The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday night, and Ohio State superstar freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith has a pretty clear warning for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame typically plays a lot of man-coverage and single-high defense, and Jeremiah Smith has taken notice.
During his interview session this week, the superstar freshman called out Notre Dame for playing man-to-man coverage what he described as “80 percent” of the time. He made it clear that he wants to make them pay for that strategic decision.
“If you are going to play man [to-man defense] against Ohio State, be ready,” Smith said according to ESPN. “I can’t wait to put on a show.”
Notre Dame has been one of the best defenses in the country playing man coverage throughout the season, but Ohio State is one of the best teams in the country against man coverage, with quarterback Will Howard having the best completion percentage and passer rating in the country when facing man-to-man defense.
Despite Ohio State’s success, Notre Dame has no plans to abandon its defensive scheme.
“A lot of teams have went to the zone mindset when playing them,” Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore said on Wednesday according to Eleven Warriors. “I think Penn State played a decent amount of man. That’s their identity. But I think that going into this game we’re not going to change who we are. We’re going to play man coverage like we do every week. We’re going to go out there and challenge their receivers.”
Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline fully expects Notre Dame to stick with man coverage on Monday night.
“What [the Irish do] they do very, very well. So for them to change up what they do, would be kind of silly,” Hartline told ESPN. “They’re really, really good players, great players on the outside. And we’re really great players on the outside, too. It’s what you want in a game of this magnitude.”
It’s clear that Monday night’s game will feature Ohio State’s strong passing attack against Notre Dame’s man-to-man coverage. We’ll have to see who comes out on top.
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