By Eddie Pells
ATLANTA – Instead of crying over one other collapse, Ohio State can rejoice one other national title after staving off a Notre Dame comeback to narrowly escape with a 34-23 victory over the Fighting Irish on Monday night.
Will Howard hit big-play receiver Jeremiah Smith for 56 yards on a late third-and-11 to finish a game that had been amusing after which become something else.
Trailing 31-7, Notre Dame scored two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to make it a one-score game late within the fourth quarter.
The Irish stopped Ohio State on the primary two plays of the following drive and took advantage of their timeouts. But on third down, Howard found Smith in single coverage down the correct sideline and dropped his best pass of the season into the hands of the second-team All-American.
“They were running man coverage and I said, 'Hey, I'm going to let that go and let him play with it,'” Howard said.
It arrange a field goal that actually began the celebration (and helped Ohio State cover the 8 1/2-point spread at BetMGM Sportsbook). And it capped a seven-week climb from all-time low to 20-point underdog Michigan to the highest of faculty football after this, the game's 12-team playoff debut.
Ohio State will bring its sixth Natty and first because the 2014 season back to the Horseshoe in Columbus.
“It's a great story about a group of guys that just got through some really tough situations, and to the point where a lot of people were ignoring us (they) just kept going and kept fighting,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said .
Howard, a transfer portal success story from Kansas State, threw for 231 yards and two scores, but nothing can beat the pass to Smith when every part is on the road.
The receiver who was cornered by Texas within the semifinals after which pretty quiet for many of that game finally made the sort of play he's made all 12 months. He finished the sport with five catches for 88 yards.
Ohio State scored touchdowns on its first 4 possessions and added a field goal on its fifth.
When Quinshon Judkins (100 yards, 11 carries, three touchdowns), a transfer from Mississippi who highlighted Ohio State University's shrewd use of the ever-expanding portal, ran for a 70-yard run to make the rating 28-7 To rating, it was game over.
That wasn't the case, and now Irish coach Marcus Freeman has to reply some tough questions – one concerning the botched fake punt within the third quarter that become a field goal for a 31-7 lead; The other involved sending Mitch Jeter in for a brief field goal attempt while he was down 16 points and shooting from the 9 on fourth down. It would have looked like a greater decision if Jeter's kick hadn't bounced off the left post.
However, Ohio State was actually the higher team. The Buckeyes outgained Notre Dame by 445 yards to 308. Howard accomplished his first 13 passes and was never actually stopped. Ohio State posted a complete once.
The Buckeyes played 4 games in the brand new, expanded playoffs – what great timing for Ohio State, which wasn't even playing for the Big Ten title – with a median rating of 36-21.
Ohio State was seeded eighth within the tournament, however the seeds were all but meaningless. The lower seed won every game within the quarterfinals and semifinals, and the Buckeyes dominated No. 7 vs. No. 8 on this title game showdown.
It allays, for now, any worries concerning the 13-10 loss at Michigan in November – Ohio State's fourth straight within the series – that led to a brawl after Wolverine players attempted to boost a flag at midfield. The whole scene made many individuals, each inside and out of doors Buckeye circles, think that Day, in his sixth season, had outlived his usefulness on a campus that hadn't tasted a title in a decade.
Instead, he joins Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Woody Hayes and Paul Brown on a listing of title-winning coaches. Additionally, Day's .873 winning percentage ranks third amongst coaches with greater than 50 games, one spot behind none apart from Notre Dame legend Knute Rockne himself.
No black coach has ever won a national title in college football. Freeman tried to develop into the primary.
Instead, a unique form of story. This was the primary time since 1942 that the Big Ten won back-to-back titles. Last 12 months's champion was Michigan, which sat at home and watched that title but still played a special role within the Buckeyes' redemption story that few expected.
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