“That’s continue to focus on the preparation and staying in the moment, but we’re excited to be down here in Atlanta, Ga., and grateful for this opportunity we have ahead of us.”
In his third season leading Notre Dame, Freeman has developed a team that strongly resembles some of the best his old head coach at Ohio State, Jim Tressel, used to mold.
The Fighting Irish play tough defense and try to get by with an opportunistic offense led by a heady quarterback in Riley Leonard.
“We have a great challenge ahead of us,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said after getting off the plane in Atlanta about two hours after the Fighting Irish arrived. “Notre Dame is a very good team. Very disciplined. Very well-coached. Certainly complementary in all three phases, put pressure on you in all three phases.
“We we have to be at our best. That’s the goal, to be play our best game of the season. I still don’t think we’ve done that, and that’s the goal.”
Ohio State has much more flash and dash on offense with speedy stars such as Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith and TreVeyon Henderson, but the Buckeyes also have one of the top defenses in the nation.
Day noted Friday was the one-year anniversary of the first team meeting of the 2024 season. That day the Buckeyes laid out ambitious goals — including making it to this point — with the understanding that would take a lot of work.
“When you get on the plane, go back to the hotel, it’s a good time to reflect on the journey you’ve been on personally,” Day said. “It’s everybody’s dream to play in the national championship, but also the journey the team has been on to get here because our first team meeting was today a year ago, and here we are a year later in the National Championship. That being said, when we wake up in the morning, it’s all about work.”
Credit: Marcus Hartman
Credit: Marcus Hartman
Ohio State is seeking its ninth national championship and first in 10 years.
The Buckeyes won the first College Football Playoff in 2014, and now they seek to be the first winners of its expanded, 12-team version.
Notre Dame claims 11 national championships, but the most recent is 1988.
Ohio State is in the final of the CFP for the third time, beating Oregon in the first 42-20 in January 2015 and losing to Alabama 52-24 in January 2021.
Notre Dame last played for a national title in the 2012 season when the Fighting Irish lost 42-14 to Alabama.
“You don’t play in the National Championship every week,” Freeman said. “We know that, but we’ve played in a lot of meaningful games, and you understand what the expectations are like. You understand what the plane ride is gonna be like.
“Monday will be different. The excitement, the lights are going to be brighter obviously being the last one, being the championship game, but the plane ride was the plane ride. We’re ready to roll.”
Cox First Media is in Georgia all weekend. Follow along for the team media day Saturday, press conferences with Day and Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman on Sunday and then of course the game Monday night.
Follow along for all the updates on X at @MarcusHartman and Instagram (MarcusHartmanDDN), and he will be contributing content to the Dayton Daily News channels on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
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