Ohio State wins ninth national championship, defeating Notre Dame

A 33-yard field goal from Jayden Fielding is good with 26 seconds to go. Ohio State leads by 11. Seconds go to

Facing third-and-long, Ohio State went to Jeremiah Smith for the first time in the second half. The long pass from Will Howard was complete for 57 yards, giving the Buckeyes a first down at the Irish’s 9-yard line as the game reached the two-minute timeout.

The Irish have gotten this within eight.

Riley Leonard finds Jaden Greathouse for a 30-yard touchdown and the Irish have life.

Two point conversion coming up.

Notre Dame has less than six and a half minutes left to make this a game, trailing 31-15.

Two holding penalties and a 30-yard reception by Jaden Greathouse kept Notre Dame’s drive alive. But the Ohio State defense comes through again in the red zone as Mitch Jeter’s 27-yard field goal attempt bounces off the upright and is no good.

Ohio State still leads 31-15 with 9:27 to go in the game.

The Irish forces Emeka Egbuka to cough up the football and Notre Dame recovers. It’s the first Ohio State fumble since the Penn State game.

Notre Dame feels like it has some life getting the ball back, down 16 points with 14:45 to go in the fourth.

Jaden Greathouse gives Irish fans some hope after scoring a 34-yard touchdown on the pass from Riley Leonard.

Notre Dame goes for two and converts with the throwaway toss to Jeremiyah Love.

Ohio State still leading 31-15 with 3:03 left in the third quarter.

Notre Dame’s quarterback goes down for the first time tonight with Sonny Styles credited with the tackle for a loss of 11 yards.

But the Irish drive is still alive after a pass interference call on the following play against Davison Igbinosun, advancing the ball 15 yards and moving the chains.

Trailing by multiple touchdowns, Notre Dame took a chance on fourth down with a fake punt by Steve Angeli’s pass to Jordan Faison fell incomplete and the Buckeyes get the ball back at the opposing 37 yard line.

Chance for Ohio State to really put the national championship away on this upcoming drive.

It’s a hat trick for Quinshon Judkins. After a 70-yard run on the second play of the half, the Ole Miss transfer scores his third touchdown of the night with a one-yard run.

Five play, 75 yard drive in 2:14 gives Ohio State a 28-7 lead with 12:46 to go.

Analysis: Notre Dame needed to limit the explosive plays to have a chance but that big run by Judkins may have just sealed the deal unless the Irish can respond quickly.

Ohio State leads Notre Dame 21-7 after 30 minutes in Atlanta, with the Buckeyes set to take the ball when the second half begins.

The Buckeyes are leading the Irish in nearly every offensive statistic.

Total Yards: Ohio State 231, Notre Dame 93

Passing Yards: Ohio State 144, Notre Dame 46

First Downs: Ohio State 15, Notre Dame 6

Third Downs: Ohio State 6-6, Notre Dame 2-6

And Will Howard was nearly perfect: going 14-15 for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

Quinshon Judkins strikes again, this time a six-yard strike from Will Howard, who’s got his second touchdown throw of the night.

The Buckeyes take a 21-7 lead with 27 seconds to go. It’s worth noting they get the ball back to start the second half.

Members of the Blue Jackets wore Ohio State jerseys on their way to playing the Islanders tonight.

Irish unable to get anything going on that last drive, which included Mitchell Evans running into the ball after the snap causing it to fall to the ground on third down.

Ohio State gets the ball back and will start from their own 20 yard line.

During that last scoring drive, Emeka Egbuka made his 202nd reception which makes him Ohio State’s all-time reception leader, passing KJ Hill (2016-19).

Quinshon Judkins goes nine yards into the endzone, juking his way in to give Ohio State its first lead of the ball game.

Ten plays, 76 yards and 6:06 on that scoring drive. Buckeyes lead 14-7 with 6:15 to go in the first half.

Notre Dame was plagued by back-to-back penalties, including a holding call, forcing the Irish to punt it away.

Caleb Downs with a fair catch at their own 34-yard line. A holding penalty against the Buckeyes will back them up to the 24-yard line.

The Buckeyes answer back on their opening drive as Will Howard connects with Jeremiah Smith, who found an easy path to the endzone on that eight-yard score.

We’re tied 7-7 with 14:10 to go in the half.

Apparently the opening drive took a lot out of the Notre Dame quarterback. Per the broadcast, Leonard threw up when he got back to the sidelines.

Riley Leonard setting the tone on this opening drive. Featured six first downs, 18 plays over 75 yards. The Irish QB runs it in for the one yard touchdown and Notre Dame strikes first.

And that opening drive ate up a lot of time. Nine minutes and 45 seconds.

Jayden Fielding kicks things off with a touchback. Irish will start from their own 25 yard line. 60 minutes to determine a champion.

With Archie Griffin, Jerome Bettis and Dr. Bernice A. King presiding, Ohio State has won the toss and will defer. The Irish will get the ball first.

We are moments away. Final game of the season.

While individual Buckeyes may have their own sources of motivation to win tonight, the overall consensus among the players is that they want to win for Ryan Day.

“As a team. We faced adversity this year, but I don’t think no one faced one person who didn’t coach day. So, I mean, he’s my coach, man. He’s my leader,” Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom said. “I’ll do anything for him. So to go out there and try to win this for him, it means everything.”

The OSU head coach was met with an avalanche of criticism a month ago in the wake of the loss to Michigan. But the Buckeyes took the backlash personally and have rewritten the narrative with their run in the inaugural 12-team playoff. More here.

Ryan Day: “The fact that these are both, you know, Midwest programs, large, you know, fan base, alumni base, you know, have an opportunity to recruit nationally. I think there’s a lot in common there. And certainly everybody on our our program has a lot of respect for Notre Dame.”

Marcus Freeman: “Every season you go into the season one and be national champions. And, you know, obviously Ohio State has achieved that goal in more recent years,” Freeman said. “But those are the expectations to be at the mountaintop. And I think there’s not a tremendous amount of programs that can truly say that every year.”

More from the coaches’ final press conference before the game here.

– Monday marks just the second time Ohio State is playing a postseason game in Atlanta. The first came in 2022 when the Buckeyes fell in heartbreaking fashion, 42-41 to Georgia in a playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Coach Ryan Day and his team will hope to squash those tough memories.

– The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish have produced over 1,000 NFL draft picks and 24 Pro Football Hall of Famers combined, while each school has had seven Heisman Trophy winners.

– More facts here.

The band is ready, and so are the Buckeyes.

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard in Atlanta