ATLANTA — Coach Ryan Day shushed the critics, running back Quinshon Judkins scored three touchdowns, and the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes held off a furious second-half rally to beat No. 7 seed Notre Dame, 34-23, to win the College Football Playoff National Championship. In its run through the first-ever 12-team CFP, the Buckeyes became just the fifth team in the AP poll era to win a national title despite not winning their conference.
It is Ohio State’s first national championship since 2014 and the first for Day, who faced a mountain of criticism after the Buckeyes’ lost their fourth consecutive game to Michigan back in November.
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was terrific, finishing with two touchdown passes and completing 14 of his first 15 passes. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly called a masterful game, never forcing anything and yet still getting basically anything and everything the Buckeyes wanted against Notre Dame’s defense that entered Monday’s title game only giving up 14.3 points per game (second-best nationally).
Notre Dame got off to an early 7-0 lead on an impressive yet grueling 18-play touchdown drive to open the game in which quarterback Riley Leonard ran the ball nine times. Leonard was so exhausted after the drive he threw up on the sideline. But the Buckeyes took control from there and scored four touchdowns on their first four offensive drives, the first time that has been done in national championship history.
Notre Dame showed life late with a pair of second-half scores and a 2-point conversion that pulled the game to within a possession, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a massive deficit. The Irish, with all of their blue-blood history, are still looking for their first national championship since 1988.
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