3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish to blame for blowing game vs. Ohio State

No matter who we all blame, it does not change the fact that Notre Dame did not get it done vs. Ohio State in primetime during Week 4.

This was the signature game of the weekend with ESPN's College GameDay in South Bend to take it all in. During this battle of unbeaten teams, the tougher team won, which to Lou Holtz's surprise was not his beloved Notre Dame. While there have been better performances out of Ryan Day's Buckeyes squad since he took over, this one was cathartic, to some extent. It was a program-changer for sure.

So with that in mind, we have some Irish to blame for this tough home defeat. Who are we piling on?

3. Veteran QB Sam Hartman got outplayed by Kyle McCord at home

It may not seem all that fair, but nothing is fair in life. When former Wake Forest star quarterback Sam Hartman transferred to Notre Dame this offseason, the hope was he would be the missing piece to get the Golden Domers over the top offensively. Yes, the Fighting Irish did make two trips to the College Football Playoff with Ian Book under center, but Hartman had the looks of one Brady Quinn.

However, Hartman's stat line of 17-of-25 passing for 175 yards and a touchdown was not enough to get it done at home vs. the better-run program. While the Buckeyes defense is finally starting to respond under second-year coordinator Jim Knowles, we all would have thought the sixth-year senior in Hartman would have outplayed a first-year starter in Kyle McCord. Well, he did not do that.

McCord may have been lifted by Ohio State star running back TreVeyon Henderson a bit more than Hartman leaned on Audric Estime, but Hartman did not take advantage of his sizable starting experience over his counterpart. To win big games like this, your stars have to assert themselves. While Hartman was fine in this one, fine was not good enough to win a tight one down to the wire.

For as much praise as we gave Hartman in the first month of the season, he let us all down in this one.