The No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes won the College Football Playoff National Championship 34-23 over the No. 7 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday night in Atlanta. While it was a well-rounded performance from Ohio State’s offense, defense and special teams, it was the Buckeyes’ offense that impressed the most.
Offensive dominance by Ohio State, Will Howard brought a National Championship back to Columbus
Will Howard and his teammates will now be known as Ohio State legends.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
After Notre Dame put an impressive 18-play drive together to start the game that lasted 9:45 and ended with the Fighting Irish going up 7-0, it seemed like Ohio State was immediately on the ropes. When it was Ohio State’s turn on offense they put their foot on the gas and didn’t slow down. They scored on their first five possessions of the game, with the first four scores being touchdowns. In all, the Buckeyes scored on six of eight possessions.
“I talked to the defensive guys and I talked to the offensive guys that we were going to continue to be aggressive throughout the game,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “I told the team that leading up to the game. And I had to make sure I followed through that.”
Aggression, cohesion and execution were all things the offense excelled at throughout four quarters, with no player performing better than quarterback Will Howard.
Howard set multiple championship game records. The quarterback set the record for most consecutive completions, starting the game with 13 in a row, and set the record for the highest passer rating in a CFP Championship Game at 204.8. Howard was remarkable all game long, going 17-of-21 for 231 yards with two touchdowns. Howard dominated Notre Dame on the ground as well, rushing for 57 yards on 16 carries. Howard accounted for 18 first downs out of 21 the offense earned from scrimmage, throwing for 10 and rushing for eight. Howard, once looked at as an underdog, left Atlanta not only a national champion, but was awarded MVP as well.
“I know our game plan is so sound and so thought out and thorough,” Howard said. “We really had an answer for everything they could have given us.”
Ohio State’s offense seemed to have all the answers. As much as Howard and the passing game inflicted damage on Notre Dame’s defense from all quadrants of the field, the rushing attack wore the Fighting Irish down as well. Ohio State rushed for 214 yards, including 100 yards from Quinshon Judkins and two scores. The amount of balance Ohio State had offensively led to Notre Dame in continuous conflict schematically and gave Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden fits. On third downs Notre Dame’s defense didn’t bend, it broke time and time again, leading to Ohio State converting on 9-of-12 third downs.
While there’s no such thing as a perfect game in the sport of football, Ohio State’s offense came pretty darn close collectively and were nearly unstoppable. Day realizes the significance of what Ohio State’s National Championship means for the program not only in the immediate future, but for decades down the line. Will Howard and his teammates are now Ohio State legends.
“Now the stories of these guys will be told because they’ve cemented themselves in Ohio State history, the ninth national champ and the third really in the last 50 years,” Day said. “There’s been some great, great teams in the last 50 some-odd years at Ohio State. Great teams, great players. Only three of them have been national champs, and these guys are one of them.”
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