College Football National Championship: Five Keys to Ohio State-Oregon

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Jan 11, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of AT&T stadium which is the site of the national championship game between the Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

It’s finally here. The national championship game has arrived, and for the first time in college football history, it features two teams who run spread offenses. This makes the game much harder to predict because not only are they two spread offenses.

They are two different types of spread offenses.

Ohio State is built around a more physical quarterback who will run like a running back and take off if his first option isn’t there. Oregon’s is a style more similar to the west-coast offenses ran by Bill Walsh in the 1980s.

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Both teams are physical this year, both teams have superstars, and both teams got to the game by knocking out the perceived two most talented teams in the country at the beginning of the year.

Perhaps X’s O’s can beat Jimmy’s and Joe’s every now and then.

But while this site picked Oregon to win the game by a touchdown, and while this is a game that could go any way, there are certain keys that will clearly determine who wins.

From schematics to skill players to who wins the trenches, we have a great match-up in Dallas Monday night.

So what will determine the winner of the game? Let’s take a look at the five keys.

Next: Key No. 1: Who Wins the Trenches?