Ohio State star Bosa ejected from Rose Bowl for targeting

Chris Ash can shed his Ohio State polo shirt and don his Rutgers hat full-time. Nose tackle Jarron Jones and tight end Durham Smythe were both originally expected to be out for the season after suffering knee injuries, but returned to practice this month. DeShone Kizer pushed in a one-yard run 29 ticks before the break to pull the Irish to within 28-14, creating a loop where Notre Dame was never really out of the game, but Ohio State was never really threatened, either.

Head coach Urban Meyer’s squad jumped ahead immediately, resembling the group the dominated Michigan 42-13 in the final game of the regular season, not the one that struggled during much of the regular season and lost at home against Michigan State, 17-14, to silence their College Football Playoff expectations. At that point Notre Dame didn’t even have a first down.

One big dream gone, but Notre Dame, like Ohio State, is not taking this game lightly. “We had to play catch-up from there”, said Kelly. “Those guys definitely did that, which opens up our whole offense when you’re able to do that”. On first-and-10 from Notre Dame’s 47-yard line, Elliott took a handoff and sprinted through the interior of the Fighting Irish’s defense for his fourth score of the game. “I’d be nothing without them”. “But they still went to what their strength is and that was running the ball 54 times”, he said. “We had a little bit of momentum because of the play”. “I knew they haven’t seen a player of his caliber all year, someone with speed like that”.

In a game billed as a battle of two of the top defenses in the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference, the Wolverines’ offense shined bright in their first bowl victory since 2012. Kizer has 10 rushing touchdowns this season, a school record for a quarterback.NOTES: Notre Dame LB and Butkus Award victor Jaylon Smith, the Irish’s leading tackler with 113, was helped off the field with an apparent lower-leg injury midway through the first quarter.

But on that play, OSU defensive end Joey Bosa – the projected No. 1 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft – was called for a personal-foul targeting penalty, which wiped out the INT and, more importantly, kicked Bosa out of the game.

Fans say win or lose, it was good to cheer on their team today. He’s a dude. He’s a guy that is going to be playing in the National Football League for a long time.

“I don’t think they outmanned us or beat us physically”, maintained Brian Kelly, the Irish coach.

The next highlight I want to show is this 81-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish recorded 256.3 passing yards and 215.6 rushing yards while allowed 196.8 passing yards and 165.7 russhing yards with turnover differential of 0.4. “He makes his presence known”.

IRISH RETURING: Notre Dame had a long string of injuries, including several to key players. Boise State won 50 games from 2008-11.

But it came too late. Since debuting in the bowl with a 34-21 national title victory versus West Virginia to win the 1988 title, Notre Dame has lost 41-24 to Colorado (1995 Fiesta Bowl), 41-9 to Oregon State (2001 Fiesta Bowl), and 34-20 and 44-28 in 2006 and 2016, respectively, to Ohio State.