Heather Dinich explains why Notre Dame needs a win vs. Ohio State to make College Football Playoff

Saturday’s game between Notre Dame and Ohio State will be one of the most important games of the season so far in the College Football Playoff race. A win will be a major boost to one of their resumes, and a loss will be a damaging blow.

But the Buckeyes have plenty of chances to bounce back from a loss. There’s games versus Penn State and Michigan, and they’d hope a Big Ten Championship down the line

The Fighting Irish have other big games on their schedule — notably an October contest versus Caleb Williams and USC — that can help boost their case. But when asked on Friday’s episode of Get Up on ESPN, insider Heather Dinich said that Notre Dame needs the win more than Ohio State.

“I’m going with Notre Dame because, obviously, they don’t have a conference championship game to play in,” Dinich said. “The bar in the selection committee meeting room is higher for independents and any team that doesn’t win its conference title. That means everybody in the room has to think Notre Dame is unequivocally one of the four best teams in the country, even if they lose to Ohio State. That means they have to run the table. Marcus Freeman knows that. This schedule is tailor-made to impress the selection committee,. But they’ve got really one margin for error. That’s one loss. If they lose this game, the pressure’s on.”

The game will be only the sixth time the two teams have faced off in the regular season. Last year, Ohio State won at home over Notre Dame in the season opener, and the first game of Marcus Freeman‘s head coaching career.

ESPN analyst Desmond Howard then provided his analysis on the game, including what will be the defining matchup of the game.

“I think the most important factor in this game tomorrow night is to be able to establish the run and stop the run,” Howard said. “I was at Notre Dame’s practice yesterday. I spoke to several coaches and despite the fact that Marvin Harrison Jr. is an exceptional talent at the wide receiver position, he’s never taken over a big game. He’s never been the focal point of their offense. He’s like an added bonus but he’s not like the big piece. The big piece is the running game, TreVeyon Henderson and they have like a stable of running backs. If you know anything about Ryan Day, especially on the road, he’s going to want to establish the run. So the X factor is…if Notre Dame can hold up defensively — their front seven — against Ohio State’s offensive line and if they can stop the run.”