Enjoy this moment, Ohio State football fans! From the start of the College Football Playoff, people continued to doubt the Buckeyes. There wasn't a ton of confidence outside of Ohio that Ryan Day and his players would go on a deep CFP run.
However, Ohio State just got the job done, taking down Notre Dame 34-23 in thrilling fashion for the program's ninth National Championship. Boom! Things got off to a bit of a rough start with the Irish landing the first punch, but the Buckeyes responded and never looked back. In this piece, we've got our main standouts from the game, of course including OSU's star signal-caller.
4. QB Will Howard
We can't say enough good things about quarterback Will Howard. Leading up to the natty, he had fans quite emotional after he revealed just how much playing for Ohio State has meant to him this season. Well, he put on a show to help OSU capture the glory.
In the first half alone, Howard was unreal, going 14-of-15 on his pass attempts for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Not only that, but he added 26 rushing yards in the first 30 minutes. For the night, he finished with 231 passing yards and 57 rushing. How about the 57-yard pass to Jeremiah Smith (more on him below) to seal the win? Talk about clutch.
3. RB Quinshon Judkins
You've got to feel great for speedster Quinshon Judkins. Similar to Howard, he made the move to Columbus to chase his CFP dreams. In the biggest game of his young life, Judkins delivered in the best way possible, finishing with three total touchdowns on the night.
To open the second half, Ohio State got the ball and on the second play of the third quarter, Judkins took off for a 70-yard run. Not long after, he finished the five-play, 75-yard drive with a short rushing TD, his second of the night. Talk about being electric for your team.
2. WR Jeremiah Smith
After being held to one reception for three yards in the Cotton Bowl, there were loads of haters who were bashing Smith. Now, though, he has delivered those same haters with a warm bowl of shut-it stew. Smith wasted no time making an impact, catching a TD pass from Howard to tie things up.
Before kickoff, concern arrived when Pete Nakos posted a photo of Smith with a wrap on his left hamstring. Thankfully, Smith wasted no time calming nerves everywhere thanks to some nice grabs, none bigger than his final one of the night. With Ohio State facing 3rd down and Notre Dame looking to get the ball back, Howard hit Smith for a 57-yard gain down to the Notre Dame nine yard line to close this one out. It was a HUGE throw-and-catch play from Howard to Smith. Boom.
1. Ryan Day, Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles
Alright, we're cheating here a little bit, but you've got to give credit to these three. Ryan Day had folks calling for him to get fired after the loss to Michigan to close out the regular season. He didn't pay attention to that and his guys are celebrating winning it all.
Chip Kelly had Notre Dame's defense guessing all night. During his halftime interview, Marcus Freeman basically admitted that his defense didn't know how to contain Ohio State. Speaking of defense, Jim Knowles saw Riley Leonard run all over his unit on the opening drive. After that, several adjustments were made and Notre Dame struggled to move the ball until it was too little, too late. Ohio State outsmarted and outcoached the Fighting Irish.