The Ohio State Buckeyes are returning to Columbus with a long-awaited piece of gold that symbolizes a resilient triumph like no other. At the sight of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in Atlanta, the red confetti fell and a new champion was crowned.
No. 8 Ohio State defeated No. 7 Notre Dame 34-23. It marks the first time Ohio State has won the National Championship since 2014.
It took for a complete effort from Will Howard who threw for 231 yards and 2 touchdowns. Additionally, Quinshon Judkins charted 121 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns. The rookie sensation did it when it mattered most, Jeremiah Smith tallied 5 receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard passed for 255 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Jaden Greathouse hauled in 6 receptions for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. Yet, it wasn’t enough.
For one final time of the 2024-25 season, here is what I saw…
Gone in a blink, no stops, no victory
The knockout punch was essentially delivered in the first half. Here’s the stats:
Ohio State - 3 drives, 3 touchdowns
Want something else…
Will Howard - 14/15, 144 yards, 2 touchdowns
Yes, it got ugly, and ugly fast. Notre Dame’s defense has been the catalyst behind all the prior success in the Playoffs thus far. When you expose a defense like the Irish’s on all levels, it’s pretty obvious what the result will be.
I’m not exactly sure what Al Golden’s game plan was coming into this one. Whatever it was, the schemes seemed to be quite thrown off. Ohio State came out of the gate firing and the red-hot offense could not be stopped. From Smith to Judkins to Hendeson to Howard, all your typical stars were shining bright.
The biggest head-scratcher was the abandoning of the man-to-man coverage. I get it, the gameplan for Ohio State had to be hard to stick to. Regardless, everyone knew that Chip Kelly was going to fire away, and Al Golden simply had no answer.
After trailing 21-7 through the first 30 minutes, Ohio State opened the second half with a 70-yard run from Quinshon Judkins, and a few plays later it was a 28-7 lead. It seemed like despite Notre Dame’s sluggish offensive showing, the defense never seemed to truly settle in.
The backbreaker came in the final 2 minutes when Notre Dame found themselves down by just 8 points. When it mattered most, on a 3rd and long, the Buckeyes went to Jeremiah Smith who came up with the biggest catch of the game. Smith was guarded by Christain Gray who was the victim of multiple big gains, but that mistake was possibly the biggest.
Notre Dame’s lack of interior pressure, ultimately was the storyteller. They had to generate some pressure on Howard to throw him off rhythm. Instead, Notre Dame got pounded into the ground by the rush attack and spat into the air by the pass attack.
Chip Kelly had Al Golden in checkmate.
Trying to make sense of Denbrock’s playbook
In short, there’s no making sense of what Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock was going for. The real question is, was this more about the Ohio State defense or the Notre Dame offense?
Usually, I would assign the blame to the opposing defense, as the consistency behind Notre Dame’s offense has been somewhat difficult to come by. However, this game fell on Mike Denbrock and Marcus Freeman.
It all started so well. Notre Dame couldn’t have gotten out to a better start with the likes of Riley Leonard leading the Irish down the length of the field. It was an 18-play, nearly ten-minute drive, and Leonard was the subject of 9 rushing attempts.
Aside from the defensive woes, Notre Dame’s offense went extremely stagnant. On Notre Dame’s first drive, the Irish converted on two fourth-down attempts. It almost seemed very unsustainable, and that proved to be true. Denbrock never abandoned the qb drawl, yet he did abandon his best offensive weapons. The rush game with Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price was nonexistent, to say the least.
Ultimately, after receiving the ball to start the first half, Notre Dame had to come away with more than 7 points to contend in this game. The late offensive surge was nice, but clearly, this wasn’t a team built to do that. The eye-popping stat is 4 rushes for just 3 yards for Jeremiyah Love. I tend to favor putting the ball into the hands of your best player, and the Irish failed to do that.
Playing conservative
The Irish were down by 16 with just under 10 minutes remaining. Riding large momentum, Marcus Freeman elected to kick a 27-yard field goal. Mitch Jeter somehow missed the chip shot, but that’s beside the point. Time and time again, Notre Dame played not like they were trying to win, but as if they were trying not to lose, and that ended up being the deciding factor.
Guys like Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, and Caleb Down knew what they wanted. To beat this team, Notre Dame had to generate points in one way or another. The Irish got a few lucky breaks with some pass interference and holding penalties as well as Emeka Egbuka’s fumble. Although, the Irish weren’t able to fully capitalize.
Why Freeman chose to go for 3 over 7 is a bit head-scratching. But as I fully evaluated the game, it became apparent that Notre Dame didn’t play like they did against Georgia or even Penn State for this matter.
I mentioned the offensive identity being swept under the rug, but in short, 17 carries to your starting quarterback will never cut it. In addition to that, Notre Dame played far too tentative in the red zone. Ohio State’s will to win was the difference.
Tip your cap to the Scarlet and Gray, Jim Knowles, Chip Kelly, and Ryan Day, Notre Dame was outclassed.