Ohio State defeats Notre Dame 34-23 to win the national championship

On By Littum

ATLANTA — Two months after a stunning loss to their most bitter rival cast doubt on Ohio State’s coach and future, the Buckeyes left no doubt Monday about their place in college football’s hierarchy.

To finish the 2024 season, Ohio State sits alone at the top after its 34-23 win against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship earned the program its ninth national title and its first in a decade.

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard completed 17-for-21 passes for 231 yards and two scores. His 56-yard completion to freshman wideout Jeremiah Smith with 2:45 left in the fourth quarter and Ohio State, clinging to an eight-point lead, put the game in motion.

“I just knew in my mind I had to make a play,” said Smith, who finished with 88 yards on five catches. “Finally we got (one-on-one coverage) towards the end of the game, but I just knew I had to make plays when it’s man-on-man.”

Running back Quinshon Judkins added 100 yards on the ground with two rushing scores and a receiving touchdown. Against one of the best third-down defenses in the nation, Ohio State converted 9-of-12 third-down opportunities as it ran through Notre Dame’s defense for much of the first three quarters.

Buckeyes players danced to confetti falling from the ceiling of Mercedes-Benz Stadium as the final seconds ticked away. To get here, Ohio State (14-2) first had to regroup from its Nov. 30 home loss to Michigan. Heavy underdogs, the Wolverines nonetheless silenced Ohio State’s bevy of offensive playmakers in a performance that eliminated Ohio State from the Big Ten championship game and left Buckeyes coach Ryan Day blank-eyed and fans shaken in their confidence that Day was the right man shouldering the enormous expectations that every Ohio State football coach inherits.

“It wasn’t like at the end of the year we were broke, it wasn’t like that,” Day said after winning his long-sought national title. “We had a terrible day. I don’t know how else to describe it. We had a terrible day and we just said we could never do it again and I think it’s the head coach’s job to take responsibility when something like that goes badly.”

In any other year, a two-loss Ohio State team coming off a bitter regular season finale would not have made the 4-team College Football Playoff field. Still, this season marked the first of an expanded field that grew to 12, and Ohio State, limping into the field as the eighth seed, took advantage. Over the next three games — blowouts of Tennessee in the first round and top-seeded Oregon in a quarterfinal, followed by a narrow semifinal win over Texas — the Buckeyes never trailed and didn’t buckle under pressure by making plays that either took control from the start against Texas or sealed a victory at the very end.

The Buckeyes finally showed vulnerability in Monday’s national championship game against the seventh-seeded Irish (14-2), marching 75 yards and taking nearly 10 minutes off the clock before scoring a touchdown on the opening drive.

It turned out to be the highlight of Notre Dame’s night. Ohio State scored touchdowns on its first four drives and added a field goal on its fifth to lead 31-7 in just the third quarter. At that point, its rushing attack had gained more yards in just over two quarters than the Irish had allowed on average per quarter. match all season.

Notre Dame made a late attempt at a rally by scoring to trim its deficit to 31-15 late in the third quarter. When its field goal attempt bounced off the left upright and fell harmlessly to the grass minutes later, the celebration continued inside a stadium dominated by a palette of fans dressed in Ohio State’s scarlet and gray. When the Fighting Irish again with 4:15 left in regulation, a nervous tension overtook the stadium until Smith’s finish.

“It was a big play for the freshman,” Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka said. “He’s great, he’s going to have a great career, here and in the NFL.”

It is the first time since 1965–66 that the Big Ten has won at least a share of a national championship in consecutive seasons; Michigan took last season’s title. The Wolverines, this season, seemed to push Ohio State to the brink of collapse in late November.

“There were a lot of tough conversations that had to be had,” Egbuka said of the weeks following the loss to Michigan.

Those conversations sparked celebrations Monday. After celebratory confetti fell on a hastily assembled stage near the end zone and after Buckeyes players hoisted the championship trophy, Day stepped off the stage and was grabbed by a friend on the court in a hug.

“You look pretty soaked!” he told Day, who had been soaked in a sideline bath in the final seconds.

Dag smiled widely. So much can change in two months.