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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
ATLANTA — As No. 7 Notre Dame prepared to face No. 8 Ohio State in Monday night’s CFP National Championship presented by AT&T, the Fighting Irish didn’t have to go back too far to find a blueprint for slowing down the Buckeyes’ high-powered offense.
Notre Dame’s defense watched film of Michigan‘s 13-10 upset of then-No. 2 Ohio State on Nov. 30 more than once over the past eight days.
“We watched a lot of film on that game,” Irish defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka said. “It definitely helped us on what we’ve got to stop, but there’s other games that they’ve shown some weaknesses. We’ll definitely take advantage of watching that film and keep that same mentality that we always have.”
Ohio State’s regular-season finale against its biggest rival was a performance it would like to forget. The Buckeyes had only 252 yards of offense, went 6-for-16 on third down and had two turnovers. They rushed for only 77 yards and missed two field goal attempts.
The Wolverines, who were 21-point underdogs, controlled the ball for more than 33½ minutes and shut out the Buckeyes in the second half.
What did the Fighting Irish learn from Michigan’s defense?
“Stopping the run, controlling the line of scrimmage and putting pressure on [quarterback] Will Howard,” Tuihalamaka said.
It’s probably going to be easier said than done with the way the Ohio State offense has played since losing to Michigan. The Buckeyes averaged 37 points in their three CFP victories against No. 9 Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon and No. 5 Texas.
Ohio State had 473 yards of offense in a 42-17 victory over the Volunteers in the first round, then 500 in a 41-21 rout of the Ducks in the quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl presented by Prudential on New Year’s Day.
Because of nine penalties, the Buckeyes weren’t as efficient in a 28-14 win against Texas in the semifinals at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Jan. 10, but still had 370 yards of offense.
While Notre Dame might pick up a thing or two from Michigan’s defensive game plan, it’s not like the Irish can try to replicate exactly what the Wolverines did.
“There’s some things that happened in the Michigan game that, you know, Michigan did really well, and Ohio State maybe didn’t do so well,” Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman said. “But what you can’t do is look at another team’s defense and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ You have to do what your team currently does really well, and that’s the nature of the game.
“Any coach that tells you they just follow somebody else’s plan; it’s probably not going to be that successful. We’ve got to make sure that we can take some ideas from what other teams have done to have success, but really implement based on how it’s been in our system.”
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden noted that the Buckeyes seem to have slowed down a bit on offense, as they’re sacrificing pace for making sure they’re in the correct play.
When Freeman was asked Saturday about his name being linked to the Chicago Bears’ coaching search, he told ESPN that he has put “zero thought” into coaching in the NFL.
“To hear that the Bears have interest, it’s humbling,” Freeman said. “It’s the NFL. But it’s also a reminder that with team success comes individual success. I have put zero thought into coaching in the NFL. All my attention has just been on getting this team prepared for every opportunity we have in front of us.”
Freeman said Charles Jagusah has a good chance of starting at left tackle against the Buckeyes. The 6-foot-7, 330-pound sophomore tore his right pectoralis muscle during preseason camp and missed the regular season. He unexpectedly returned to the field in Notre Dame’s 27-24 victory against Penn State in a semifinal game at the Capital One Orange Bowl, filling in for injured guard Rocco Spindler.
With starting left tackle Anthonie Knapp sidelined with a high ankle sprain, Jagusah probably will get the start against Ohio State.
Receiver Beaux Collins, who played only seven snaps against Penn State because of a calf strain, “feels one hundred percent,” according to Freeman. Collins, who caught a touchdown in a 23-10 win over Georgia in the quarterfinals at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has been eased back into practice, but Freeman expected him to do more on Saturday.
“To have him back will be a great help,” Irish quarterback Riley Leonard said. “Obviously, he’s a very physical receiver that is willing to do whatever it takes and put his body on the line or help the team. Whether he’s got one catch, six catches, it doesn’t matter.”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Heather Dinich and Andrea Adelson contributed to this report.