A decade after winning the first-ever four-team college football playoff, the Ohio State University Buckeyes defeated the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-23 in the national championship game on Monday night.
This win marks the ninth national championship in the history of the program, with their first championship dating back to 1942, and moving up to the seventh most championships of all time. Seven of their nine national championships were won before the introduction of the playoff wherein two teams, decided by media organizations such as the Associated Press and coaches across the country, play against each other based on polls and rankings.
This year’s playoffs introduced the new 12-team format, which introduced automatic bids for the top four highest-ranked conference champions seeded 1-4, and the next eight highest ranked teams seeded 5-12.
Similar to the 2017 champions—the University of Alabama Crimson Tide—the Buckeyes didn’t even play in their conference championship game after a loss in Week 14 against their rival, the University of Michigan Wolverines. They become only the fifth team ever to accomplish this, joining the 1936 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, 2011 and 2017 Crimson Tide, and the 2021 University of Georgia Bulldogs.
The game opened to a battle of defenses after a fairly uneventful first 15. Notre Dame scored the only points of the first quarter on their opening drive, which lasted a total of 9:45 across 18 plays, capped off by a one yard rushing touchdown by senior quarterback Riley Leonard.
In response, the Buckeyes went on to score 31 unanswered points across the second and nearly all of the third quarter. Senior quarterback Will Howard orchestrated a masterful performance by halftime, going 14/15 for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Buckeye running back duo of Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson handled more of the load in the second half, highlighted by Judkins’ 70-yard run early in the third quarter. Just when the game seemed out of reach for the Fighting Irish, they started a run late in the third quarter, as Leonard found receiver Jaden Greathouse for a 34-yard strike.
Three straight scoreless drives by either team would hand the ball back to Notre Dame at their own 20 yard line, and Leonard did his best Tom Brady impression to march down the field in crunch time. Big gains by receivers Beaux Collins and Mitchell Evans would open the door for another touchdown pass for Greathouse, this time for 30 yards, to cut the lead to eight points after a successful two-point conversion.
When it looked as if Notre Dame was going to get their shot to win the game, with a stop on 3rd & 11 with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter, Howard ripped the hearts out of Notre Dame fans across the country with a 56-yard bomb to true freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith. Ohio State kicked a field goal with close to 30 seconds left to put the game just out of reach, and soon gold confetti rained over the field.
Looking at the success of the new 12 team playoff format, the big winners are easily the NCAA and ESPN. Viewership numbers have shown that college football fans clearly love being able to watch more games. The first round saw an average of 10.6 million viewers which increased to 16.9 million viewers in the quarterfinals per Front Office Sports.
The semi-finals’ average viewership hit 19.2 million, slightly down from last year with 23.2 million, but there is a key reason why this is the case. Last year, the games were played on New Year’s Day which could have resulted in more fans tuning in because of the holiday, thus attributing to the lower numbers this year. Similar to the semi-finals, the national championship game’s average of 22.1 million viewers per ESPN is also down from last year’s average of 25 million; however, it was the most watched non-NFL sporting event over the past year.
Many stars of the college football landscape, regardless of making or missing the playoffs, are now setting their sights on the NFL combine in Indianapolis and April’s draft, which is being held in Green Bay, Wisconsin, home of the Packers. The combine begins Feb. 27 and ends March 2, and the draft takes place April 24 through April 26. The Tennessee Titans hold the first overall pick followed by the Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, and New England Patriots to round out the top four selections.
Draft predictions project that University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward is looking to be the favorite to go off the board first, but there is talent on both sides of the ball looking to help whichever team selects them. These players include the University of Colorado quarterback Sheduer Sanders and Heisman trophy winner receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, Penn State University edge rusher Abdul Carter, and the University of Arizona receiver Tetoria McMillan.
