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Joel Klatt strategically outlines blueprint for Notre Dame to beat Ohio State

Stephen Samraby:Steve Samra•about 12 hours•

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Marcus Freeman notre dame
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman gives a pregame speech to his team. (Matt Cashore-Imagn Images)

FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt believes he’s cracked the code for success regarding Notre Dame’s chances of defeating Ohio State during Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

To make his point during the latest episode of The Joel Klatt Show, the analyst harkened back to Super Bowl XXXVI between the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams. Klatt believes the Fighting Irish can learn a ton from the strategy deployed by the victors in that game, as the Patriots were able to quell the Rams’ explosive offense on the way to a shocking victory.

“The blueprint for Notre Dame — let’s talk about their defense first. When Notre Dame is on defense against Ohio State’s offense, I believe that the blueprint for the Irish is very similar to what we got all the way back in 2000 in Tom Brady’s first Super Bowl. When it wasn’t about Tom Brady, and for those New England Patriots, it was about their defense,” Klatt stated. “They were facing the greatest show on turf. And what did the Patriots do? No, I’m not going to get into the Video-gate. What they did is they muddied the game up by being physical with the skill position players of those Rams. Grabbing them, forcing the officials to call things, and then making life difficult on Kurt Warner.

“That’s exactly what Notre Dame’s going to have to do to this Ohio State team. They’ve got to do that. They have got to play physical with the wide receivers. In fact, in a lot of ways, I would actually dare Ohio State to run the football. Dare them to run the football. In particular, on early downs.”

All told, that sounds like a sound strategy for Notre Dame. However, Ohio State is certainly ready for any and all challenge coming their way on Monday, and their offense will be far from easy to stop, when you factor in their tremendous receiving corps, the incredible duo they have at running back and the improved play of quarterback Will Howard.

No team has been able to figure out how to stop the Ohio State offense yet throughout the College Football Playoff, but perhaps Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman will be the ones who get the job done. If they’re to win the national title on Monday, it’s going to be essential to their mission. Joel Klatt recognizes that.