Notre Dame put up a valiant effort, but fell to Ohio State 21-10 in Columbus on Saturday night.

The Irish trailed 14-10 early in the 4th quarter when the Buckeyes began a drive that would ultimately decide the game. Ohio State marched down the field for a 14-play, 95-yard drive that took more than 7 minutes off the clock.

That touchdown gave Ohio State a 21-10 advantage, which proved to be too much for Notre Dame’s offense to overcome.

Here are 3 takeaways from the defeat:

Notre Dame’s defense held strong

Facing arguably the most explosive offense in the country on the road in Week 1, Notre Dame’s defense held up. The Irish made Ohio State work for every bit of offense it got. The Buckeyes averaged just 5.3 yards per play and scored just 7 points in the first half.

Ohio State’s running game eventually wore down Notre Dame’s defensive front. Miyan Williams was key on that pivotal Ohio State scoring drive  — he scored the touchdown and rushed for 49 yards by himself during that sequence.

Quarterback CJ Stroud was excellent, but was held in check statistically. He threw for just 223 yards on the night — below expectation for a Heisman Trophy candidate. Overall, an encouraging night for Notre Dame’s defense under Marcus Freeman and Al Golden.

The offense struggled

Offensively, Notre Dame fell short. The Irish scored 10 points in the first half thanks to a pair of big plays — including a 52-yard strike to Lorenzo Styles on the first play of the game.

But in the second half, the passing game was almost non-existent and the running game wasn’t nearly efficient enough. Tyler Buchner, making his first career start, completed just 2 of his final 10 passes for a total of 49 second-half yards.

In the running game, Notre Dame failed to clear the 100-yard threshold. Chris Tyree led the team with 28 total rushing yards on 6 attempts.

Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff hopes should still be alive

Notre Dame got beat on Saturday night, but it likely won’t face a team better than the Buckeyes for the rest of the season. If the Irish can run the table from here on out, they should absolutely receiver consideration for the College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame will need to develop its still position players offensively over the course of the season. But it proved it can hang with teams in Ohio State’s tier in the trenches on both sides of the ball — which often is a much tougher hurdle to clear.

The Irish face Marshall in South Bend next week.