Is an all-Big Ten Final in our future or will Notre Dame and Texas prevail?

7 Notre Dame vs 6 Penn State
I am a Penn State fan but I am not blinded by my fandom. This Penn State team, while supremely talented, is poorly coached on game days. I’m probably the only Penn Stater on God’s green earth who can’t stand Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. Sure, it’s the best offense Penn State has seen in years and sure, it’s delivered almost the entire season. However, it still seems like they can’t get the little things right.

For example, against Boise State with the outcome of the game very much in limbo, Penn State faced a 3rd and 1 with under 8 minutes to go. The Lions were nursing a 10 point lead. They rushed for over 150 yards by that point at more than 6 yards per rush. What did Kotelnicki call? A roll out pass play forcing Drew Allar to throw on the run to his opposite side. Come on. Instead of burning another three minutes off the clock Penn State punted. It seems to me that Kotelnicki goes into games with a very detailed game plan and does not deviate. At all. Ever. For any reason.

Penn State also throws too much. Allar is a very good quarterback but he is not this team’s bread and butter. The ground game is and will be what must carry them Thursday night. Also, I love adding trick plays into an offense. However, I do not understand running trick plays to your best players. You’re not tricking the defense because they are already keying in on Tyler Warren. Use that attention and the surprise of the trick play to go elsewhere. This seems like very basic football stuff and the Penn State offense fails in these areas.

I love James Franklin. I don’t understand why people want him fired. You don’t hit a triple and try again for a home run. With that said, I think he makes some poor in-game decisions like the failed 4th and 1 inside his own 30 against SMU or punting on 4th and short near midfield multiple times this season.

Flat out, Marcus Freeman is a better coach than Franklin and just a great coach overall. His teams are well disciplined and do not make the same mental errors that have plagued Penn State at times this season. In the quarterfinals Penn State had more than a couple big plays undone by stupid penalties. You can’t beat a team like Notre Dame while also overcoming your own mistakes.

Notre Dame is like the Bill Belichick Patriots. They may lack elite playmakers on offense but they are great defensively and will not beat themselves. You have to earn and grind out every inch, and if you mess up they will punish you. I don’t think Penn State can play that clean, so they’ll need explosive plays to not only even out their miscues but also force Notre Dame to score points, something their offense does not do well against better teams.

Penn State is more talented. Notre Dame is better prepared and tougher to beat. If Penn State commits to the run game I think they win. The Notre Dame offense just won’t be able to do enough, especially if Abdul Carter is near healthy. PENN STATE

8 Ohio State at 5 Texas
I think Texas is in for it. The SEC lacked explosive offenses this year. If you didn’t play Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama or maybe LSU or South Carolina you probably weren’t tested much as a defense. Texas avoided all of them this season. Georgia’s offense was fine but Carson Beck and his receivers were wildly inconsistent and the offense suffered as a result. Texas lost to Georgia twice.

As good as Texas’ defense is, they won’t be able to hold down Ohio State as long as the Buckeyes don’t revert to the 1960s offense they tried against Michigan. Let’s be real; they won’t make that mistake again. Chip Kelly will attack downfield to his elite receivers and won’t stop. The Texas defense may hang with the supremely talented Buckeye offense for a while, but the Longhorn offense just won’t be able to match pace. The only way this remains close is if Will Howard stumbles and Texas can keep Ohio State to under 27 or 28 points. The Texas offense needs to ground and pound to have a chance and they can’t do that if Texas is blitzed out of the gate like Oregon a week ago. I’m sticking with my Ohio State over Penn State final prediction before the playoffs began. OHIO STATE