Staff Picks: Buckeyes and Fighting Irish for the National Championship

Ohio State will play for the National Championship once again on Monday night as the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish, two of the most historic programs in college football, are set to square off in Atlanta.

Will it be a celebration or heartbreak for this group? We make our picks….

Ross Fulton

The most fascinating sublot of this game is will Notre Dame continuing relying on heavy amounts of cover 1 man–which they have played over 50% of the time this season. Does Al Golden say that we are going to do what we do–despite Ohio State’s wide receivers and how effective the Buckeyes have been against cover 1? Or does he try to take a page from Michigan and Texas and play a heavy amount of split safety zones, even if that is not what they are comfortable doing?

My guess is that Golden uses some mix, trying to get Ohio State in third down and then mixing in more split safety looks in passing downs when the Irish do not have to worry about fitting the run, akin to what Notre Dame did against Ohio State in 2023. The key for Chip Kelly and Ryan Day is attacking cover 1 with the passing game on first down, mixing in mesh shallow crossers, Y-cross, and RPO throws to Jeremiah Smith. 

Look for Jim Knowles to play a heavy amount of single-high looks with Caleb Downs and Lathan Ransom near the box to play aggressively against the run. Notre Dame will likely rely heavily on designated QB runs for Riley Leonhard. But it is difficult to see how Notre Dame can score over 20 points absent defensive or special teams help. The question for what type of game it is comes down to how successful is the Ohio State offense. If the Buckeyes can get to 28 points while not turning the football over or making special teams mistakes, it should be a comfortable victory.

Ohio State 29 Notre Dame 16

Tony Gerdeman

All of my thoughts on this game center around my belief that Notre Dame is going to struggle to move the ball. But also they will happily take three yards on every snap. They were dynamite in short-yardage situations against Penn State — 8 for 8 on third and three or less, but were just 2 for 7 on third-and-six plus. Third and seven is where Notre Dame’s offense goes to die. Notre Dame’s offensive tackles are going to be in for a long night, and it’s not like the interior guys are gonna have a treat against Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams.

Offensively, I’m not expecting an Ohio State explosion, but I do expect a crisp, clean game. Fewer penalties than the last time out. If they just simply don’t stop themselves, they’ll be able to score enough to win. I think the Buckeyes can run the ball against Notre Dame. Penn State rushed for 141 yards in the first half against the Irish, but then just 60 or so in the second half. I keep expecting Will Howard to be more of a running threat but they haven’t needed it. Maybe they do in this one? 

Notre Dame hasn’t faced a passing game like this, even in the playoffs. Sophomore cornerback Christian Gray is grabby. Freshman cornerback Leonard Moore is a Freshman All-American, but so is Jeremiah Smith. Notre Dame is gonna do what they do — play a bunch of man defense. Ohio State is gonna do what they do — exploit it. In the end, the Buckeyes will have too much offense, too much defense, and probably lose the special teams battle. 

Confetti for all.

Ohio State 31 Notre Dame 17

Marc Givler

Ohio State was far from perfect against Texas, but it proved it could go 12 rounds and be the team that makes the big plays at the right moments and that experience should help them tremendously against a Notre Dame team that would very much like to grind this one out and pull Ohio State into another 12-round fight.

While Notre Dame’s path to victory in this game is more narrow than that of the Buckeyes, there is a path and it’s one that would make Jim Tressel proud. Play great defense. Win the turnover battle. Have the superior special teams.

If Notre Dame does all three of those things, the Fighting Irish have more than a fighting chance.

But I have questions about Notre Dame’s ability to consistently move the football against this defense and whether or not Riley Leonard can make enough throws to get Notre Dame over 20-points, which they’ll need to do to win.

Texas gave a solid defensive blueprint against Ohio State, but Notre Dame is much more of a man coverage team than Texas so will they adjust their defense and add some wrinkles or stick with what has worked all season?

Playing man on the Ohio State receivers is not an ideal recipe, but neither is going away from what you do best as a unit so that will be a bit of a conundrum for Al Golden’s group.

The Buckeyes will be able to come up with a couple of explosive plays in this game and will dare Leonard to beat them. And I don’t think he will.

Ohio State 21 Notre Dame 13

Chip Minnich

While Ohio State fans may have wanted The Cotton Bowl game versus Texas to follow the styles and results of the first two playoff games versus Tennessee and Oregon, it may have been a blessing in disguise for the Ohio State players and coaches.  Ohio State had to play a physical, knockdown, 60 minute battle versus the Longhorns.  In my estimation, they should be expecting the same versus Notre Dame, and now are physically and psychologically prepared for such an event.

It will not be surprising to me at all if Notre Dame tries to replicate much of what Texas, and to a certain extent, Michigan did defensively versus Jeremiah Smith when Ohio State is on offense.  Whether the Fighting Irish will be able to pull it off may be another matter altogether.

Look for Notre Dame to try to continually establish the run with Jeremiyah Love, as well as with designed quarterback runs by Riley Leonard.  Ohio State’s front seven will be tested by the Notre Dame offensive line, despite the fact that the Fighting Irish are also battling injuries along their line like the Buckeyes have.

I see it going into the fourth quarter before Ohio State is able to pull away for the win.  This should be a tremendous conclusion for the first year of the 12 team College Football Playoff with the Buckeyes earning the 2024 national championship.  I have it… 

Ohio State 28 Notre Dame 17

Kevin Noon

One final game, one final pick. Win this game and your story is told forever in Buckeye Nation. Lose the game? Well, the story may live on as long but looked at in a very different light, another ‘almost’ in a history with too many ‘almosts’.

Does Notre Dame really think it can run man defense against this Ohio State offense? Does Notre Dame have enough passing to press the Ohio State defense?

The deeper you get into a book, the more things you should know, but all we have now are questions.

Ohio State answered a lot of questions in wins over Tennessee, Oregon, and Texas, but now it all comes down to Notre Dame.

It is No. 7 versus No. 8 for the national championship, the first one in the 12-team playoff era. I go back 10 years to when No. 4 (out of four teams) Ohio State won it all with wins over Alabama and then Oregon.

I like Will Howard to play his best game of the season, I like for the Ohio State offense to be efficient enough to keep the chains moving and the pressure applied to the Fighting Irish.

Defensively, this will be the crowning piece to a Jim Knowles-led defense in 2024-25. Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau and the rest of the senior defensive players will leave a permanent bar for all that follow to strive to reach. But it is going to be Sonny Styles that has the biggest moment in this game. What that moment will be? When will it be? We will all have to stay tuned to watch, and re-watch as this game will live forever. 

Ohio State 31 Notre Dame 17

Tom Orr

One of the very first things I heard when I turned on Notre Dame’s first College Football Playoff game to watch it in preparation for the National Championship Game was that Notre Dame’s best corner was a true freshman. That seemed… less than ideal when facing a team as deep and talented at receiver as the Buckeyes are. And while Lance Moore is a surprisingly solid corner, he’s far from the biggest potential red flag for the Irish.

The other CB is Christian Gray, who had the game-clinching interception in the Orange Bowl, but who also has gotten beaten deep and been flagged for getting too grabby.

RT Aamil Wagner struggled against rushes off the edge against Penn State. Charles Jagusah, who is expected to start at LT in this game has only played a couple of dozen plays all season long, none at left tackle.

Their best DT, Rylie Mills, is out for the season. The wide receiver corps is okay, but not exactly brimming with big-play guys.

This is a bad matchup for Notre Dame, and that is exacerbated by the number of key players who are either out with injuries or playing at substantially less than 100 percent.

Ohio State is more talented, more experienced, healthier, and has the potential to win one-on-one matchups all around the field.

If Notre Dame can stay on schedule, they can string together some maddening drives featuring multiple conversions on 3rd-and-2. If the Buckeyes turn the ball over a few times or give up a big play on special teams, the Fighting Irish are talented enough to take advantage of it and win the game.

If Notre Dame gets off-schedule on offense, they could find themselves in a bunch of 3rd-and-7 situations, which they are not well-equipped to deal with. If they string together a few three-and-outs and fall behind, this could spiral quickly.

Ohio State 28, Notre Dame 10