By aceshot @ Adobe Stock
Congratulations to the Ohio State University Buckeyes and coach Ryan Day for winning the national college football championship over Notre Dame. I grew up in Shaker Heights, OH, and fondly remember those days. In The Wall Street Journal, Jared Diamond reports on OSU’s victory:
Three days after delivering perhaps the most humiliating performance in program history—and seven weeks before their improbable ascension to the pinnacle of college football—Ohio State’s players gathered to clear the air.
They had just lost to Michigan for the fourth consecutive year, in a game they had entered as three-touchdown favorites. The playoffs loomed, bringing with them a rare chance at redemption. But before they could chart a path forward, the Buckeyes first had to grapple with the ignominy they had just endured.
“It was really a truth-telling time,” quarterback Will Howard said.
By the time the meeting concluded, emotions had run high, tears had been shed—and Ohio State had been born anew.
The Buckeyes are national champions, completing their run to the program’s first title since 2014 with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame on Monday night. As scarlet and gray confetti showered the field here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the embarrassment they had suffered to their rival to the north over Thanksgiving weekend felt like a distant memory.
Ohio State stormed through the sport’s newly expanded postseason tournament, overpowering four of the best teams in the country—Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and now Notre Dame—by an average margin of more than 17 points. Against the Fighting Irish, the Buckeyes put together what might have been their most impressive showing yet, orchestrating a dazzling offensive display that left their opponent reeling.
Howard, a fifth-year senior who transferred to Ohio State from Kansas State, was spectacular. He went 17-for-21 for 231 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Quinshon Judkins, a transfer from Ole Miss, rushed for 100 yards and scored three touchdowns. After Notre Dame jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, Ohio State responded by racking up 31 unanswered points, breaking down the Fighting Irish’s vaunted defense with ease.
Notre Dame fought back, cutting a seemingly insurmountable deficit to just eight points at one point. Then, on a critical third down late in the fourth quarter, Howard launched a 56-yard bomb to freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith to seal the victory.
In the end, Ohio State left no doubt.
The Buckeyes say the journey to the mountaintop began during their post-Michigan conclave at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Dec. 3, when they spoke more honestly than they ever had before. Over the span of a few hours, representatives from every position group stepped forward to accept responsibility for their role in the Michigan debacle and outline how they would improve.
“Everyone was mad,” defensive lineman Tyleik Williams said.
“It got heated in moments,” added defensive end Jack Sawyer.
To offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the defeat to the Wolverines would mean one of two things. “It could be your tombstone,” he said, “or it could be a stepping stone.”
On Monday, Ohio State proved which one it was.
“The thing that we clung to was that we still have this opportunity out in front of us to really right all these wrongs,” Howard said. “Here we are, man. We’re right where we wanted to be.”
In some ways, Ohio State reaching this point is no surprise. The Buckeyes came into the season with gigantic expectations, boasting a roster loaded with a ridiculous amount of talent across the field.
Read more here.
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