Three 2025 NFL Draft Takeaways

2) JT Tuimoloau flashes for Buckeyes defense.

The OSU defense had some shaky moments in the second half, but the defensive front set the tone early in the evening and made enough plays late to seal the victory.

In the win over Texas in the playoff semifinals, Jack Sawyer was the folk hero, capping off the victory with his strip sack and fumbled return TD to ice the game. On Monday night, Sawyer's running mate, JT Tuimoloau, was the leading man.

Tuimoloau left the game against the Longhorns for a few plays with an ankle injury, and he came out Monday night appearing heavily wrapped in both feet. But you wouldn't have known it the way he bullied Notre Dame's replacement left tackle Charles Jagusah.

Jagusah had some big blocks on the first TD drive, but JTT gained the upper hand as time expired, making a great tackle for loss on Jeremiyah Love, drawing a holding call and pressuring Leonard into a throwaway. He later added a key sack in the second half, briefly delaying Notre Dame's comeback.

The Tuimoloau senior is well known in scouting circles as he has made his mark on this defense since his freshman year in 2021. When anyone started to question his ceiling as a prospect, he turned up the burners in the College Football Playoff, finding plenty of success. 6.5 sacks, 3.5 more tackles for loss, two passes defensed and a forced fumble in four games.

Sawyer played well, as did LB Cody Simon. But the secondary — full of talented safeties Lathan Ransom and CBs Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock — played a big role in allowing Notre Dame to turn a laugh late into a tense affair.

3) Riley Leonard started fast and rallied with a strong second half.

There were long stretches of time Monday when the Notre Dame offense was dormant, and their chances of a comeback seemed slim at one point. But Riley Leonard turned in a mostly courageous performance — even with some shaky moments — in giving the Irish a chance late in the game.

Leonard, who, like Howard, has accepted a Senior Bowl invitation, opened the game and led the Irish on an 18-play drive that included 13 runs. Using his burly frame, Leonard scored nine of those runs, including the final four plays of the drive, putting Notre Dame ahead 7-0. He even hit three of his first five passes and moved the chains effectively

But the Irish went three-and-out on their next two possessions in the first half and opened the third quarter with a turnover on downs after a botched fake punt. Meanwhile, OSU built a two- and eventually three-score lead, essentially taking away many of Leonard's strengths. He finished the night with 40 rushing yards and a touchdown, completing 22 of 31 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns.

The narrative coming into the game was that neither Leonard nor the ND offense were built to storm back with an offensive attack against a high-powered opponent like Ohio State. But Leonard did just that.

Leonard held the Irish bravely in the second half, finding Jaden Greathouse for a 34-yard touchdown, with Leonard's two-point shovel pass to Love making it a two-score game at 31-15. Leonard found something in the second-half comeback with Greathouse and TE Mitchell Evans, and Greathouse's second TD (and the two-point conversion) incredibly made it a one-score game with just over four minutes remaining.

Evans drew a defensive pass interference call late in the third quarter to keep his team alive, and his 33-yard catch and run in the fourth showed good athleticism for a 260-pound tight end. He finished with 52 yards on four catches in a good performance.

One Notre Dame defenseman who stood out was Xavier Watts, who got a nice pass breakup on a red zone pass to Henderson. The two enjoyed a friendly handshake after Watts' good play. He was involved in eight tackles, including one for a loss of five yards on a Smith run. Watts also missed some tackles in space and went too high to stop, but he still has clear NFL skills.