Ohio State starts hot, holds off Notre Dame for national title
ATLANTA — Quinshon Judkins had two rushing touchdowns and one receiving score and quarterback Will Howard had a near-perfect first half as No. 8 seed Ohio State held off No. 7 seed Notre Dame 34-23 in the College Football Playoff championship game on Monday.
The Buckeyes (14-2) led 31-7 in the third quarter before Notre Dame (14-2) rallied on TD receptions of 34 and 30 yards by Jaden Greathouse and a pair of two-point conversions to make it 31-23 with 4:15 left in the game.
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Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith hauled in a 56-yard reception on third-and-11 to put the ball at the Notre Dame 10 with 2:29 to go, and Jayden Fielding made a game-clinching 33-yard field goal with 26 seconds left.
Howard was 17-of-21 passing for 231 yards and two touchdowns, Smith had five catches for 88 yards and a score and Judkins rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries.
Ohio State completed a four-game romp through the first 12-team CFP bracket, winning each of its playoff contests by a multi-score margin. The postseason blitz followed a regular-season-ending loss to rival Michigan that led to questions about the job stability of Buckeyes coach Ryan Day.
After recording both a receiving touchdown and a rushing TD in the first half, Judkins ran for 70 yards to the Irish 5 on the second play of the third quarter, the longest run in CFP final history. He then carried the ball into the end zone from the 1 three plays later to make it 28-7 Ohio State.
The lead expanded to 31-7 on a 46-yard field goal by Fielding after a Notre Dame fake punt failed.
The Fighting Irish pulled within 31-15 with 3:03 left in the third on a 34-yard scoring reception by Greathouse off a pass from Riley Leonard and a two-point-conversion pass from Leonard to Jeremiyah Love.
The Buckeyes fell behind for the first time in four playoff games when Notre Dame scored on the game’s opening possession, but they responded by scoring on all three of their first-half drives for a 21-7 lead at the break.
Howard set a CFP championship-game record by completing his first 13 passes and was 14-of-15 passing for 144 yards and two TDs in the first half.
Leonard capped an 18-play, 75-yard march with a 1-yard touchdown run on Notre Dame’s first drive. He had nine carries for 34 yards during the series.
Ohio State then had scoring drives of 75, 76 and 80 yards using a combined 33 plays and 16:37 of possession.
Leonard wound up completing 22 of 31 passes for 255 yards, and Greathouse made six catches for 128 yards and the two scores.