The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Ohio State Buckeyes arrived in Atlanta on Friday in readiness for Monday's highly anticipated national championship game. The Buckeyes are 8.5-point favorites for the contest, according to ESPN BET, due to their potent offense that has rampaged through the College Football Playoff, headlined by wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
During Sunday's segment of the "WBNS 10TV" show, former Ohio State wide receiver Devier Posey broke down the tactical changes that the Fighting Irish could explore to deal with the Buckeyes' offense, despite the shaky showing in the Cotton Bowl Classic against the Texas Longhorns.
"On top of that, Texas has a good man defense," Posey said (1:30). "They had the Thorpe Award winner in Barron (Jahdae). The Notre Dame secondary might be better, they play the most man coverage in the country and they do it well. Caleb Downs was a first-team All-American, Xavier Watts from Notre Dame was the other safety.
"So, us pushing the ball downfield against this defense, we're gonna have to be sharp. We're gonna have to execute at a high level using our wide receivers but I think we get it done. They (Notre Dame) do a good job of playing man coverage, they play their wide receivers and you wonder, do they go into this game and change their game plan? I don't believe so.
"When these Notre Dame and Ohio State teams played two years ago and one year ago, a lot of our starters became made men in those games."
Marcus Freeman dismisses Notre Dame H2H against Ohio State
During his pregame news conference after the Fighting Irish arrived in Atlanta for the national championship game on Friday, coach Marcus Freeman dismissed the Fighting Irish's head-to-head record against the Buckeyes. Ryan Day's OSU has won both encounters between the teams, 17-14 in 2023 and 21-10 in 2022.
"Where this program is now and who we have, is about putting these guys in a position to succeed and do what they do well," Freeman said. "And the same thing with Ohio State, what they're doing this year and what they're doing right now is different than the team we played last year and two years ago.
"So, the focus is on how to play and how to have success defensively and offensively versus the opponent we're playing on Monday."
The Fighting Irish overcame their underdog status in the tense Sugar Bowl clash against the Georgia Bulldogs to emerge victorious, and despite the Ohio State Buckeyes being overwhelming favorites for the national championship game, Marcus Freeman's team has beaten the odds before.
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