With a rushing average of 189.8 yards per game and a No. 44 national ranking with its ground attack, the Crimson Tide hasn’t necessarily featured the overall premier running game of previous seasons. Part of it is because of their quick-strike aerial assault (more on that later).

Anchored by senior left tackle Alex Leatherwood and senior tailback Najee Harris, this unit remains plenty dangerous. However, the Alabama line suffered a significant setback in the SEC Championship win over Florida when center and team captain Landon Dickerson suffered a season-ending knee injury. He does have a veteran replacement in 6-3, 315-pound fifth-year senior Chris Owens, who has five career starts, including at center in the 2019 opener versus Duke and at right tackle this season against Arkansas.

Alabama and Notre Dame are three of the finalists (with Texas A&M) for the Joe Moore Award, presented annually to the nation’s top offensive line, and both have to function without their top center. Leatherwood and Notre Dame fifth-year senior left tackle Liam Eichenberg are also two of the three finalists for the Outland Trophy, presented to the nation’s top interior lineman.

The robust 6-2, 230-pound Harris paced the SEC in rushing with 1,262 yards — which is third in the nation — and he’s the runaway (no pun intended) leader in the country with 24 rushing touchdowns. Due in part to its rushing attack, Alabama leads the nation with a jaw-dropping third-down conversion percentage of 59.2. In power sets, the Crimson Tide also uses 6-4, 298-pound tackle Kendall Randolph at tight end.

Despite allowing 219 rushing yards and 8.1 yards per carry in the 34-10 loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship, the Notre Dame run defense still allows only 110.5 yards per game (15th in the country) — and now doesn’t have to face a running threat at quarterback, where redshirt junior Mac Jones has minus-nine rushing yards this season.

This latter factor could prove vital because it allows Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea to concentrate more on taking away at least the run element, as he did in the first game against Clemson when the Tigers rushed for only 34 yards while throwing for 439.

When quarterback Trevor Lawrence provided a running threat in game two (14 carries for 90 yards), that provided Clemson much better overall balance and more gaping holes for Travis Etienne (10 carries for 124 yards). Lea has a good history of taking away the run versus teams that don’t activate their quarterbacks on zone reads.

Advantage: Even