Former Buckeyes Coach Urban Meyer sees Notre Dame's "toughness" making things rugged for Ohio State

A day ahead of the CFP National Championship Game, former Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer talked about his former team’s matchup against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The former coach sees a tough game playing out in Atlanta.

Meyer, who will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this year, gave his opinion on both teams. While he considers the Buckeyes the more talented team, he thinks the Irish can close the talent gap with their grit.

“(Ohio State has) one of the best rosters I’ve ever seen. Every offensive and defensive skill guy, these guys will start in the NFL. I’ve never heard of that before.

“Then on the other side, you got, not the same roster, but you got grit, you got toughness, you got guys that found when they beat Georgia, I think the whole country said ‘How did that happen? So they are just really tough, rugged guys,” Urban Meyer said in an interview with WBNS on Sunday.

Both teams' progress to the CFP Championship Game does lend credibility to Urban Meyer’s claims. The Buckeyes dominated Tennessee and Oregon, scoring over 40 points in each game, and then beat Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl in a game in which they never trailed.

Notre Dame had a solid win against Indiana but then outslugged Georgia in the Sugar Bowl before needing a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Penn State in the Orange Bowl.

There are some similarities between the teams as both are built on defense and like to control the football on offense.

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Urban Meyer gave his championship game prediction

Urban Meyer led Ohio State to the title in 2014. (Source: Imagn)

Urban Meyer led Ohio State to their last national championship in 2014. While Meyer believes the Fighting Irish will make it a game, it will be the scarlet and grey who come out on top.

“I think Ohio State’s gonna win. I think it’s gonna be a rugged first half because of the toughness of Notre Dame, but the skill sets at Ohio State are too great,” Meyer said in the same interview with WBNS.

Meyer also said that the Buckeyes changed their approach ahead of the college football playoff which has helped the team in the CFP.

“I think ever since the Wolverine game they’ve been playing to their strength, and their strength is not between the tackles, their strength is on the edge, run game and pass game,” Meyer said.

Buckeyes and Fighting Irish will face off in the National Championship game on Monday at 7:30 pm ET in Atlanta.