Ryan Day has given the Buckeyes a day to remember.
Ohio State on Monday won the national championship after taking down the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-23. It is the program's ninth claimed title and the first since the 2014-15 season.
The Fighting Irish opened with a lengthy drive that resulted in a touchdown, going 18 plays for 75 yards with Riley Leonard taking it home from a yard out. The drive took off over nine minutes from the clock.
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But Ohio State responded with back-to-back touchdown drives of its own, with Jeremiah Smith walking in a pass from eight yards and Quinshon Judkins rushing home from nine yards, which began his scoring outburst.
Ohio State scored 31 unanswered at one point in the third quarter, with Judkins catching a six-yard touchdown in the second and running in from a yard out early in the second half. Leonard and Co. just couldn't keep up.
THE HAT TRICK FOR QUINSHON JUDKINS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/LNZRnbA7w3
— ESPN (@espn) January 21, 2025
But the momentum slowly crept into Notre Dame's hands after Leonard found Jaden Greathouse for a 34-yard score to cap off a 10-play, 75-yard drive in the third. On the ensuing drive, Emeka Egbuka fumbled for Ohio State and Notre Dame recovered, but the eventual field goal from Mitch Jeter didn't fall from just 27 yards.
NCAAF
Still, Notre Dame forced a punt and rattled off another Leonard to Greathouse connection in six plays to narrow the gap to 31-23. This time the two combined for a 30-yard score.
WHAT A CATCH 👀
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) January 21, 2025
Jaden Greathouse is DIFFERENT
📺 ESPN #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/GX48wuZzPg
With the ball back to the Buckeyes, Will Howard found Jeremiah Smith for a massive 56-yard gain, which allowed them to run down the clock and tack on a field goal with under 30 seconds to go.
Howard ended the game throwing for 231 yards, two touchdowns and no picks on 17 of 21 completions, with Judkins reaching the 100-yard rushing mark and three total scores. Smith hauled in 88 receiving yards, anchored by the aforementioned 56-yarder.
The 23-year-old Howard claimed the offensive MVP award while linebacker Cody Simon took home the trophy on the defensive side. Simon led the Buckeyes with eight tackles (four solo), including a tackle for loss.
Leonard, on the other hand, threw for 255 yards, two touchdowns and no picks on 22 of 31 completions to go with his opening rushing score. He ran for 40 yards on 17 carries, leading the team's department with Jadarian Price having just 13 yards on three carries and Jeremiyah love going for only three yards on four tries. Greathouse improved his stock with 128 receiving yards and the two scores on six catches.
Ohio State, which claimed eight national championships prior to this, last won it all in 2014 under then-head coach Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes last made the title game in 2020, but were routed by Alabama 52-24 with Day in charge.
The Buckeyes are also the first champions of the 12-team College Football Playoff era. Their only losses this season were to Oregon 32-31 and Michigan, last year's national champion, 13-10. Day, 45, also won the first national title of his career.
Ohio State started the CFP with a first-round win over Tennessee 42-17 before getting its revenge over the Ducks 41-21 in a thrilling Rose Bowl slate. The Buckeyes then triumphed over Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl to reach the ultimate stage.
Notre Dame has 11 claimed national championships but hasn't won one since 1988, when Lou Holtz was the head coach. Holtz was seen in attendance for the game. The Fighting Irish made the 2012-13 title game and lost to Alabama 42-14, but all of their wins that year and in 2013 were later vacated due to use of ineligible players.
The Fighting Irish had just one loss entering this title game, coming to Northern Illinois 16-14 in a shocker during the second week of the regular season. They beat Indiana 27-17 in the first round, Georgia 23-10 in the Sugar Bowl and Penn State 27-24 in the Orange Bowl.