3 Notre Dame players and coaches to blame for Irish falling short of national title

Hearts are breaking in South Bend on Monday night as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish came up painfully short of the program's first national championship since 1988. Unfortunately, after a furious second-half comeback, they didn't have enough juice to overcome what was a 24-point deficit against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Notre Dame quickly became America's college football underdog throughout the CFP with their uncanny ability to overcome the odds, deficits and even narratives. After all, this was a team that did indeed lose to Northern Illinois early in the season. So even making the National Championship Game after a loss like that seemed impossible, yet there Marcus Freeman's team was. Unfortunately, they fell short of hoisting the hardware.

It's still a fantastic season for Notre Dame, without question. At the same time, though, the Fighting Irish fans feeling the heartache of coming so close to a natty and losing out naturally leads to wanting to point fingers and blame someone for the loss. We've got three scapegoats that can definitely shoulder some of that blame for one reason or another.

3. Jeremiyah Love may not have been 100 percent but he gave the Irish nothing

We've known since before the semifinal matchup with Penn State that star running back Jeremiyah Love was playing with a bum wheel. That didn't stop him from reeling off some game-changing runs to topple the Nittany Lions, though, including one of the best we saw in the Playoff. That led to a week-plus to recover before the National Championship Game and Love even telling ESPN pregame that it was the best he'd felt in some time.

That last part is why I feel comfortably blaming Love for his general lack of effectiveness in the biggest game of the year. Not only was the run game basically Riley Leonard-or-bust but Love was highly disappointing with the touches he did get, managing just three yards on four carries and [receiving stats].

Granted, the Irish were working with a patchwork offensive line, which surely affected Love and the Notre Dame offensive gameplan. At the same time, though, Love had been the driving force behind this offense all year long. When it mattered most, he was a ghost, which has to earn him a bit of finger-pointing, especially considering he felt better than he has in a long time health wise.

2. Notre Dame's defensive line got bullied by a makeshift O-line

Admittedly, Ohio State's offensive line weathered a storm of injuries far better than anyone could've expected, especially considering that they lost players like Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin, both of whom will be playing on Sundays in the near future. At the same time, though, this was a group that had to shuffle quite a bit and had some inexperience starting, particularly on the interior. Yet, Notre Dame's defensive front failed to take advantage of that.

Whether it was Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins or TreVeyon Henderson, the Ohio State run game had their way with the defensive line of the Fighting Irish. They were pushed around and most of the plays were made by the second level of the defense instead of in the trenches. Against a Buckeyes offense that's so potent across the board, getting pushed off the ball was basically a death sentence for this defense that has carried Notre Dame so often this season.

You do have to wonder if having Riley Mills would've changed the math for the Notre Dame D-line. In fact, it definitely would've. But that wasn't an excuse for the Ohio State O-line so we can't use it for the Irish either. The defensive line needed to be a tone-setter and it was anything but in Atlanta on Monday night.

1. Al Golden got his lunch eaten by Chip Kelly, especially in the first half

Prior to the game, Ohio State star receiver Jeremiah Smith was already taking note of Al Golden's tendencies to play man-to-man coverage on the outside. Sure, he said that he would "put on a show" as a result of that, which didn't come to fruition. However, Chip Kelly did just that, specifically in the first half, with how he was able to consistently attack the man coverage and keep Golden guessing with his defensive stylings.

Perhaps the best indication of this was the lack of success Notre Dame's defense had on third down in the first half. The Irish were one of the best third-down defenses in the country this season but allowed Ohio State to convert on all six of their attempts in the first half, which kept the momentum fully on their side. Golden is a great defensive coordinator and mind, but Kelly completely had his number and had every answer to the questions Notre Dame's D was asking.

To make matters worse, the zero blitz late in the fourth quarter in the midst of a comeback attempt on third down that effectively sealed Notre Dame's fate was a brutal miscalculation by Golden.

Make no mistake, the offense being better in the first half would've made a huge difference as well, but Golden being better prepared to counter-punch with Kelly and the Buckeyes could've made this a game more in Notre Dame's wheelhouse.