Notre Dame inexplicably had only 10 players on the field for last 2 plays vs. Ohio State
The Ohio State-Notre Dame game Saturday night in South Bend came down to the very last second — quite literally for those who bet any money on the spread.
But before the Buckeyes beat the Fighting Irish, the home team actually kind of defeated itself, making the worst kind of mistake on its way to a loss.
With three seconds left on the fourth-quarter clock as Ohio State trailed by four points, the Buckeyes were on third-and-goal from the one-yard line. Notre Dame needed a goal line stand to win the thriller, but it somehow managed to only line up with 10 players on the field.
WHAT A CALL!
WHAT A PLAY! pic.twitter.com/YDsDwaKLkN— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 24, 2023
Count ’em…
Notre Dame only had 10 players on the field for Ohio State's game-winning touchdown. pic.twitter.com/OyAGNczgaj
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) September 24, 2023
To make matters worse, the Fighting Irish only had 10 players on the field on last second down too. Yikes. The biggest two plays of the game, and they helped Ohio State win.
Notre Dame had only 10 men on the field for the final two plays pic.twitter.com/mVnL87yrxV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 24, 2023
The Fighting Irish defense played a solid game, but playing 10 players against 11 isn’t exactly a recipe for success. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman reportedly noticed the missing player, but it was too late.
I asked Marcus Freeman why there were only 10 players on the field for Ohio State's game-winning goal line touchdown. He said he noticed it, but it was too late to put a guy out there. Notre Dame didn't have any timeouts left either.
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) September 24, 2023
"We were trying to get a fourth D-linemen onto the field. I told him to just stay off, because we can't afford a penalty — I didn't have any timeouts — we can't afford a penalty right there." – Marcus Freeman on the 10-man defense on Ohio State's winning touchdown.
— Douglas Farmer (@D_Farmer) September 24, 2023
And college football fans couldn’t believe Ohio State scored its go-ahead, game-winning touchdown against 10 Notre Dame players.