Things To Learn: Notre Dame hopes to shorten game tonight at Ohio State by “establishing the run”

Only so much can be known before the season opener, even by the head coach. As Marcus Freeman spends every waking moment worrying he has not prepared his team as he should, he knows what he doesn’t know.

No. 5 Notre Dame has faced only itself for weeks. If the offensive line excels, it comes at the cost of added doubt about the defensive line. If the defensive backs dominate, worries about the receivers may fester. Only in facing outside competition, let alone the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, can tell Freeman exactly what he has on his hands in his debut season as the Irish head coach.

“We’ll see after the game exactly where our strengths are and where our weaknesses are,” Freeman said Monday.

Facing Ohio State (ABC; 7 ET) will shine a bright light on those strengths and weaknesses, maybe the brightest light of the opening weekend. More pertinently, Freeman’s ideal game plan to beat the Buckeyes coincides with proving the Irish strengths or quickly learning the season’s ceiling is nowhere near as high as the last five years.

Freeman opened his week preaching the importance of establishing the run, welcome words to any traditionalist’s ears. To limit the inevitable damage done by Ohio State’s receivers — junior Jaxon Smith-Njigba is widely considered the most dangerous receiver in the country after catching 96 passes for 1,606 yards last year — Notre Dame will want to shorten the game by establishing that run.

This is the exact approach Navy takes every year, though the Midshipmen’s triple-option attack obviously takes it to an extreme. When at a talent disadvantage, the fewer plays there are, the fewer opportunities there are for that disadvantage to be exploited.

“Offensively, you have to be able to take control of the