Joel Klatt predicts outcome of Ohio State vs. Notre Dame national championship game
Joel Klatt is ready to make the call for Monday’s national championship matchup between Ohio State and Notre Dame. In his latest episode of The Joel Klatt Show, the broadcaster breaks down the pending matchup in Atlanta, including some concerns he has for the Fighting Irish defense.
Klatt pointed out in last year’s matchup between these two teams, Notre Dame played a lot of man coverage schemes with rotating safeties to account for Marvin Harrison Jr. Though it worked then, Klatt doesn’t believe that’s the best idea with a deeper receiver room for the Buckeyes.
“If I was Notre Dame, I would not play man coverage,” said Klatt. “I would play a ton of catch zone which is what Michigan played and Texas played… It made Will Howard’s life very difficult.”
Unfortunately for Notre Dame, regardless of what the defense does, he’s not sure the offense has enough firepower to score regularly. Klatt believes there is one path for Marcus Freeman’s squad to win the title.
“I don’t think Notre Dame is going to score more than 17 points in this game. So if you give up more than that, you lose,” Klatt said. “That’s the small margin and the narrow path that Notre Dame has to victory… Ohio State has several different paths to victory.”
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For his final prediction, Klatt doesn’t see the score being close when it’s all said and done. He’s riding with Ryan Day to land his first national championship with the Buckeyes.
“It’s an 8.5-point spread favoring the Buckeyes. Final score in the national championship game, officially is: Ohio State 35, Notre Dame 17,” Klatt predicted. “Buckeyes win the national championship, they cover the 8.5 and maybe — just maybe — everyone gets off the back of Ryan Day.”
We’ll find out on Monday if Klatt’s prediction holds true.