Ohio State beats Notre Dame to win first national football title in a decade | College Football

Ohio State doesn't have to think about another collapse and can celebrate another national title after postponing Notre Dame's comeback bid on Monday night with a 34-23 victory over the Fighting Irish.

Will Howard hit receiver Jeremiah Smith for 56 yards late on third-and-11 to seal an otherwise laugh-out-loud game. Then it turned into something else. Trailing 31-7, Notre Dame scored two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to pull within one late in the fourth quarter.

The Irish stopped Ohio State on its first two possessions and took advantage of the timeout. But on third down, Howard found Smith in man coverage down the right sideline and delivered his best pass of the season to a second-team All-American.

“They were running man coverage and I said, 'Hey, I'm going to let him go a little bit,'” Howard said.

Its field goal officially kicked off the celebrations, ending a seven-week climb from the abyss of a 20-point underdog Michigan team to the top of college football. Ohio State will bring its first national championship since the 2014 season back to Horseshoe Stadium in Columbus.

“It's a great story about a group of guys who just overcame some very difficult situations and a lot of people thought we were out (and they) just kept rocking and kept fighting,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said .

Howard was a success story as a transfer from Kansas State, throwing for 231 yards and two scores, but nothing could compare to what he did getting the ball to Smith. The receiver was shut down by Texas in the semifinals, was pretty quiet for much of this game, and now is finally shaking off the play he's had all year. He finished with five catches for 88 yards.

Ohio State scored touchdowns on its first four possessions before converting a field goal on its fifth drive.

When Mississippi State's Quinshon Judkins (100 yards, 11 carries, 3 TDs) rushed for 70 yards to make it 28-7, he underscored Ohio State's Smart use of growing portals. The game is over. But Notre Dame — and then Smith — had something else to say.

It all came to a head when Ohio State lost its fourth straight series to Michigan, 13-10, in November, a game that ended with a brawl after Wolverines players tried to plant a flag at midfield. temporarily calmed people's concerns. The entire scene has many inside and outside Buckeye circles thinking Day, in his sixth season, has outlived his usefulness on a campus that hasn't tasted a title in a decade.

Instead, he joined Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Woody Hayes and Paul Brown on a roster of championship coaches. Day's .873 winning percentage ranks third among coaches with 50 or more games, behind Notre Dame legend Knute Rockne.