Paul Finebaum 'cannot imagine' Notre Dame beating Ohio State

The luck of the Irish is about to run out as Notre Dame faces Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, according to Paul Finebaum.
The long-time college football commentator believes the Buckeyes have the decisive advantage when it comes to talent and health and should win easily.
“I cannot imagine Notre Dame winning the game,” Finebaum said.
“Something tells me I’ll probably hear that statement again Tuesday if I’m wrong. I just can’t. I know it’s cliche to say, ‘Notre Dame is really good and I see it coming down to a late ...’ I don’t see it. To me, this looks like the first couple of games by Ohio State.”
Those first couple of games saw the Buckeyes win by an average of 20 points, emerging as the most dominant team in the historic 12-team field.
Ohio State clobbered Tennessee by 25 in the first round, smacked Big Ten champ Oregon by 20 in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal, and got past Texas by 14 in the semifinal.
“I think the Texas game was the outlier,” Finebaum noted. “Texas was really good.”
That was a 7-point game with the Longhorns just a yard away from tying it up late in the fourth quarter.
That is, until defensive end Jack Sawyer etched his name into Ohio State lore by stripping Quinn Ewers and returning the fumble 83 yards for a touchdown.
But the Irish don’t have the muscle the Longhorns did, and they’re dealing with some notable player absences, according to Finebaum’s analysis.
“I think Notre Dame is solid, but they’re missing a couple of key components,” he said.
“I think Jeremiyah Love being banged up is a problem. I think losing a lineman is a problem. Their special teams are fantastic, but Ohio State is fantastic across the board.
“It’s just a matter of, what level do they play to? And I think if [the Buckeyes] play to a high level, this game is not close.”
He’s right about those injuries. Most recently, the Irish announced the loss of left tackle Anthonie Knapp, who went down in the semifinal with a season-ending ailment.
Notre Dame dealt with injury issues on the offensive and defensive lines all season, and Love, its star tailback, was not at full capacity during his last time out with a knee problem.
Finebaum isn’t the only observer siding with the Buckeyes against the Irish in the title game.
Ohio State is a big 8.5 point favorite against Notre Dame, according to the updated lines at FanDuel Sportsbook for the game.
But only a minority of bettors are expecting the Buckeyes to cover that big line.
About 64 percent of bets are currently siding with the Irish to either cover in a loss or beat Ohio State outright, according to the latest spread consensus picks for the game.
We’ll see who’s right on Monday, as Ohio State and Notre Dame face off to determine college football’s first-ever national championship in the 12-team era.
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