Johnny Manziel has made his pick for tonight’s College Football Playoff Championship Game.
Ohio State and Notre Dame will meet in less than 12 hours to decide the national champion. Each team traveled an impressive road to get to Atlanta, with the Buckeyes blowing out Tennessee and Oregon before outlasting Texas, while Notre Dame handled Indiana and took down Georgia and Penn State. Ohio State is aiming for its first national title in 10 years, while Notre Dame is looking for its first in 36.
Manziel, a former Heisman Trophy winner and first-round NFL Draft pick, currently gives betting tips for Action Network. Over the weekend, he gave his prediction for the matchup between the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish.
“I think Ohio State can score 35. So let’s go 35-21 to Ohio State, and crown our national champion,” Manziel said, via On3.
Ohio State is an eight-point favorite and is the pick of most experts heading into tonight. Manziel does think there’s a path to victory for Notre Dame though.
“I think they’re just gonna have to be able to run the ball,” Manziel said. “Riley Leonard’s gonna have to try his best to be able to hit some play action shots. But a lot of this game comes down to the defense for Notre Dame. There’s a lot of pressure on them to stop this Ohio State offense that’s been running at will for the most part throughout this college football playoff.
“They’re gonna have to find a way even if the offense is struggling a little bit. It’s stalling out to be able to keep Notre Dame in this game with some big stops and some turnovers for them. You can’t see Jeremiah Smith running down the field if you’re a Notre Dame fan or it’s gonna be a long day.”
It should be a fun one tonight. We’ll have a new national champion before the end of the day.
The College Football Playoff Championship Game will kick off just after 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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