College Football National Championship Recap

(image courtesy of collegefootballplayoff.com)

On Monday, January 20th, 2025, the College Football National Championship took place in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia between the #8 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes and the #7 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
by Justin Andrio

(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The National Championship game was cat and mouse from the start. Ohio State went against Notre Dame for The National Championship Trophy. At the beginning of the game, Ohio State won the coin toss, elected to defer, and gave the ball to Notre Dame to start the game off. 

Notre Dame opened the game by pushing down the field with a ten minute drive and Riley Leonard, QB, punching in a rushing touchdown to put the first points on the board.

Ohio State then answers back with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith, WR. From there on Ohio State went into the second quarter and scored two touchdowns by Quinshon Judkins, RB. 

Hunter Cryder, WGHS junior, says, “The Fighting Irish fought until the end. It was a good game, [a] good natty, but Ohio State should not have been in it. It should have been [Georgia].”

At halftime, the score was 21-7, Ohio State. 

At the start of the second half, Ohio State got the ball and, yet again, Quinshon Judkins scored, putting seven more points on the board for Ohio State. Ohio State’s defense was dominant most of the game, holding Notre Dame to only Seven points going into the final minutes of the third quarter. After another drive, Ohio State kicked a field goal to put them up 31-7. 

Notre Dame got the ball back with a few minutes left in the third quarter. They pushed down the field, and with a 34-yard dart from Riley Leonard, Jaden Greathouse scored the touchdown, making this 16-point game going into the fourth and final quarter of the 2024 College Football season.

Notre Dame's defense came up with a big takeaway, putting the Fighting Irish in good field position to make it a one-score game, and that is exactly what they did. With another amazing touchdown throw from Riley Leonard to Jaden Greathouse, the Fighting Irish made this game 31-23. 

Jack Moss, WGHS junior, says, “I knew Ohio State was gonna beat [Notre Dame]. Notre Dame doesn't have the experience… in that situation with their new head coach. When I [saw] Notre Dame score first, I thought it was gonna be a really good game, but then [Quinshon Judkins] started to run all over them.”

Ohio State got the ball back with about four minutes left in the game and it was looking like they were going to give the ball back up to the Notre Dame offense with two minutes left. However, on 3rd and 11, Will Howard aired the ball out to Jeremiah Smith and Smith caught the ball, which led to the game-closing field goal from Jayden Fieldings, to crown Ohio State as the first champions of the 12 team playoff.

QB Will Howard was named the National Championship Game Offensive MVP, who finished with 231 passing yards, two touchdown passes on 81% completion percentage, and no turnovers (ESPN). 

The 2024 College Football season has come to an end. Fans will have to wait until Saturday, August 23rd, 2025, to watch the Iowa State Cyclones face off against the Kansas State Wildcats in Dublin, Ireland. 

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