College Football National Championship 2015: Early Storylines to Watch

The inaugural College Football Playoff produced a disappointment of a duel between Heisman Trophy winners and a gritty cross-conference showdown with an unexpected winner, but it is hard to complain about the resulting title game matchup. 

It is scary to think just how great Ohio State and Urban Meyer are now that the program is on its third quarterback and still outlasting an SEC powerhouse such as Alabama in the CFP semifinal.

Ditto for Marcus Mariota and Oregon. For the first time, these Ducks are yet to have wings clipped by injury or a shocker of a matchup. Instead, this year's Heisman winner sent Jameis Winston and Florida State home with their tails between their legs.

Oregon-Ohio State is not what most had in mind even a few weeks ago, but it would be a lie to suggest it is not a dream matchup only befitting of the very first CFP.

College Football Playoff National Championship Odds and Schedule

Date	Matchup	Start Time (ET)	Network	Odds
January 12, 2015	Oregon vs. Ohio State	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	Oregon -7

Storylines to Watch

Oregon's Ability to Stop the Run

Look, Oregon's defense will always come under fire. So it goes for an offensive-minded team.

Never mind those who believed the unit would be too small to play with the big boys. Observers who did their homework knew this was never the case, as Oregon's speed and size matches well with the best of the best.

The only problem going into the matchup with the Buckeyes is run defense. In the semifinal, Florida State's Dalvin Cook ran for 103 yards while the Seminoles as a whole rushed for 180 yards and a score on 4.6 yards per carry.

Now, it is important to understand that the Oregon defense in large part yields big numbers on the ground because it commits extra bodies to stopping the pass. Most teams find themselves down early against the Ducks and go with one-dimensional passing attacks.

With that said, Ohio State will not waver from its balanced attack and will control the game if Ezekiel Elliott gets going. Against the Seminoles, he ran for 230 yards and a pair of scores on just 20 carries.

Meyer will want to run to take pressure off inexperienced quarterback Cardale Jones. Should the Ducks give Elliott room early, the Buckeyes can control things.

Injuries Galore

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

The hits keep coming.

Oregon is already without top corner Ifo Ekpre-Olomu against an elite offense due to injury.

Now the team will be without star wideout Devon Allen, too, per Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports.

"Devon Allen, the fastest man in college football and the player Oregon coaches have called their most consistent wideout, is expected to miss the national title game, a source told FOX Sports after the Rose Bowl Thursday night," he wrote.

Allen, the owner of 41 catches for 684 yards and seven touchdowns this year, is also a key component on special teams as a returner.

Both facets of the Ducks' approach now change. The onus of production will continue to fall on the shoulders of freshman Darren Carrington as a result, although his seven grabs for 165 yards and two scores against Florida State suggest he is ready for the task.

The Mimic Game 

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Meyer's ability to squeeze the absolute most out of whoever lines up at quarterback centers on a simple, familiar strategy.

Chip Kelly's, of course.

Meyer recently spoke about lessons learned from Kelly, the former Oregon coach who now holds the same position with the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I just like their approach," Meyer said, per George Schroeder of USA Today. "When I went out there, I brought back with me that there's an unbelievable culture. This is the way they do their business. Everyone is aligned. I brought that back to our place."

Thanks to sheer talent, groomed by Meyer's infatuation with speed, tempo control and balance, Ohio State boasts an offense that can play from behind or jump out in front of the Ducks and never look back.

Look at the game against Alabama. Elliott put on a show with his 20 totes, but Jones still attempted 35 passes and ran another 17 times against the nation's sixth-ranked defense. Meyer's offense even turned the ball over three times and posted 42 points.

It should not come as a surprise considering Meyer's offense ranks fifth nationally in scoring (45.0 points per game), just three spots behind Oregon (47.2 PPG).

The inspiration behind the attack is noteworthy, though. Any notion that Oregon is the only offensive powerhouse in the title game needs to go out the window in a hurry.

Betting information courtesy of Odds Shark. Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.