3 reasons why Notre Dame will win the national championship

Notre Dame hasn’t hoisted a national title trophy since 1988. Here’s why they can change that on Monday night.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish haven’t won a national championship in 37 years, being one of college football’s largest dormant giants. However, they have a chance to change that on Monday night against Ohio State.

Here are three reasons the Fighting Irish will win the national championship.

They can effectively ball control the game

Calling Notre Dame’s offense explosive would be like saying the sky is green. While they don’t really generate many big plays (69th percentile in Explosive Plays via GameOnPaper), they move the ball at an incredibly successful rate and win on early downs. Ohio State’s defense has played at an incredible level since losing to Michigan, but what’s helped them so much is being able to stop the run while being in their three-safety defense mold. Notre Dame’s offense is a bit different from Texas, Tennessee and Oregon’s in that they won’t try and throw the ball, lining up in more condensed sets to run the ball with a physical line and three viable run threats in the backfield. Notre Dame might not win a shootout, but if they can limit the possessions the Buckeyes get during the game, they might have a shot.

This might be a bit of an issue, with how banged up their offensive line is. Freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp is out for this game with a high ankle sprain and Charles Jagusah steps in, Jagusah was supposed to be the starter this year but tore his pec in the offseason, but now steps in, in the biggest game of the year. Rocco Spindler also is banged up, but he’ll play on Monday which helps out so much. Notre Dame’s offensive line has been a strong point all season, but they’ll have to be lights out against Ohio State.

The young cornerbacks grow up–FAST

One of the most noticeable things about how Notre Dame’s defense has performed in the playoffs has been how the young corners have played. Freshman CB Leonard Moore and sophomore CB Christian Gray have been thrown into the fire in the Fighting Irish’s man coverage-heavy defense, but they’ve held up really well, forcing teams to go somewhere else.

This will be their toughest matchup, however, against the group of MonStars they have at Ohio State. Freshman phenom WR Jeremiah Smith is arguably the best player in the game, and Emeka Egbuka is still one of the better receivers in the country despite Smith being the top guy on the team. I don’t think the Irish change their gameplan in the biggest game of the season, and dance with the girl that brought them there. This means that there’s going to be a lot of man coverage, and with that comes opportunities for the Buckeyes to attack. Gray and Moore will need to be at their best, and if they can at least slow down the superstars the Buckeyes have on the outside they have a shot to win the game.

Riley Leonard headbutt mode

I’m calling this section Riley Leonard headbutt mode largely because I think in order to win this game, Leonard’s legs are going to once again have to be the game changer. In high leverage situations, Notre Dame has always leaned on Leonard’s legs to not only be a curveball, but he’s been super effective in short yardage situations and in the red zone. He’s not just like a Daniel Jones type of runner that surprises you with how athletic he is–he’s legitimately a fantastic runner. If Ohio State is able to bottle up RBs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price in the ground game, it feels like there will be opportunities for Leonard to be the run game force he needs to be in this one.

With the way the Buckeyes play their defense, it’s designed to attack offenses who want to be spaced out. I wonder if the Fighting Irish will try and condense and get Leonard moving on the ground via QB draws and plays that get him downhill to start this game, to at least make Ohio State feel the threat of Leonard on the ground. This team is built with his legs as part of the engine, and for them to hoist the CFP trophy, Leonard’s legs have to be massive once again.