How Ohio State's Win Unfolded

After a great season of college football where we had over 100 games, numerous upsets, and the first 12-team playoffs, we have finally crowned a champion. What a season for Ohio State as they faced a rough loss to Michigan and everyone, including myself, had written them off. After dominating victories over Tennessee and Oregon, and as a UT Austin student a heartbreaking win over Texas they had their eyes set on the final game against Notre Dame.

Both teams' first drive was very impactful as Notre Dame has the longest first drive in the championship game's history and Riley Leonard converted 4 3rd/4th down with his legs. It was good for Notre Dame to establish their quarterback run game because they have been doing it all season and it was a dominating first drive. However, Ohio State responded with a great first drive of their own. The thing I loved about Ohio State's first drive was their misdirection as the play action calls and Will Howard just moving one way but his eyes are focused on the opposite side really confused Notre Dame's defense. Also, another great part of this drive was getting your best player involved, Jeremiah Smith got 2 catches and even a touchdown and even though it's not something great if your best player gets a little involvement it can change the way the whole game goes.

The second drive for Ohio State was when I knew that this game was going to be over. After back-to-back flags by the Notre Dame o-line forced them to punt Ohio State, in my opinion, had the most impactful drive. In this drive, they did an excellent job of getting their second and third-best players involved. They then end this drive with a Judkins touchdown which would not be the last time those two words are next to each other in this game. The reason this drive was so great is because in the first two drives Ohio State got their 3 most explosive offensive players catches and even touchdowns which later in the game shows why it makes a huge difference. Their first two drives in my eyes were perfect and Ryan Day and Chip Kelly did an excellent job of knowing what their game plan was and executing it and the highest stage.

In the second half, Notre Dame did an amazing job to get this game back to an 8-point game even after Ohio State's first drive out of the half. Judkins had a 70-yard rush and even ended it off with a touchdown and a Fielding field goal to make it 31 unanswered points, but Notre Dame's offense finally had some explosive plays to get this game back to a one-possession game. Leonard and Greathouse connected for two second-half touchdowns that were incredible. In the first touchdown, Greathouse did an amazing job of just breaking tackles and giving Notre Dame life. The second touchdown was just a jaw-breaking catch and NFL-level throw by Leonard that put it in the only place that Greathouse could've caught those balls. Two 2-point conversions were also successful and it came up to Ohio State's game-winning drive that sealed this game. Before I talk about this drive, Notre Dame messed up on their 7th drive after the forced fumble. They had all the momentum in the world and forced a takeaway and were in the red zone on a 4th & 9. In my eyes, Marcus Freeman had to go for that based on the circumstances. Not only did they miss the field goal too, but in a game where you were down 24 points and you just forced a fumble and you need touchdowns that was a bad decision that may have costed that game. Notre Dame's defense was all fired up too so you could trust them to get Ohio State off the field which they had done terrifically in the second half, but the field goal decision was the one decision I did not agree with from Freeman.

Although the field goal was missed, the game wasn't over as Ohio State still needed some first downs to ice this game. Earlier I kept saying how important it is to get your star players going early in the game and on a 3rd & 11 with the season on the line, it shows. I have no idea why Notre Dame blitzed on a 3rd and long but even worse they left Jeremiah Smith with 1-on-1 coverage and he ices the game with a 56-yard bomb. He's way too talented to have one corner on him, especially in that moment in the game. Ohio State ran up the most perfect play and because Smith had already been warm enough there was no doubt that he was going to catch that ball.

Notre Dame lost this game to themselves as they made a lot of mistakes that Ohio State could capitalize on. Obviously, there are many different ways this game could've gone but we got a great championship game and playoffs and fans and I couldn't be happier with the season. Congratulations to Ryan Day and Ohio State for being the 2025 National Champions and I can't wait for another year of college football!