Biggest questions for Notre Dame-Ohio State

Monday's title game between Ohio State and Notre Dame features a historic matchup to cap the first season of the 12-team College Football Playoff.

The Buckeyes are looking to pull off the CFP double after winning the first edition of the four-team playoff back in 2015, while the Irish are hoping to snap a championship drought that dates back to 1988.

Oddsmakers certainly expect an Ohio State victory, with the Buckeyes' dominant defense expected to make life very difficult for their opponent throughout the contest.

That matchup is featured among the biggest questions entering the evening kickoff in Atlanta.

How is Notre Dame going to score?

This is probably the most important question of the national championship. Notre Dame piled up points at an explosive rate during the regular season, but the offense has hit a wall in the playoffs.

The Irish have run 201 plays in three playoff games for 1,021 yards at 5.07 per play. However, if you remove Jeremiyah Love's electric 98-yard touchdown run versus Indiana and Jaden Greathouse's 54-yard score after a Texas defensive back fell down, that drops to just 4.3 yards per play. That's more than three full yards less than Ohio State is averaging in the playoffs.

The Buckeyes have put the clamps on just about everybody this season, and the Irish are limping in behind an offensive line riddled with injuries. Not exactly a recipe for offensive success.

Leonard's scrambling ability is going to be key to extend plays and get Notre Dame in manageable third-down situations, however, the blueprint for any form of offensive success was shown last week by Texas. The Longhorns attacked Ohio State with running backs out of the backfield in the passing game as the Jaydon Blue-Quintrevion Wisner duo combined for 11 catches, 101 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

Offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock has the talented trio of Love, Jadarian Price and Aneyas Williams at his disposal, and his ability to scheme plays for them will likely be the deciding factor into whether Notre Dame can move the ball.

Which QB delivers best in the clutch?

Ohio State and Notre Dame feature quarterbacks for hire after Will Howard and Riley Leonard joined each program for their final season of college football. Each move has paid off massively for their respective programs, even though the two operate in very different fashion.

Howard essentially plays the role of conductor for the orchestra of freakish talents featured on the Buckeyes' offense. He's not the best player on that side of the ball, but one could argue his play is most important in deciding whether Ohio State wins or loses.

The Buckeyes clearly decided to let Howard take more chances downfield after the Michigan loss, and he's delivered by averaging more than 306 yards per game passing in the playoffs. However, he's also thrown five interceptions in his past five games and is about to play the nation's best defense at taking the ball away. The path to victory for Notre Dame almost certainly involves at least one takeaway Monday. If Howard can avoid that, it's tough to see Ohio State losing.

Leonard goes about his business in the opposite manner of Howard, with the Irish quarterback yet to throw for more than 230 yards in a game this season. His approach is slanted heavily toward a dual-threat role, with his size and speed challenging the defense as a runner. That makes it essential that Notre Dame stays out of third-and-long, so look for Leonard to make an impact early on drives with his legs to open up passing opportunities.

How will Irish defend Jeremiah Smith?

Notre Dame plays man coverage more than 56% of the time, second to only Purdue at the FBS level. Ohio State possesses the best duo of receivers in the country in Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. So, the Fighting Irish will probably adjust and play more zone, right?

"Going into this game, we're not going to change who we are," cornerback Leonard Moore told Matt Freeman of Irish Sports Daily. "We're going to play man coverage like we do every week. We're going to go out there and challenge their receivers."

How does Smith feel about that plan?

"If you are going to play man [to-man defense] against Ohio State, be ready," Smith said, according to ESPN's Paolo Uggetti. "I can't wait to put on a show."

The semifinal win over Texas was one of the rare times Smith looked human during his fantastic freshman season. The Longhorns almost always had two, and sometimes three, defensive backs to blanket the wideout - a strategy that limited him to just one catch for 3 yards. However, that created plenty of opportunities for Egbuka and Carnell Tate to shine.

Still, it's clear that trying to limit Smith and make the others beat you is the way to play Ohio State. The Buckeyes scored just 21 offensive points on Texas last week with Smith held in check. That was after Smith topped the 100-yard receiving mark and the Buckeyes put up at least 40 points in each of the first two playoff games.

Will Ryan Day go at Lou Holtz again?

Perhaps the most entertaining part of the Ohio State-Notre Dame title game matchup is the opportunity to rewatch one of the funniest postgame on-field interviews in the history of the sport.

Yes, that's Ohio State head coach Ryan Day calling out Lou Holtz - the former Notre Dame coach who was 86 years old at the time - after the Buckeyes won a 2023 contest in South Bend on a last-second, goal-line plunge.

Holtz had questioned the Buckeyes' toughness and physicality in the build-up to the contest, something that clearly rubbed Day the wrong way.

It's been almost two years since that moment, so things have clearly cooled down heading into Monday's game, right?