Sixteen months after Ryan Day asked where Lou Holtz is right now, Ohio State will play Notre Dame again with a national championship on the line.
After facing Notre Dame in the regular season in both 2022 and 2023, Ohio State will conclude the 2024 season by playing the Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Ohio State will be looking for its seventh straight win against the Fighting Irish, who it’s beaten six straight times dating back to 1995. The Buckeyes have a 6-2 all-time record against Notre Dame with the Fighting Irish earning their only wins over Ohio State in 1935 and 1936.
The Buckeyes earned their most recent win over Notre Dame in dramatic fashion, grinding out a 17-14 win over the Fighting Irish in South Bend last season when Chip Trayanum scored a game-winning 1-yard touchdown with just one second left on the clock. That win prompted what might be the most famous soundbite of Ryan Day’s coaching career when Day said “I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now!” in a postgame interview with NBC, referencing the former Notre Dame coach who had questioned Ohio State’s toughness during the week leading up to the game.
TELL EM, COACH! pic.twitter.com/Se7zs18oHO
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 24, 2023
The first-ever national championship game in the 12-team playoff era will pit the No. 7 seed in the bracket (Notre Dame) against the No. 8 seed in the bracket (Ohio State), with both teams already winning three CFP games to get to this point. Ohio State is making its first national championship game appearance since it suffered a 52-24 loss to Alabama in the 2021 CFP national championship game, while Notre Dame is making its first national championship game appearance since it suffered a 42-14 loss to Alabama in the 2013 BCS national championship game.
The 2025 CFP national championship game will kick at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 and will be televised by ESPN.
