Ohio State, Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff: Keys to title game

The stage is set for one of the most anticipated national championship games in modern college football history.

You know the names. Notre Dame, perhaps the sport’s defining program, just won the College Football Playoff against Indiana, Georgia and Penn State. Ohio State, another heavyweight that responded brilliantly to another loss to Michigan to close out the regular season.

The Fighting Irish needed some help from Penn State to win 27-24 in the Orange Bowl. Trailing 10-0 late in the first half and 17-24 in the fourth, Notre Dame tied the game with less than five minutes to play with a 54-yard touchdown pass and then capitalized on a costly interception by Drew Allar to get into the game with a field goal with 7 seconds left.

After overwhelming Tennessee and Oregon, the Buckeyes’ 28-14 win over Texas in the Coton Bowl was only undone by an interception by safety Caleb Downs late in the fourth quarter. Despite the poor performance, Ohio State will be the favorite against the Irish.

Another source of pregame hype is the conclusion of the first 12-team playoff format. While the new format has been tested in terms of the selection and seeding process, the tournament has resulted in a major duel to decide the national championship – in other words, the playoffs have been a success.

Here are the early keys and biggest storylines leading into the matchup on Monday, Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta:

Which Riley Leonard appears?

For a time Thursday night, Leonard was willing to take the blame for a painful loss. His costly interception five minutes into the fourth quarter gave the Nittany Lions a touchdown lead, but Leonard’s pass to Jaden Greathouse on the ensuing possession tied the score.

That was one of two turnovers on the night for Leonard, who came into the Orange Bowl with just six interceptions on 349 pass attempts. Overall, he completed 15 of 23 throws for 223 yards and a score and added 35 yards on the ground, easily outpacing Allar.

The Irish will need more of that from Leonard and even more against Ohio State, just without the giveaways, as feeding the Buckeyes extra possessions is the easiest way to ensure a Notre Dame loss.

Crucially, Leonard has to be a killer on third downs. He converted 11 of 13 third-down opportunities when the Irish needed three or fewer yards. Given that Notre Dame typically struggles to find explosive plays offside, extending drives on manageable third-down attempts will be one of the game’s biggest keys.

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Who can stop Ohio State?

Not Tennessee, not Oregon, not Texas. Another win against the SEC makes advancing to the championship game even sweeter for the Buckeyes.

The Cotton Bowl victory showed why Ohio State is so dangerous. While the offense failed to get Jeremiah Smith involved, the defense forced two turnovers and held the Longhorns to 58 rushing yards and 6 of 18 total on third and fourth downs.

This group also provided the decisive moment of the game. Losing by a touchdown, Texas had first-and-goal at the Buckeyes’ 1-yard line with four minutes to play. After the Longhorns stumbled back seven yards in three plays, Quinn Ewers was sacked and stripped by Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer, who picked up the loose ball and ran 83 yards for a score.

Notre Dame doesn’t need perfection to beat the Buckeyes. But it could be something close to perfect, especially if the OSU defense keeps it up while the passing game gets back into rhythm.

Can Notre Dame’s defense stop the run?

This hasn’t necessarily been a problem all season. While the Irish rank 41st nationally in rushing yards allowed per game, that total is boosted by two games against service academies; Navy and Army combined for 429 yards but gave up a combined 72 points.

But the run defense struggled from the start against Penn State. After giving up 125 total yards against the Hoosiers and Bulldogs, the Irish gave up 141 rushing yards to the Nittany Lions in the first half. However, things improved dramatically in the second half.

Ohio State presents a different kind of threat: the Nittany Lions duo of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. The Buckeyes are less likely to let the running game become the primary focus of the offense, but they are more explosive. A good example of this is TreVeyon Henderson’s 75-yard score against the Longhorns late in the first half.

It’s no coincidence that Notre Dame’s closest games – Texas A&M, Northern Illinois, Louisville and Penn State – come when the opponent runs the ball successfully.

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Ohio State, Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff: Keys to title game

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