CFP National Championship: Ohio State beats Notre Dame 34-23

ATLANTA (AP) — The pass seemed to be on hold forever. Did it feel like seven weeks? Did it seem like 10 years to you?

What a great debate for Ohio State fans to have forever.

When that tear of a throw of Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard on third-and-11 finally landed, light as a feather, in the hands of receiver Jeremiah Smith late in the fourth quarter Monday, Ohio State had locked up what would be a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame for its sixth national title and first in a decade.

It was that 56-yard gain that stifled a feverish Notre Dame comeback and made the Buckeyes the champion of the sport’s first 12-team playoff, just as they were champions of its first four-team tournament ago ten years.

“They were running man coverage and I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to drop that and let him play on that,'” Howard said of a play that seemed about 100 years removed from the once-defining program from Ohio State. Three meters and a cloud of dust.

It was a victory that almost no one believed possible just seven weeks ago — on Nov. 30 — when a 13-10 loss to Michigan led to a near-riot on the field and questions as to whether coach Ryan Day would keep his job when the schedule flipped.

“It’s a great story about a group of guys who just overcame some really tough situations, and to the point where a lot of people shut us out (they) just kept swinging and fighting,” Day said.

The Buckeyes were on cruise control, then suddenly ND came to life

Perhaps it’s all the sweeter because of how it played out in a packed stadium in the middle of SEC country that looked like a Christmas tree — Ohio State fans from one side in red, those of Notre-Dame on the other in green.

Trailing 31-7, Notre Dame scored two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to make it a one-score game late in the fourth quarter. The stadium camera found legendary Irish coach Lou Holtz in his luxury box, and he ignored all those booing Buckeye fans and gave a thumbs up.

But Notre-Dame’s time was running out. After stopping the Buckeyes on their first two plays and using their timeouts, the Irish put Christian Gray – whose interception concluded Notre Dame’s semifinal victory on Penn State – in single coverage on Smith.

Smith got behind Gray on the right sideline and Howard dropped his best pass of the season into the hands of the second-team All-American.

He made a basket that started the celebration in earnest and also helped Ohio State. cover the 8 1/2 point gap at BetMGM Sports Betting.

“It was do or die, it was that kind of down,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “He’s a hell of a player. It is difficult to cover.

Howard and Judkins make the transfer portal profitable for Ohio State

Howard, a success story from the Kansas State transfer portal, threw for 231 yards and two scores, but nothing will beat passing to Smith with everything on the line.

The receiver, who had been turned away by Texas in the semifinals and then pretty quiet for most of that game, finally broke free from the kind of play he’s been making all year. He finished with five catches for 88 yards.

“We felt at the end we wanted to give Jeremiah that chance,” Day said. “We really hadn’t thrown it all night, but I said, ‘You know what, let’s be aggressive, do this and put it in play.'”

Ohio State didn’t really look like a team that needed to take chances after scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions and then adding a field goal on its fifth.

When Quinshon Judkins (100 yards, 11 carries, three TDs), a Mississippi transfer who highlighted Ohio State’s savvy use of the ever-changing gate, ran a 70-yard run to set up the score that brought the score at 28-7, this game was reviewed.

It wasn’t, and now Freeman will have to answer some tough questions — one about the failed fake punt in the third quarter that turned into a field goal for a 31-7 lead; the other on sending Mitch Jeter for a short field goal attempt while down 16 and facing fourth-and-goal from the 9. It might have looked like a better decision if Jeter’s kick n had not resonated on the left pillar.

“I know it’s still a two-point game, but you have a better chance of getting 14 points than 16 points,” Freeman said.

Ohio State dominated most of the night and throughout the playoffs

In reality, Ohio State was the better team. The Buckeyes outgained Notre Dame 445 yards to 308. Howard completed his first 13 passes and was never really stopped. Ohio State scored a total of once.

The Buckeyes played four games in the new expanded playoffs — what good timing for Ohio State that the tournament had grown to a dozen teams in a year, it didn’t even play for the Big Ten title — with one score average of 36-21. .

Ohio State was eighth, but the rankings were almost meaningless. The worst seed won every game in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and the Buckeyes dominated in this title showdown between No. 7 and No. 8.

A great end to a season that almost got away

That puts to rest, for now, any angst over that 13-10 loss at Michigan in November — Ohio State’s fourth straight in the series — which ended in a scuffle after Wolverine players attempted to plant a flag in midfield.

The whole scene left many people, both in and out of Buckeye circles, thinking that Day, in his sixth season, had outlived his usefulness on a campus that hadn’t tasted a title in a decade.

Instead, the Ohio State marching band can dot the “I” next time with the national title trophy. And Day can join a list of title-winning coaches with Urban Meyer (2014), Jim Tressel (2002), Woody Hayes (“Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust”) and Paul Brown (who became the namesake of the (NFL coach). Cleveland Browns).

Additionally, Day’s winning percentage of .873 before the game was third among coaches with more than 50 games — one place behind none other than Notre Dame legend Knute Rockne himself.

Notre Dame’s loss means college football has still never seen a black coach win the national title. Freeman was trying to become the first.

Instead, a different kind of story. It was the first time the Big Ten had won back-to-back titles since 1942. Last year’s champion was Michigan, which was watching this one at home, but nonetheless played a special role in redemption history Buckeyes that almost no one saw coming.

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