Call me overconfident if you want, but I expect ND to win by two possessions. I do not think PSU is capable of doing what ND did to Georgia. And what's scary is that it was probably ND's worst game from a penalty standpoint. I am not impressed by PSU 2 playoff wins. SMU at home in cold December and a G5 school at a neutral site. Jeanty was limited yes, but still got over 100 yards from scrimmage, so it's not like he was completely shut down. Their best defensive player is hurt and will likely play but not be as effective. Georgia's two pass rushers are predicted to go in the first round and I never would have known that from the game I saw. Warren is a beast and he will likely make a play or two, but I don't anticipate him dominating against ND's defense. PSU defense has a tendency to miss tackles, which does not bode well for them with ND's rushing attack. Allar is a good QB, but ND has consisntely been able to blitz and play man all year and I don't see that changing. And even when ND allows a big gain what impresses me the most is they usually stop the offense from advancing any farther after that, sans SC game. Leonard may have to pass more, but the best part about the offense is that they don't turnover the ball. This is why ND is so hard to beat. Finally, here's what I consider to be the x-factor: Freeman v. Franklin. Freeman ever since his win over Clemson in year 1 has proven to get his guys ready for the big game. He's now won 8-9 in a row over AP ranked teams? Franklin is something like 1-12 against top 10 teams? I know some here are all worried about players being hurt and having a hangover from the UGA win, but at this point everyone is hurting, not just ND. And in all my years in football I have never bought the "hangover" excuse. Success is hard to sustain yes, but nowhere do you hear players/coaches saying well we lost this game cause we beat a tough team last week. I've won and lost many games in football and never attributed my wins and losses based on who we played the week prior. We've seen plenty of upsets happen after a team has an easy win the week prior. As long as ND shows up and is efficient in their approach, I can't see them losing.
I say 27-13 ND win.
