Ohio State Buckeyes vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame's defense has given its offense some breathing room and refuses to let the team trail by an uncomfortable amount. Throughout the CFP, Ohio State has just been in clashes of the more explosive offense—to which the Buckeyes have always come out on top. Yet, I'm not convinced Ohio State will swiftly gain space on the scoreboard when it goes up against a team whose biggest strength is its defensive front. 

See my full National Championship preview for more analysis. 

Jeremiyah Love is a magnet to the football when the Irish are on offense. The sophomore has hit the OVER on 41.5 rushing yards in five of his last six performances. The only exception was when he missed a chunk of the second half in the Sugar Bowl after tweaking a knee injury.

See my full National Championship preview for more analysis. 

Notre Dame has one of the best ATS marks in the nation, and has covered in 10 straight games. But in the playoff, the Irish have done so against relatively flawed opponents—an Indiana squad that wasn’t ready for prime time, a Georgia team playing its backup quarterback, a Penn State outfit bereft of wide receivers.

There are no such flaws at Ohio State, which has the most talented roster in the nation, and has shaken off its Michigan malaise to cover all three of its playoff games against a draw more difficult than what the Irish has faced. 

The Notre Dame quarterback averages nearly 58 rushing yards per game, and his ball-carrying is often integral to the Irish offense in short yardage and at the goal line. Leonard has scored 16 rushing touchdowns this season, including three in his last four games, and expect him to have the ball in his hands often against Ohio State in a smash-mouth national championship game that figures to be contested largely at the line of scrimmage.