College Football Picks

Ohio State will take on Notre Dame in Atlanta for the National Championship. Both teams feature elite defenses who have been dominant in the Playoff. That trend should continue in the Championship game.

Notre Dame has relied on their defense all season, and they have been up for the challenge. The Fighting Irish defense is 2nd in the country in scoring and 7th in yards allowed. This is the best defense Ohio State has faced since, well, last week against Texas. The Buckeyes were nowhere near as dominant on offense last week as they had been in their other Playoff games. If TreVeyon Henderson hadn’t taken a screen pass 75 yards right before the half, they would have finished with less than 300 yards of offense. Notre Dame will present the same challenges that Texas did when it comes to limiting explosive plays.

Ohio State has the only defense better than Notre Dame's in scoring, with Oregon being the only team to score over 20 points against them. It is hard to see Notre Dame’s offense being the 2nd team to accomplish that. Riley Leonard has not impressed in the Playoff, amassing a 3/3 TD/INT ratio. The senior QB will likely be relied on to run the ball a lot, as well. Jeremiah Love is playing through a knee injury and backup Jadarian Price has failed to break 40 yards in the last three games. With Notre Dame’s offense mostly relying on one player, it will be difficult for them to score against this elite Buckeye defense.

With two of the best defenses on the country taking the field, the under feels like a no brainer. We could be in for a rock fight in the National Championship.