College Football Playoff National Championship Preview: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame

Key art for the college football playoff national championship on ESPN.

The first ever 12-team College Football Playoff has reached its final stop. The College Football Playoff National Championship will feature two of the biggest brands in the sport, Ohio State and Notre Dame. These giants of the midwest will meet for the 7th time in their program’s history, with the Buckeyes leading the series 6-0. The two teams recently played a home-and-home series in 2022 and 2023 and will now compete for a National Championship in the great city of Atlanta. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman played his college ball at Ohio State, which makes for fun fodder ahead of the game. 

Both of these teams faced big question marks at one point during the season. The Fighting Irish lost to Northern Illinois at home in shocking fashion but bounced back and rattled off 13-straight wins en route to the title game. Ohio State also had its share of adversity. A brutal loss in the waning seconds to Oregon and the shocking loss to Michigan to end the season ushered in a lot of negativity around Ryan Day and the program. But to the Buckeyes credit, they refocused and have clearly looked like the best team in the country. Let’s take a more in-depth look at the matchup. Not a DISH subscriber? Follow this link to find the best offer and subscribe to DISH today!

 

College Football Playoff National Championship

No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 7 Notre Dame

Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Georgia)

When: Monday, Jan. 20, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (Channel 140)

It’s hard to believe five months ago college football fans were nestling in to watch Georgia Tech upset the No. 10 Florida State Seminoles in the first game of the year. Now the final game of the season is upon us and it’s between two programs with proud fan bases. Ohio State enters this game as near double digits favorites (the line opened at -9.5 but has dropped to 8.5) and, on paper, are the more talented team across the board. Notre Dame have been pesky during their run in the College Football Playoff. The goal for them will be to muddy this game up, force turnovers (the Irish led the country in takeaways) and hope that quarterback Riley Leonard and his stable of running backs can make enough plays when it matters most. The problem is, Ohio State’s rush defense has been elite all season. Credit to Texas for trying to stick with the run against the Buckeyes, but they had almost no success, amassing only 76 yards on 3.1 yards per carry. Marcus Freeman’s team is built on physicality and will go into the game thinking they can control the trenches. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the offense also use running backs in the passing game, as the Texas backs had 11 catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns. On the flip side, Notre Dame’s secondary has been stout all season and is a strength of their defense, but they have yet to face a team with the wide receiver talent that Ohio State has. Texas successfully took Jeremiah Smith out of the game with a lot of zone coverages, but Emeka Egubuka, Carnell Tate and the electric TreVeyon Henderson punished the Longhorns. An interesting X’s-and-O’s element to this game is Notre Dame’s secondary. They play man-to-man coverage at one of the highest rates in the country, which is the opposite of what the Longhorns deployed against Smith and company. Just like Texas, this team boasts great corners and safeties and against Penn State, they conceded zero catches to wide receivers. 

Ultimately, this is a game Ohio State should win. But if you look at the Cotton Bowl, the Buckeyes’ penalties and inconsistent drives kept the Longhorns in the game up until the 4th quarter scoop-and-score that sealed the game. Notre Dame will look to follow a similar script, but they will need to capitalize when they have the chance to do so. The Notre Dame offense is going to have stretches where they struggle and it will be up to the defense to keep them in the game. If the Irish can weather those moments and hold strong, they’ll have a chance. But if Chip Kelly, Ryan Day and Ohio State can punish the man coverage and move the ball like they did against Oregon, it’ll be a long day for the team in gold and green.