National Championship: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State Preview and Predictions

National Championship: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State Preview and Predictions

Welcome to the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T. We’ll be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, where the seventh-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish takes on the eighth-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State comes into this one as eight-point favorites. Both teams picked up wins in classic games in the semi-finals. Here are my National Championship preview and predictions!

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National Championship: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State Preview and Predictions

Notre Dame

Who on earth thought the Irish would find themselves in the National Championship after their September 7th loss to Northern Illinois at home? Certainly not me. Marcus Freeman deserves a lot of credit for keeping this team’s spirits high and turning Notre Dame into one of the most fundamentally sound squads in the country.

In the semi-finals, Notre Dame rallied from 10 points down at the half to beat a dangerous and talented Penn State team. Riley Leonard made some mistakes throughout the game, but the ND defense bailed him out by forcing Drew Allar to make his own mistakes.

When playing an explosive team like the Buckeyes, Notre Dame won’t have the luxury of turning the ball over. They will have to play a clean game.

Irish Offense

We know the Irish love to ground and pound. During the regular season, they ranked 11th in the country in rush yards per game and 2nd in rushing yards per attempt. In fact, the ground game makes up 53.3% of Notre Dame’s offensive attack –good for the 16th-highest rate in the country.

Against Penn State, Notre Dame showed its commitment to running the ball—42 rushes for 117 yards. Jeremiyah Love has been dealing with a knee injury but looked the part last week, to say the least. Aneyas Williams and Jadarian Price, as RB2 and RB3, are no slouches either. In addition to the backs, Ohio State must account for Riley Leonard, who is as dangerous as they come running the ball.

Irish Defense

I’m sure Marcus Freeman has watched a lot of Ohio State vs. Michigan tape in preparation for this game. The Wolverines beat the Buckeyes by inviting them to run the ball and winning in the trenches. Showing light boxes will be the key to victory for an Irish team that loves to run man coverage.

It will be fascinating to see if Notre Dame doubles down on their man coverage defense against an Ohio State team that shreds man defenses with their weapons on the outside.

Ohio State

The “20 million dollar roster” finds itself in the National Championship for the first time since 2021. There’s no doubt this is the most talented roster in college football, but we know the Buckeyes are capable of losing a game they should win. Ryan Day deserves some flowers for being able to rally the troops after Ohio State’s fourth consecutive loss to Michigan on November 30th.

It was looking bleak in Colombus. Many said the only thing that could save Ryan Day’s job was a win in the National Championship game, and the Buckeyes are 60 minutes away from that.

Against Texas, Ohio State showed they can win a game even when their best player, Jeremiah Smith, is shut down. Caleb Down’s goal-line tackle and Jack Sawyer’s strip-sack won the Buckeyes the game when all the chips were on the table.

Buckeyes Offense

Offensively, it’s pretty simple for the Buckeyes. Will Howard must get the ball out of his hands quickly, feeding Jeremiah Smith, Omeka Egbuka, and Carnell Tate– his playmakers. Notre Dame loves to run man coverage, which will be extremely difficult against the best-receiving core in the nation.

TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins might be the best running back duo in the country in talent, but this banged-up Buckeye’s offensive line has not been the best at run blocking. Will Howard’s ability to run the ball and pick up key third-down conversions will be vital to Ohio State’s success on Monday.

Buckeyes Defense

We talked about how ND loves to run the ball, but that will be a tall order against the 3rd-best defense against the run and number-one total defense in yards per game this season. At 6-3 327 pounds, Senior Tyleik Williams will be the key to stopping the relentless Notre Dame ground game.

If ND is in passing scenarios, down late in the game, Jack Sawyer can pin his ears back and make life difficult for Riley Leonard.

The Picks:

The spread being eight points in a National Championship game might scare some people away, but I think this has all the makings of a cover for Ohio State. If their weapons on the outside can get loose just a few times and Will Howard can protect the ball, I think the Buckeyes will win the National Championship quite easily.

Ohio State -8

Ohio State -4.5 1H

Quinshon Judkins ATTS

Carnell Tate Over 40.5 Receiving Yards

Jadarian Price Over 20.5 Rushing Yards

 

The College Football Experience

For more analysis on the College Football Playoff National Championship, make sure you tune into The College Football Experience. Listen for input on ATS, DFS, and moneyline college football picks!

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