Ohio State Dominates in CFP Title Game

The Ohio State Buckeyes became the first team to ever beat five top-five opponents in a single season and won their seventh national title, fending off Notre Dame 34-23 in Monday night's College Football Playoff National Championship game in Atlanta.

Ohio State's Ryan Day was asked on Sunday about the value of the loads of experience his team had accumulated well before this long 2024 season had even begun.

"I think just maturity," he said. "Physical maturity to be able to withstand the length of the season. Mental maturity to be able to wipe the slate clean on a week-to-week basis and start a new game plan. And then just the emotional maturity of handling the ups and downs -- and certainly we know we've had a few of those this year -- and being able to steady the boat and get back to work and learn from those and rally the troops."

As it turned out, that maturity paid off as handsomely as Ohio State's immense level of talent in the seven weeks following a gutting loss to Michigan to finish the regular season.

The Buckeyes scored touchdowns on their first four drives, then a field goal put the Buckeyes up 31-7 midway through the third quarter. Notre Dame made a couple of stops after that, but it came when Ohio State was more concerned with eating the clock. The Buckeyes converted all six of their third-down attempts in the first half and went 9-for-12 for the game.

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden entered this game with a massive decision to make: Would he continue to lean heavily on man-to-man pass coverage, or would he work in more zone out of respect for Ohio State's incredible skill corps? As I mentioned in my title game preview, it was a tough call.

Right out of the gate, the Irish tried to mix and match. Golden tried to keep OSU quarterback Will Howard off guard by bouncing between man and zone. But it didn't work: Howard and the Buckeyes torched both easily.

Howard vs. man defense: 9-for-13 for 141 yards and a touchdown

Howard vs. zone defense: 8-for-8 for 90 yards and a touchdown

Howard nearly threw an interception to Notre Dame ball hawk Xavier Watts on Ohio State's third drive, but TreVeyon Henderson was able to wrestle the ball away from Watts to force an incompletion. Otherwise, he was perfect. The Irish couldn't get much pressure on him under any circumstances, and OSU offensive coordinator Chip Kelly also had some devastating stuff schemed up -- like the Buckeyes' first touchdown, an absolutely nasty motion fake that left Jeremiah Smith wide open for a touchdown.