ATLANTA — Ohio State scored on its first five possessions and beat Notre Dame 34-23 in the College Football Playoff championship game to complete a remarkable run in the inaugural 12-team tournament.
The national championship is Ohio State’s first since 2014 and ninth overall.
Less than two months after hitting the low point of coach Ryan Day’s tenure with another rivalry loss to Michigan, the Buckeyes find themselves back atop the Bowl Subdivision thanks to near-perfect quarterback play, an explosive streak on offense and a run defense. controlled the line of scrimmage after a slow start.
The star was quarterback Will Howard, a senior transfer from Kansas State who had one of the most efficient performances by a passer in title game history. He set a playoff record with 13 consecutive completions to open the game, not allowing an incompletion until he missed running back TreVeyon Henderson on a swinging pass with just over a minute left in the first half.
Playing against the nation’s second-best defense in yards allowed per game, he went 17 of 21 for 231 yards and two touchdowns along with 57 yards on 16 carries.
Another starter was running back Quinshon Judkins, a transfer from Mississippi who had 100 rushing yards, 21 receiving yards and three combined touchdowns. Freshman running back Jeremiah Smith had 88 yards and a score. Defensive lineman JT Tuimoloau had five tackles, two for loss and a sack.
For the Fighting Irish, quarterback Riley Leonard completed 22 of 31 attempts for 255 yards and two passes for 40 yards and a score on the ground. Leonard’s rushing touchdown was his 17th of the year, setting the program single-season record for a quarterback.
Wide receiver Jaden Greathouse continued his strong playoff run with a team-high 128 receiving yards and caught both of Leonard’s scores. But running back Jeremiah Love and Jadarian Price had no impact, combining for just 16 yards on just seven carries.
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Overall, OSU had 445 yards on 7.2 yards per play. Notre Dame finished with 308 yards on 5.3 yards per punt.
Notre Dame put together an epic 18-play, 75-yard drive on the game’s opening possession that featured a pair of fourth-down conversions, chewed up nearly 10 minutes of clock and ended with a 2-yard run by Leonard. The drive was the longest by a total play in playoff championship game history and featured only one gain of more than 10 yards, a 14-yard completion to tight end Eli Raridon.
The Buckeyes’ most explosive offense had an immediate response, going 75 yards on 11 plays with three gains of at least 12 yards and scoring on an 8-yard pass to Smith to tie the score at 7-7 with 14:10 to play. played. in the second quarter.
That move seemed to set the stage for a game that began to steadily slip away from the Fighting Irish.
After Notre Dame committed two penalties and went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, the Buckeyes took over at their own 24-yard line and needed 10 plays to take the lead. Judkins’ 9-yard run made it 14-7 with 6:15 left in the first half.
Once again, the shell-shocked Irish failed to gain a single lead and were beaten again. Starting at their own 20-yard line, the Buckeyes had two key conversions by Howard to Smith and wide receiver Brandon Inniss to set up his 6-yard touchdown pass to Judkins. That gave Ohio State a 21-7 lead at the break.
The knockout blow came right out of the gate to open the second half. On the second play of the Buckeyes’ first drive, Judkins drove 70 yards to Notre Dame’s 5-yard line, weaving through the line of scrimmage and then breaking toward the left sideline as he approached midfield. Three plays later, Judkins hit a field goal to make it 28-7 just over two minutes into the half.
That made Ohio State the first team in championship game history to score touchdowns on its first four possessions.
Notre Dame then ran a fake punt on fourth-and-2 from its own 33-yard line, but the pass to the right side by backup quarterback Steve Angeli was incomplete. The Buckeyes capitalized on a 45-yard field goal by kicker Jayden Fielding to take a 31-7 lead midway through the third quarter.
The Irish rallied with a nice scoring drive and two-point conversion to make it 31-15 entering the fourth quarter, and then after recovering a fumble by Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka less than a minute into the last had a chance to make it a one-possession game.
But after Notre Dame advanced to the Buckeyes’ 9-yard line, Leonard threw incomplete on third down to set up kicker Mitch Jeter for a 27-yard attempt that wound up the left upright. Notre Dame was one of the worst shooting teams in the country entering Monday night, ranking 128th in the FBS by making just 57.7% of its 26 attempts.
The Irish still wouldn’t go away. After forcing the Buckeyes’ first down, Notre Dame connected on a 30-yard pass to Greathouse and then converted the two-point attempt on a trick pass by receiver Jordan Faison to make it 31-23 with 4:15 left.
The Buckeyes were able to close out the game with one of the most memorable finishes in program history. Facing third-and-10 from his own 34-yard line with 2:45 left, Howard pulled up to pass and arc to the right sideline to Smith, who made the catch and ran. to the Notre Dame 10 yards. line for a 57-yard gain.
Fielding made a 33-yard attempt with 26 seconds left for the final points of the game.
Although the loss to the Wolverines continues to linger over the schedule, the Buckeyes’ unmatched march to the postseason will earn this team a place in FBS history.
While the four-team playoff, which ran from 2014-23, forced teams to win twice to bring home the national championship, the expanded field that debuted this season made the Buckeyes the first to win four postseason games.
OSU opened with a 42-17 rout of Tennessee at home in the first round of the playoffs. The Buckeyes then avenged a regular-season loss to Big Ten champion Oregon, taking a 34-0 halftime lead and cruising to a 41-21 victory. Defensive end Jack Sawyer’s long punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter secured a 28-14 victory against Texas in the Cotton Bowl and sent the Buckeyes into the game with the Irish.
Monday night’s win also eases the pressure on Day, who is under intense scrutiny for the Buckeyes’ losing streak against Michigan. Day becomes the fifth Ohio State coach to deliver a national championship, following Paul Brown (one), Woody Hayes (five), Jim Tressel (one) and his predecessor Urban Meyer (one).
