ATLANTA (AP) – Rather than mourning another defeat, Ohio State can now celebrate another national championship after fending off a Notre Dame comeback attempt to defeat the Fighting Irish 34–23 in a thrilling game Monday night.
On a late third-and-eleven, Will Howard hit big-play receiver Jeremiah Smith for 56 yards to end a game that had started out as a joke but quickly became something more.
Late in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame, trailing 31-7, made it a one-score game with two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions.
On the next drive, the Irish used their timeouts and stopped Ohio State on the first two plays. However, Howard dropped his greatest ball of the season into the hands of the second-team All-American on third down after finding Smith in single coverage on the right sideline.
After a seven-week ascent from the depths of a defeat to 20-point underdog Michigan to the pinnacle of college football, it set up a field goal that officially began the celebration. Ohio State will return to the Horseshoe in Columbus for its sixth natty and first since the 2014 campaign.
Even though Howard, a Kansas State transfer-portal star, passed for 231 yards and two touchdowns, nothing will compare to the toss to Smith when everything is on the line.
The receiver, who was largely silent for the majority of this game after being bottled up by Texas in the semifinals, eventually let loose for the type of play he has been producing all season. He finished with 88 yards from five catches.
Ohio State added a field goal on its fifth possession after scoring touchdowns on its first four.
This game appeared to be over when Quinshon Judkins (100 yards, 11 carries, three touchdowns), a transfer from Mississippi who demonstrated Ohio State’s prudent use of the ever-expanding portal, broke off a 70-yard run to set up the score that made it 28-7.
By Associated Press’s Eddie Pells.
