Rece Davis leaks how College Football Playoff championship game will be won

Ahead of tonight’s national championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame, ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis sees a narrow path forward for the Fighting Irish to come out with a win.

It involves a two-step process, the first of which falls on the team’s defensive front.

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“I think the game is won two places,” Davis said. “The game will be won or lost if someone, if Notre Dame’s front, can do what the last two teams in the playoff, really, or really any of them, haven’t been able to do fully. And that’s take advantage of Ohio State’s offensive line.”

The Buckeyes have had to do some shifting up front ahead of the national championship game thanks to injuries. Could that leave the unit vulnerable?

Davis wasn’t sure if Notre Dame would be able to pull it off in the championship game, but that’s where things have to start.

“Maybe it’s not a weakness anymore. But the fact that it’s been rebuilt, you keep waiting for someone to fully take advantage of it,” Davis explained. “If they can’t, I think that’s one thing. And if they can, can they get Ohio State in third down? And for all of the prowess — now you can argue they didn’t need any third downs against Oregon, and that’s a fair assessment of the situation — I think they were 3-of-10 against Texas, only 4-of-11 against Oregon, and for the year they’re kind of middle of the pack, which is probably a little bit surprising given their weapons. I think they rank in the 50s in terms of third-down conversions over the course of the season. So can you get them to third down?”

Solve that part of the equation and you can begin to get to the other side: what has to happen when Notre Dame has the ball. That side is equally as important.

Once again, Davis outlined the blueprint for a Notre Dame win in the championship game.

“Can you then get the ball and keep it, the way Michigan did?” Davis said. “That’s the formula, to me, for Notre Dame to keep this close and to have a chance to win is the Michigan formula. Just keep pounding it. Now you can’t keep pounding it if you get zero on first down and one on second down. Then you have to try to get the first down. But if you can get three, if you can get three, then you somehow even short pass, anything, nudge out four and then do it again. And do it again. And frustrate them a little bit.

“That’s the path forward to me for Notre Dame absent big special teams plays, absent catastrophic turnovers, things of that nature. That’s the path for Notre Dame to have a chance to win the game.”

Tonight’s national championship game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN.