Quarterback Riley Leonard and the Notre Dame offense have faced a fierce gauntlet of defenses in their path to the College Football Playoff title game.

The Ohio State National Championship x-factor to watch is a player flying much further under the radar than Will Howard and Jeremiah Smith.

Theismann has spent a good bit of time around this team, and Tim Brown — Notre Dame’s last Heisman Trophy winner (1987) — has spent even more. Brown, who was at the Indiana and Penn State playoff games, has gotten to know Freeman and several key players well.

Ohio State's last win over Michigan was in 2019 when Sawyer was in high school. However, this season's loss to the rival may have hurt the most for the senior defender, as it was on the Buckeyes' senior day. Plus, the game ended in a brawl between both teams after a Michigan flag was planted in the middle of Ohio State's field.

Ohio State and Notre Dame are a pair of college football programs rooted in history and tradition. For the Buckeyes, iconic names range from coach Woody Hayes and running back Archie Griffin to coach Ryan Day and defensive end Jack Sawyer.

Everything is on the line as college football looks to determine its champion with Notre Dame taking on Ohio State in a historic College Football Playoff Nation

For the Ohio State Buckeyes, it was veteran defensive end Jack Sawyer who stepped up on Friday night and made the biggest play of the game, getting a strip-sack on Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers on 4th and goal and taking it the other way for a game-sealing touchdown.

We’re now just a few days away from a rare, rare event indeed, even if you are the fan of one of the best college football programs in the country. Ohio State and Notre Dame are all set to

Ohio State vs. Notre Dame is scheduled to kick off at 7:45 p.m. The Ohio State vs. Notre Dame game can be watched on ESPN. Chris Fowler will be doing the play-by-play with Kirk Herbstreit serving as an analyst. Holly Rowe and Molly McGrath will be reporting on the sidelines.

Ohio State had a couple snoozers to start things off as they dominated their first two CFP games. Ohio State blew out Tennessee at home in the first round as they won 42-17, and then they smoked one seed Oregon in the quarterfinals as it was 31-0 halfway through the second quarter. They cruised to a 41-21 win.

At the end of the grind, was it Ohio State all along? Everything – and we mean everything – you really need to know about Monday night’s College Football Playoff Championship Game between Ohio State (-8.