8th seed ohio Buckeyes beat No. 7 seed notre dame fighting irish They won the College Football Playoff National Championship 34-23 on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Here are six key takeaways from this game.
A great first drive from Notre Dame gave me hope
Notre Dame got the ball first and made the most of it. They stormed out on their first drive and held the ball for most of the first quarter. Notre Dame's first drive was 19 plays long, with the drive lasting 9 minutes and 45 seconds. The drive was reminiscent of those seen at Army, with Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard carrying the ball nine times for 34 yards, including a rushing score from a yard out. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, the offense stalled for a while and was unable to score on their next four drives.
Will Howard open a clinic?
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard got off to an incredibly strong start, completing his first 13 passes. Howard shredded Notre Dame's men's coverage. With little pass rush, Howard was able to make a lot of perfect deep and intermediate throws. Howard completed 17 of 21 for 231 yards and two passing touchdowns. Howard also had a big leg hit, rushing for 58 yards. With Ohio State leading 31-23 with less than three minutes left, Howard sent Notre Dame one final dagger via a beautiful 56-yard pass to Jeremiah Smith. In situations where he had to, Howard performed admirably almost every time on college football's biggest stage. Howard is believed to have been selected on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, but after a series of impressive performances in the postseason, those claims may be unfounded.
Ohio State's onslaught was impressive.
Notre Dame ranked second in passing yards, 41st in rushing defense and entered the national championship. The Buckeyes took note of this and leaned heavily into the run game. Ohio State had Quinshon Judkins rushing for 100 yards and two rushing scores on just 11 carries, totaling 214 yards rushing. Will Howard showed some good passing, but Ohio State played strong ball in addition to a vertical passing attack, making the overall attack impossible to stop.
Tip of the hat to Chip Kelly and Ryan Day
Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was heavily criticized for his game plan in a 13-10 loss to Michigan, and Ryan Day was heavily criticized by the public after the Buckeyes lost their fourth straight game to the Wolverines. Now everything is forgiven. Kelly was one step ahead of Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden all night, scoring on the Buckeyes' first five drives of the game (31 points) and 9-of-12 on third downs. It showed that he had achieved success. Ohio State gained 445 yards of total offense against the No. 9 total defense (298.3 yards) and scored 34 points against the No. 2 scoring defense (14.3 points per game). Ryan Day has long been perceived as a great coach who fails in big games, but now that perception will be erased.
Notre Dame's national championship woes continue
The Fighting Irish haven't won a national championship since 1988, and the earliest that can change that is next season in 2026. At just 39 years old, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is preparing his program for future success, but that may not be possible. Please help ease this feeling of loss. For much of the game, the offense was unable to regain momentum and the defense was unable to stop Ohio State's offense, which proved to be too much to overcome. The final score wasn't as embarrassing as it was in the 2012 National Championship, when the Fighting Irish lost 42-14, but they still have work to do physically against the big dogs if they want to advance. It's clear there's more left. Another national championship trophy.
Is the Big Ten currently the best conference in college football?
The Big Ten has now won the national championship for the second year in a row. First Michigan State and now Ohio State. It's too early to tell if the Big Ten's recent dominance can continue, but they certainly prove that the entire college football landscape can change quickly in the NIL era .
