Earlier this week, Notre Dame football legend Brady Quinn, sat down and discussed what the Fighting Irish must do to defeat Ohio State and win their first National Championship since 1988. This Irish team is being laughed at by most media and is not given a chance to beat Ohio State, despite proving everyone wrong when those same analysts picked against them the last two rounds.
Quinn is known as one of Notre Dame's best quarterbacks in program history. He now is a College Football analyst on Fox Sports. In his tenure with the Irish, he shattered many program records. He has the records for passing yards with 11,762 yards during his four years in South Bend, and also records for passing attempts (1,602), completions (929) and touchdowns (95).
Brady Quinn sat down with Greg McElroy and broke down keys to the game and what he believes Notre Dame football will do in order to keep this game close and for the Irish to pull the upset off.
Brady Quinn reveals secret recipe for Notre Dame football
“I think they can (play man), they will have to pick and choose their spots.” Quinn stated. “Al Golden knows that better than anyone else. You can’t change who you are. You can’t change his aggressiveness, his blitz percentage, the way they go about showing and bringing pressure, and dropping out of it and all the variety of looks they are going to bring you.”
Quinn biggest key to the game is to stop the run. With all eyes on the Ohio State explosive skill players like Jeremiah Smith, Quinn stated that if Notre Dame can’t stop Chip Kelly and their rushing attack then it is going to be a long game.
“The hardest thing for Notre Dame is going to be stopping the run.” Notre Dame legend stated. “You force yourself to putting your cornerbacks on islands in order to sell out and stop the run. You see how dynamic TreVeyon Henderson, and you know how good Quinshon Judkins is. That is more of the concern."
Quinn stated he was at the game last year, and even though Irish don't have their All-American in Benjamin Morrison, he knows this secondary has done a fantastic job with elite wide receiver cores and trust they can contain the Buckeyes.
On offense, Brady Quinn stated that they just will keep doing what they are doing. They will play with Riley Leonard strengths and use their skill players to free Leonard open.
“Let’s work to Riley Leonard strengths. Give him easy completions, give him things he feels comfortable doing and things he can excel at. After beginning of season when we saw some struggles, obviously the loss to Northern Illinois, you really saw this offense start to hit its stride.”
Quin emphasized he likes what Denbrock is doing with the offense. He likes that he is using all three running backs, and that all wide receivers are being used and Mitchel Evans is getting more and more targets.
“Mike Denbrock is not going to do something that puts Notre Dame in harm’s way. He understands they are special on special teams. And their defense is good enough to win a championship. He is not going to take chances and put this team in a position where it is going to lose the game on offense. At end of the day, he is going to put the ball in Riley Leonard’s hand and give them a chance to win the football game.”
Quinn didn't make his official pick yet, but he loves what Marcus Freeman has built at Notre Dame and is clearly giving this team a chance in the championship. Notre Dame football is one win away from shocking the world, but the juggernaut of Ohio State stands tall at the finish line. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. local time.