Had it not been for the expansion of the College Football Playoff, Notre Dame and Ohio State would not have had the opportunity to compete for a national title. Notre Dame's loss to Northern Illinois and Ohio State's disappointing performance against Michigan would have kept the Fighting Irish and Buckeyes out of the playoff under the previous format.
But with the College Football Playoff expanding from four teams to 12, Ohio State and Notre Dame were not just able to get into the playoffs, but were also able to make it to the final game. On Monday, the Buckeyes completed a string of four consecutive wins in the playoff, defeating Notre Dame 34-23.
The win marked Ohio State's eighth national championship and the first in a decade.
It was also a moment of vindication for Ohio State's coach Ryan Day, who led a program that has not defeated its rival Michigan since 2019, nor has it won a conference championship since 2020.
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Day said that his team did not have to completely reset itself after losing to Michigan at the end of the regular season, but players and coaches vowed to not have another awful day.
"In terms of the playoffs, yeah, it's very, very different," he said. "It is extremely different than what we've gone through in the past. This is much more like the NFL. Guys are not in class. But our team has come together so well over the last month and a half. There really isn't any school, and all we do is spend time together. It's like being around a family. This is the tightest group of guys I've ever been around before."
After Notre Dame used a slow, methodical drive to start the game and take a 7-0 lead, Ohio State countered by scoring on all three of its first half possessions to lead 21-7 at halftime. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman noted that several penalties and a fumble set Notre Dame back as it tried to keep pace with Ohio State.
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"I mean, there was some things on both sides of the ball that we don't normally do and some communication mistakes, self-inflicted wounds that we haven't been doing the past few weeks," he said. "You're always making mistakes, but those type of detrimental mistakes when you play a really, really good football team cost you points."
Ohio State extended its lead to 31-7 in the third quarter, but Notre Dame managed to force a fumble and a punt while punching the ball into the end zone twice to get the score to 31-23.
But Ohio State managed to pick up several key first downs, including a massive pass from Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith, which helped set up a Buckeye field goal in the closing seconds to lock in Ohio State's victory.
