The eighth-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes held off a late rally from No. 7 seed Notre Dame to win their ninth nationwide title, 34-23, and develop into the primary champion of the 12-team playoff.
Ohio State now has the excellence of being the primary champions of the four-team playoff in 2014 and the 12-team playoff in 2024.
Listed below are three takeaways from the primary championship sport of the 12-team playoff:
Knee-jerk response: Ohio State is just not going anyplace
Though this was Ohio State’s first nationwide title since 2014, it’s laborious to think about the Buckeyes going anyplace anytime quickly.
The Buckeyes misplaced two video games this season and nonetheless made the inaugural 12-team playoff because the eighth seed. With the enlargement of the playoff and Ohio State’s capacity to herald expertise, anticipate them to be again for a number of years to come back. According to Sports-Reference, Ohio State had the most effective protection within the nation this season (12.2 PPG) coming into the title sport.
To point out how spectacular their season was, Ohio State grew to become the primary program with 5 top-five wins in a single yr, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. That speaks to the expertise on this Ohio State group to win that many high quality video games in a single season.
That is the second consecutive season a Large Ten group received the championship after Michigan’s triumph a season in the past. Not solely is Ohio State not going anyplace, nevertheless it additionally seems the Large Ten is right here to remain after back-to-back nationwide titles. In truth, that is the first time the convention has received consecutive nationwide titles since 1940-42.
When subsequent season rolls round, do not be shocked to see Ohio State even higher after all of the adversity it handled through the 2024 season.
MVP: Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins
This honor may have gone to Buckeyes QB Will Howard after finishing his first 13 passes of the sport and going 17-of-21 for 231 yards and two TDs.
As an alternative, Judkins will get the nod as a consequence of his three-touchdown efficiency.
Judkins completed off a 12-play, 80-yard drive with this six-yard catch simply earlier than the half to increase Ohio State’s result in 21-7.
Notre Dame went three-and-out on every of its two prior possessions. That rating gave Ohio State a two-score lead together with possession of the ball popping out of the locker room, which utterly shifted the momentum.
Judkins’ 70-yard run, which was the longest run in CFP title sport historical past, arrange Ohio State’s TD out of the half.
This one-yard run simply over two minutes into the third quarter prolonged Ohio State’s result in 28-7 and gave Judkins the hat trick within the title sport.
This was Judkins’ third sport within the playoff with a number of TDs and his seventh sport of the season conducting the feat. The rating to start the second half gave the Buckeyes a TD on every of their first 4 drives and put Notre Dame in a deep gap after its opening drive TD to begin the sport.
With 11 carries for 100 yards and two TDs on the bottom together with a pair of catches for 21 yards and a TD, Judkins eclipsed 1,000 yards for the season, performed like an MVP and was a driving drive behind the group’s success in opposition to the Combating Irish.
Play of the sport: Ohio State’s Third-and-11 conversion with 2:45 remaining
With Ohio State’s lead trimmed to 31-23 and dealing with a third-and-long, Howard dropped this dime to the sensational freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith for a 56-yard achieve to select up an enormous first down.
Ohio State ran the clock right down to 29 seconds and kicked the game-sealing discipline purpose to clinch their first title since 2014.
This capped an exceptional season for Howard, who handed for 3,779 yards and 33 TDs coming into Monday evening. Smith had 5 catches for 88 yards and a TD within the title sport to go together with his 1,227 yards and 14 TDs through the season.
The sport might have been nearer on the finish than the Buckeyes would have appreciated. Nevertheless, that ought to not take away from a dominant playoff run and a ninth nationwide title for the storied program.
