its final three games of the season, shutting out Michigan, while the Irish finished 7-1-1 with a home loss to Northwestern the following week.
Oct. 31, 1936: Ohio State 2, Notre Dame 7
Imagine this. On Monday night, Notre Dame is driving down the field in the final minutes of the national championship game, trailing by five. The Irish need a touchdown in a first-and-goal, so Riley Leonard throws back-to-back balls to the end zone that Ohio State knocks down. Instead of the Irish getting to try again on third down, the Buckeyes get the football on a touchback and close out the game.
That’s what happened to Ohio State on a rainy, windy October day in South Bend 89 years ago. The college football rulebook of the timeback called for a touchback on consecutive incompletions in the end zone, dropping the Buckeyes to 2-3. They would win their final three games of the season but keep the pain of two heartbreaks against the Irish, who ended the year 6-2-1.
Sept. 30, 1995: No. 15 Notre Dame 26, No. 7 Ohio State 45
At long last, the series returned with a home-and-home set in the final two years of the Lou Holtz era. Notre Dame, having taken an upset loss to Northwestern in the season opener, came off a blowout of 13th-ranked Texas. Ohio State was unbeaten, wielding a three-headed offensive monster with quarterback Bobby Hoying, running back Eddie George (who would score 23 touchdowns in 1995) and wide receiver Terry Glenn.
Despite an early 17-7 lead for the Irish, Ohio State’s offensive arsenal predictably overwhelmed Notre Dame. Hoying found Glenn for an 82-yard house call, and George did the rest with 207 rushing yards and two scores. After the 31-point second half, Ohio State would remain unbeaten up until a trip to Ann Arbor at the end of the regular season — some things never change. The Buckeyes would lose in the Citrus Bowl, while the Irish finished out the regular season without another loss before falling short in the Orange Bowl.
Sept. 28, 1996: No. 4 Ohio State 29, No. 5 Notre Dame 16
Despite losing the big three, Ohio State still averaged 71 points per contest in two games heading into this top-five clash in South Bend. Notre Dame had started 3-0, once again defeating a top-15 Texas team — this time on the road — ahead of September's final game.
The Buckeyes approached this matchup without a top-five win in 11 years, but they showed up ready to go. Ohio State put up points quickly on the road, building a 22-7 halftime lead. That was more than enough for the defense, the strength of 1996 Ohio State, to hold the Irish down. Notre Dame again struggled to stop the run, in this instance against Pepe Pearson, who roamed for 179 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Jan. 2, 2006: No. 4 Ohio State 34, No. 5 Notre Dame 20
A year before Ohio State went to its first of two consecutive BCS Championships, and two years before Notre Dame hit rock bottom with a 3-9 season, the Fiesta Bowl pitted the Buckeyes against the Irish. Ohio State had finished 10-2 after early losses to Texas and Penn State, while Notre Dame carried the same record with home setbacks against Michigan State and USC.
Two great quarterbacks — Brady Quinn for Notre Dame and Troy Smith, the next year’s Heisman, for Ohio State — squared off for this one in Arizona. Can we talk about their pass-catchers, though? Quinn worked with 13-year Major League pitcher Jeff Samardzija, while Smith threw to Ted Ginn Jr. and Santonio Holmes, who combined for 23 NFL seasons and more than 11,000 receiving yards.
Unfortunately for the Irish, the Buckeye weapons once more had their way, with Ginn piling up 240 scrimmage yards and scoring twice. Factor in another 136 rushing yards from Antonio Pittman, and Ohio State outgained Notre Dame by a 617-348 in total yardage.
Jan. 1, 2016: No. 7 Ohio State 44, No. 8 Notre Dame 28
The only meeting between Brian Kelly and Urban Meyer put Notre Dame and Ohio State back together in the Fiesta Bowl. In year two of the College Football Playoff, both teams had positioned themselves to qualify with two weeks left in November but took excruciating losses — Ohio State to Michigan State, Notre Dame to Stanford.
The Buckeyes once again rode their starpower to a New Year’s Six victory, scoring 28 points in the first half alone. Ezekiel Elliott, the legend of the previous season’s national championship run, tore up the Irish for 149 rushing yards and four touchdowns in his final collegiate game. The story of this Irish loss — strong offense brought down by a porous defense — was a sign of things to come for Notre Dame’s debacle season in 2016.
Sept. 3, 2022: No. 5 Notre Dame 10, No. 2 Ohio State 21
What a way for Marcus Freeman to begin his first season as a head coach, let alone the Notre Dame head coach. The former Ohio State linebacker returned to his alma mater for a top-five, primetime showdown in Week One of 2022. Entering the year with a loaded offensive crew that featured C.J. Stroud throwing to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, the Buckeyes were favored by an obscene 16 and a half points.
Notre Dame hung around early with Tyler Buchner making his first career start at quarterback. Audric Estime scored in his first game as the top Irish running back, giving the visitors a 10-7 halftime lead that would hold until the third quarter’s late stages. That’s when Stroud found Xavier Johnson for a 24-yard score that would stand up as the game-winner. Even with another Buckeye touchdown going on the board in the fourth, Notre Dame held Ohio State 23 points below its eventual season-long scoring average.
Despite their second of four straight losses to Michigan, the Buckeyes would slide into the playoff and lose a midnight heartbreaker in the Peach Bowl as 2022 turned to 2023. Most folks in South Bend couldn’t wait for the new year after home losses to Marshall and Stanford put Notre Dame at .500 halfway through the season. Thankfully for them, the Irish rallied with a November upset of No. 4 Clemson and a Gator Bowl defeat of South Carolina.
Sept. 23, 2023: No. 6 Ohio State 17, No. 9 Notre Dame 14
You really wonder what winning this game might have done for the Irish. This was, by any definition you choose, a college football classic. College Gameday’s return to Notre Dame kicked off what was a clear, sunny day. The Irish debuted their new green jerseys that majestically opposed the Ohio State scarlet. And the primetime game itself lived up to expectations, too.
Both teams entered the night unbeaten, and for 59 minutes and 59 seconds, the right to stay that way remained up for grabs. Both offenses missed out on key opportunities in the first half, and Ohio State went into halftime up 3-0. That would quickly stretch to 10 on a 61-yard touchdown sprint by TreVeyon Henderson.
But the Irish came back. First, running back Gi’Bran Payne bulldogged his way over the goal line from a yard out, losing his helmet but gaining six points. Then, midway through the fourth quarter, quarterback Sam Hartman led Notre Dame on a go-ahead drive, hitting wideout Rico Flores for a two-yard score. Down four points Ohio State marched for an answer, but the Irish denied them on a red-zone fourth down with less than five minutes remaining. Notre Dame needed three first downs on the ensuing drive to end the game, but it got only two, punting the football back to the Buckeyes with 86 seconds left.
Quarterback Kyle McCord, whom Buckeye fans would eventually run out of town after missing the CFP, had his signature Ohio State moment on the final drive. He completed passes to convert on a third-and-10, then a fourth-and-7, then a third-and-19. The Buckeyed would end up a yard away from the goal line, firing one incompletion before Chip Trayanum punched in the deciding touchdown. After the game, fans discovered that Notre Dame was short a defensive player on the Trayanum score, tying the bow on a disastrous finish to the game.
Two weeks later, Notre Dame’s playoff hopes would officially cave with a loss at Louisville, and the Irish would eventually finish 10-3 with a Sun Bowl victory.
