In the College Football Playoffs, it’s down to the final two teams. There have been some blowouts, some nail-biters and everything in between during the first-ever 12-team tournament.
The 7 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish and 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes will do battle on Monday, Jan. 20, in Atlanta for the national championship. The Buckeyes are so far more than a touchdown favorite to win the title.
Can Ohio State shut the Irish out?
There are a couple of reasons for that. Ohio State has looked dominant during their three playoff wins, taking out Tennessee and top seed Oregon, then forcing Texas into a fatal mistake in the semifinal.
Despite the roll they’re on, head coach Ryan Day is wary of the Fighting Irish.
“This is an excellent team that has just found a way to win week in and week out. I think they have over 140 points off of turnovers,” Day said during the final press conference on Sunday, Jan. 19. “They play great in all three phases. You talk about offense, defense and special teams; these guys are really good on special teams. They keep you on your heels all the time. They fake punts, they fake field goals, they find different creative ways to get guys in the game.”
Ohio State and Notre Dame are the top two defenses in college football, so it will fall on the quarterbacks to play mistake-free. Ohio State’s Will Howard has done that so far, but he knows the challenge he faces on Monday.
“These guys play hard, and they’re tough. They’re gonna do everything they can to disrupt me, the passer; those guys are gonna move up front, they’re active,” Howard said.
What do the underdogs have going for them?
On the other side, the Fighting Irish were dominant against Indiana, and then did just enough to get by Georgia and Penn State in their three playoff games. They’ve also been hit hard by some key injuries along both the offensive and defensive lines.
Irish head coach Marcus Freeman, a former Buckeye player, was asked how they’ve prepared to play the longest season in college football. The whopping 16 games have never been done before.
“You had to have a big-picture approach to the next four opportunities, even though you didn’t know if they were guaranteed or not. I think each week you kind of get with your sports performance team and have some discussions and make a plan for what you feel your team needs physically and mentally for that week,” Freeman said. “It’s worked pretty well for us, and we’ve got one more opportunity to see how well we prepared.”
Freeman hopes the Irish can run the football, as they have done all season. If they can do that, and keep the ball away from Ohio State, they’ll have a chance to keep it close until the fourth quarter.
Star running back Jeremiyah Love believes in that plan, saying, “Just being here is special; we have a chance to do something legendary at this program that hasn’t been done in a minute. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to go out there with my brothers and compete. And show the world what we got because we have a lot of doubters out there.”
The Irish are certainly embracing the underdog role; they have not won a national championship since 1988. The Buckeyes last won in 2014, the first year of the 4-team playoff. Both nationally renowned programs hope to make history Monday night.
