Things To Learn: More aggressive Notre Dame offense crucial now that Ohio State is in the rearview mirror

If Notre Dame’s 21-10 loss at Ohio State last weekend was the “foundation” of the program Marcus Freeman wants to build, leading a top-three team and clear national title contender deep into the third quarter serving as some proof of concept, then the design of the figurative first floor remains entirely unknown.

The No. 8 Irish (0-1) took a viable game plan to Columbus and it set them up well against the now-No. 3 Buckeyes (1-0), but it is not applicable to season-long success. The first-year head coach knows as much.

Notre Dame must develop a sustainable offensive approach, one that can produce all season and not simply keep the opposing offense off the field. Against Marshall today (2:30 ET; NBC), there is less reason to turn the Irish offense into its best defense and more reason to let it actually cut loose.

“The mindset maybe isn’t as much to control the clock this week and limit the offensive possessions,” Freeman said Thursday. “We want to be aggressive on offense. I look forward to seeing what our offense does on Saturday. They’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to take some shots.”

The few shots the Irish took at Ohio State largely fell incomplete. A slight overthrow of sophomore Lorenzo Styles, a miscommunication with fifth-year Braden Lenzy and a distinct overthrow of fifth-year former walk-on Matt Salerno were all moments that could have spurred the upset. Instead, sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner finished a respectable 10-of-18 for 177 yards.

But for the most part, Buchner was not tasked with looking downfield. His primary responsibility was to not turn over the ball, which he never did, and then to even keep the ball inbounds as often as possible. If the clock was ticking, Notre Dame’s defensive