Five Things: Ohio State Fends Off Notre Dame Rally to Win CFP National Championship

By Chris Lauderback on January 21, 2025 at 10:10 am
Ryan Day
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Ohio State held off Notre Dame, 34-23, last night in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta to become the first national champion of the 12-team College Football Playoff era.

The victory capped a four-game gauntlet that saw the Buckeyes bounce back from a regular season finale loss to Michigan to blow out Tennessee and Oregon before beating Texas, 28-14, in a semifinal showdown to set up the clash with Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish. 

Speaking of the former Buckeye, Freeman's decision to go for a fake punt that didn't work out seemed like a worse option than leaving his offense on the field for a 4th-and-2 snap, and opting to attempt a field goal on 4th-and-Goal from the OSU 9 while down 31-15 with 9:34 left in regulation was also a debatable choice in what became an 11-point loss for the Irish. The kick doinked and fell harmlessly to the turf but even if Mitch Jeter had converted, the Irish would've still required two touchdown drives to win. 

But make no mistake, the Buckeyes proved to be the better team over the course of a fierce 60-minute battle, paving the way for Ryan Day to record his first national championship and the 9th in Ohio State history. 

After Notre Dame marched 75 yards for a touchdown on the game's opening possession, Ohio State answered with 31 straight points to own a 31-7 cushion with 7:52 left in the third quarter before things got a bit dodgy. To Freeman's credit, Notre Dame scored two touchdowns to trim OSU's lead to 31-23 with a little over four minutes left but Day and the Buckeyes didn't panic as the offense marched 61 yards in nine plays capped by a 33-yard Jayden Fielding field goal giving Ohio State a 34-23 lead with just 26 seconds left. The highlight of the drive was a dime from Howard to a streaking Jeremiah Smith on 3rd-and-11 as Notre Dame brought the house in a last gasp.

After Fielding's kick split the uprights, it was celebration city. 

And with that, here are Five Things from a magical night in the ATL. 

EVERYTHING COMES FULL CIRCLE 

Following Kyle McCord's decision to leave the program after last year's loss to Michigan, Ryan Day knew he needed a mobile quarterback with off-the-charts leadership skills that he could further develop as a passer. Such a quarterback could prove to be the missing piece on a roster built to win a championship. 

Enter Will Howard. 

All season long, Howard provided exemplary leadership and accuracy while typically flashing the decision-making needed to guide the offense. Entering the playoffs after a poor performance in the final regular season game, Howard kicked into another gear, becoming a Buckeye legend in the process. 

Last night against the Irish, Howard did it all as he completed 17-of-21 throws for 231 yards and two touchdowns while carrying it a season-high 16 times for 57 yards. He was incredible on third down, completing 4-of-6 passes for 102 yards, moving the chains with each completion. He also ran it five times on third down, moving the chains on the first four with his lone failure to convert coming on Ohio State's last series when it was focused on running clock more than moving chains. 

Howard's first touchdown toss was a biggie as his 8-yard connection with Jeremiah Smith didn't just tie the game at 7-7, it answered Notre Dame's gritty opening touchdown drive that went 18 plays and 75 yards, putting the OSU defense on its heels early. His second scoring strike, a 6-yarder to Quinshon Judkins after buying time with his feet, capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive giving OSU a 21-7 lead with just 27 seconds before halftime. 

After Notre Dame cut Ohio State's once 31-7 lead to 31-23 with 4:15 left in regulation, Howard and the offense trotted back onto the field looking to put the game away. The possession started promising after Howard ran for 8 yards on 2nd-and-7 to move the chains and burn clock but three plays later OSU faced a 3rd-and-11 and the likelihood it might have to give the Irish the football for one last drive with a chance to tie. Instead, Howard read the Irish defense and launched a perfect 56-yard strike down the right sideline to Smith to the ND 10.

Four plays later, Jayden Fielding converted a 33-yard field goal putting OSU in front 31-23 with just 26 seconds left. Victory was now assured. 

Howard's offensive MVP performance capped an incredible 4-game CFP run in which he completed 75.2% of this throws for an average of 287.5 yards per game (1,150 total) with eight touchdowns against two picks. He added another 95 yards on the ground and avoided numerous sacks via NFL-level pocket presence and a fearlessness of taking off and earning tough yards. Completing 81% of his throws last night, Howard finished the 2024-25 slate with a single-season school-record 73% completion rate. 

In this new era of college football, it might be tough for old heads to reconcile some of the new realities - one of those being that a transfer with just one season to offer the Buckeyes will now go down as one of the best leaders, gamers and signal-callers in school history. 

Everything comes full circle, indeed. 

Q SCORE(S)

Quinshon Judkins was a one-man wrecking crew for Ohio State last night as he capped three-straight scoring drives with touchdowns, turning what was a 7-7 game early in the second quarter to a 28-7 OSU lead early in the third. 

His first score, a powerful 9-yard scamper off left tackle, gave Ohio State its first lead, 14-7, with 6:15 before halftime.

His second touchdown came via the air as he hauled in a 6-yard floater from Howard after Will used his feet and awareness to buy time in the pocket before finding a wide open Judkins, pushing the OSU lead to 21-7 with less than a minute left in the first half. 

Getting the ball out of halftime and looking to step on Notre Dame's neck, Judkins took OSU's second snap of the half 70 yards to the Irish 5-yard line to set up 1st-and-Goal.

Three plays later, Judkins plunged 1-yard for his third touchdown of the night, giving the Buckeyes a 28-7 cushion with 12:46 left in the third quarter. 

Judkins recorded 13 touches for 121 yards on the night (9.3 per touch) and his three touchdowns pushed his 4-game CFP total to seven. 

Not only did Judkins do his own damage but his ability to carry the run game load, often on physical runs between the tackles, helped keep TreVeyon Henderson fresh.  And we all know what happens when Henderson is feeling fast and healthy - more on that in a minute. 

For the season, the duo followed the blueprint. Keep each other fresh and produce. With Judkins tallying 100 rushing yard versus the Irish and Henderson recording 49, both eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season, becoming just the second duo in OSU history to accomplish the feat. The other two? Archie Griffin and Pete Johnson in 1975. Solid company. (Quarterback Braxton Miller and tailback Carlos Hyde also turned the trick in 2013.) 

THE DEFENSE RESTS

After three straight largely dominant efforts in the CFP from the Silver Bullets, the group had a feast or famine outing against a gritty Notre Dame offense. 

The Irish offense produced the second-most points versus Ohio State this season and Riley Leonard threw for a season-high 255 yards (and 2 TD) with 209 of those coming in the second half as Notre Dame fought back from that 28-7 deficit to trail just 31-23 with 4:15 left in regulation. The OSU secondary allowed wide receiver Jaden Greathouse to tally 128 yards and two touchdowns while Davison Igbinosun was flagged for both holding and pass interference and Jordan Hancock also got caught for holding (although the refs assigned it to Caleb Downs). 

The second half issues defending the pass, some of it likely the result of nursing a big lead, somewhat overshadowed a strong day stopping the run. Leonard was a problem early, running nine times for 34 yards including a 1-yard scoring burst giving the Irish a 7-0 lead before Ohio State's offense saw the field. Leonard carried it eight more times the rest of the night and managed just six yards. Similarly, Notre Dame's tailback tandem of Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price totaled a mere 16 yards on seven rushes. Overall, Notre Dame managed 53 rushing yards on 2.0 yards per carry and even when adjusted for sacks, the Irish still only generated 66 yards on 2.8 per try. 

Not counting a 1-play possession to end the first half and a 2-play possession to end the game, Ohio State forced two 3-and-outs and a 4-play turnover on downs. On the flip side however, the Bullets allowed four drives of at least 70 yards with three resulting in touchdowns and one culminating in a missed field goal (and I still have no idea why Freeman didn't go for it on 4th-and-Goal from the OSU 9, given the circumstances). 

THOSE WHO STAY...

Each season, Ohio State players have three goals: beat Michigan, win the Big Ten, and win the national championship. 

After three years in the program, Ohio State's 2021 recruiting class had gone 0-for-9 on those goals and following the 30-24 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor last season, the assumption was many of the key players in the class would opt to turn pro (or hell a few might even transfer if a better NIL offer presented itself, given the current incentive climate). 

Jack Sawyer was the first core member of the class to announce his return - the local kid not only wanted to achieve all of those annual program goals, he wanted to come back out of loyalty to his head coach. And holy smokes what an absolute legend Sawyer became thanks to outstanding leadership and production to match, particularly down the stretch and in Ohio State's biggest games. His 83-yard scoop and score to lock up the win over Texas stands as the signature play from the CFP title run. 

But it wasn't just Sawyer. So many of those 2021 guys stepped up. Emeka Egbuka leaves OSU as the school's all-time receptions leader and went for over 1,000 receiving yards for a second time. TreVeyon Henderson offered great leadership and production to match as he averaged 103.5 total yards across four CFP games with five touchdowns. Gee Scott Jr. grew up a ton during his career and this season in particular, made some tough grabs and fought his ass off for important yards after catch on short underneath throws, like the one setting up Howard's 4th-and-2 power run conversion versus Texas. Josh Fryar quietly improved at right tackle all year long. Donovan Jackson gave his heart and soul to this team, moving from left guard to left tackle, solidifying the most important position on the offensive line after the Buckeyes lost Josh Simmons in the first Oregon game. 

JT Tuimoloau posted the 4th-most TFL by a Buckeye in a single-season with 21.5 and the 5th-most sacks with 12.5, pairing with Sawyer to put opposing edge blockers in hell. Tyleik Williams looked like a guy who will play on Sundays for a long time and Ty Hamilton was steady while doing a ton of dirty work to keep guys like Cody Simon clean. And how about Simon? He turned in an incredible playoff run in his own right, capped with defensive MVP honors last night after doing the same in the Rose Bowl win over Oregon. His 112 tackles led the team this season. Denzel Burke had his ups and downs but he kept swinging, saving some of his best play for the CFP run. Jordan Hancock was underrated during his entire OSU career but just kept showing up, at whatever position asked, and played great football. Lathan Ransom - how about his ascension over the last few years? 

This 2021 group, beyond production, made sure "The Brotherhood" wasn't just lip service. Those guys built a bond with each other, Day and the entire staff, and despite going 0-for-11 on their goals before this season's CFP started, just kept swinging and making sure no teammates went rogue when times were tough. They are all now legends. As Sawyer promised, they are now Forever. 

IMMORTALITY 

Paul Brown. Woody Hayes. Jim Tressel. Urban Meyer. Ryan Day. 

Those are the five head coaches in Ohio State history to win a national championship. Only Woody won more than one (5). Ohio State started playing football in 1890. 

As such, Day, after enduring his worst loss as a head coach just 52 days ago, is now in rarified air and I couldn't be happier for the guy.

He's imperfect, just like every other coach in college football history, but he's also selfless, genuine, has an intense care for people, always shoulders the blame, rarely takes any credit - instead deflecting it to his players and coaches, has proven to be a remarkable leader of men, and just picked himself up off the mat and led his team to the most impressive run any national championship team has ever produced. 

In addition to churning out the four straight CFP wins, he became the first head coach in college football history to beat five teams ranked inside the top-5 of the AP Poll at the time of the game in a single season. Day's program took down No. 3 Penn State, No. 5 Indiana, No. 1 Oregon, No. 4 Texas and No. 3 Notre Dame en route to the national title. 

Welcome to OSU football immortality, Coach Day. You damn sure earned it. 

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