On Monday January 20th at 7:30 pm eastern time, the 13-2 Ohio State Buckeyes played the 14-1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the College Football National Championship at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta Georgia. The Buckeyes last game was an impressive 28-14 win over the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl on January 10th.  Notre Dame’s last game was a 27-24 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Orange Bowl on January 9th.  Ohio State went into this game an 8.5-point favorite and has been impressive in College Football Playoffs since their disappointing loss on November 30th to Michigan. Experts and predictors expected Ohio State to have a big game offensively over the Irish. And for the Buckeyes defense to feast on the injury riddled Notre Dame offensive line.

Notre Dame opened the game on offense, they drove for a 75 yard, 9:45 touchdown drive. After that Ohio State answered with a Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith touchdown pass to tie the game. Ohio State went on to score two more touchdowns while the Buckeyes defense did not give up another first down to the Notre Dame offense in the first half. At halftime the Ohio State Buckeyes led the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 21-7. In the second half Ohio State drove 75 yards in 2:46 to score a touchdown and lead 28-7. After a botched fake punt by Notre Dame, Ohio State added a field goal to lead 31-7 with 7:52 left in the third quarter. Notre Dame did show a lot of fight to claw back to within eight points of the Buckeyes in the fourth quarter. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame are a good football team and that is why they were playing in this game in the first place. But the Ohio State Buckeyes prevailed over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish by a final score of 34-23 to win the National Championship of College Football.

This is the first National Championship for the Ohio State Buckeyes since 2014. As a beat writer I have always felt that the 2014 team was special. But the 2024 / 2025 Ohio State Buckeyes National Championship team showed more grit and determination that I have ever seen in any Buckeyes team. This championship was more than special for Ohio State and their fans. It was historic and it will always be remembered in the Buckeye State. Buckeyes fans will always shout “O-H” and get the ready reply of “I-O”. Congratulations Coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes 2025 National Champions.