ATLANTA — Ohio State had nine third-down conversions on Monday, but only one will be remembered as the play that essentially cemented the Buckeyes as champions.
Eighth-seeded Ohio State had to overcome a lot to put itself within minutes of a title — a one-point loss to then-No. 3 Oregon back on Oct. 12 and an embarrassing setback against unranked Michigan to close the regular season that had Buckeyes fans calling for coach Ryan Day to be fired.
So that’s why Ohio State didn’t panic when No. 7 seed Notre Dame rallied in the second half, allowing the Buckeyes to escape with a 34-23 victory in the College Football Playoff title game.
Ohio State (14-2) put the game away when quarterback Will Howard found Jeremiah Smith on third-and-11 for a 56-yard gain with 2:29 to go. Four plays later, Jayden Fielding made a 33-yard field goal with 26 seconds left to complete the scoring, and the partying began for the Buckeyes.
“Ultimately, we’ve got to make the play,” Day said of Smith’s catch. “The protection was excellent by the offensive line, and then the throw by Will, the catch by Jeremiah was special, and again, a huge play in Ohio State history.”
The Fighting Irish (14-2) had pulled within eight with 4:15 remaining after once trailing 31-7.
Quinshon Judkins had two rushing touchdowns and one receiving score and Howard had a near-perfect first half to help Ohio State take control.
“I think we did an unbelievable job on third down and winning the situations,” Howard said. “We talked about it all the time — we have to be the hardest team playing in the country and we’ve got to execute.”
The Buckeyes held their 31-7 lead in the third quarter before Notre Dame rallied on TD receptions of 34 and 30 yards by Jaden Greathouse and a pair of two-point conversions to make it 31-23.
“Not many words you can say when you’ve got a group like that that’s hurting,” Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman told ESPN. “Just told them I love them. So proud to be a part of this season with them.
“There’s a lot of guys that are hurting, but they gave it everything they have. We didn’t get the job done tonight, and we’ve got to figure out why, and there’s reasons for it. But what they did for this school, this football program, and I think for people that watch college football, I think they sent a strong message about being selfless, working your tails off and putting others before yourself.”
Howard was 17-of-21 passing for 231 yards and two touchdowns, Smith had five catches for 88 yards and a score and Judkins rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries.
Ohio State completed a four-game romp through the first 12-team CFP bracket, winning each of its playoff contests by a multi-score margin.
After recording both a receiving touchdown and a rushing TD in the first half, Judkins ran for 70 yards to the Irish 5 on the second play of the third quarter, the longest run in CFP final history. He then carried the ball into the end zone from the 1 three plays later to make it 28-7 Ohio State.
The lead expanded to 31-7 on a 46-yard field goal by Fielding after a Notre Dame fake punt failed.
The Fighting Irish pulled within 31-15 with 3:03 left in the third on a 34-yard scoring reception by Greathouse off a pass from Riley Leonard and a two-point-conversion pass from Leonard to Jeremiyah Love.
The Buckeyes fell behind for the first time in four playoff games when Notre Dame scored on the game’s opening possession, but they responded by scoring on all three of their first-half drives for a 21-7 lead at the break.
Howard set a CFP championship-game record by completing his first 13 passes and was 14-of-15 passing for 144 yards and two TDs in the first half.
Leonard capped an 18-play, 75-yard march with a 1-yard touchdown run on Notre Dame’s first drive. He had nine carries for 34 yards during the series.
“It’s very easy to be a successful quarterback when, first and foremost, your coaches are just setting you up for success. I’ve never been so prepared in my life,” Leonard said.
Ohio State then had scoring drives of 75, 76 and 80 yards using a combined 33 plays and 16:37 of possession.
Leonard wound up completing 22 of 31 passes for 255 yards, and Greathouse made six catches for 128 yards and the two scores.
“The story gets to be told now and it’s a great story about a bunch of guys who have just overcome some really tough situations, and there’s a point where there’s a lot of people that counted us out and we just kept swinging and kept fighting,” Day said. “It’s the reason why you get into coaching is to see guys overcome things, learn life lessons and then reach their dreams.
“This is what happened.”
–Craig Merz, Field Level Media
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