On the first fourth-down attempt, Notre Dame tried to get into heavy personnel and hit a play-action pass. It turned into a Sam Hartman scramble that appeared to gain to move the chains only to have the officials review the spot and move the Irish backward. On the second fourth-down attempt, Notre Dame rushed to the line of scrimmage and snapped off a quarterback sneak that Ohio State linebacker Tommy Eichenberg sniffed out, leading to another stop.

Two series. No points. In a 3-point game.

“I mean, anytime we're crossing (the) 50 I'm gonna probably go for it on fourth-and-1,” said Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. “You play the percentages. You're either gonna be all-in and do it or not. Obviously, when you don't get it, it's terrible. But the percentages show you fourth-and-1, across the 50, you have to go for it because of the percentage of getting that."

Hartman was pressed on what he could have done differently on the first sneak.

“Yeah, if I would have got the first down it would have been the better thing to do there,” he said. “I’m not sure. Maybe you can let me know.”

One change up would have been to lean into Notre Dame’s star running back Audric Estime, but offensive coordinator Gerad Parker went away from the Irish strengths in each instance, perhaps overthinking the play-action pass (that wasn’t) and getting too cute with the hurry-up sneak.

In the end, both plays cost Notre Dame dearly in a game it had every chance to win. The first died at the Ohio State 18-yard line in the first quarter and the second stalled out at the Buckeyes' 39-yard line in the third quarter.

"Execute a little better, find a better hole, get outside a little bit better," Hartman said. "It’s a different ball game, get the first down, the drive continues."