CFW Week 22 Results – Two teams on a mission
Michigan was the best thing
that happened to Ohio State
Ohio State was the worst thing that happened to Notre Dame.
Two teams on a mission. After losing to Michigan on November 20, Ohio State went on a roll. The Buckeyes were relentless. Ohio State rolled over Tennessee, 42-17, Oregon, 41-21, and Texas 28-14 – all in the college football playoff.
After losing to Northern Illinois on September 7, Notre Dame went on a roll. The Irish proceeded to win 13-straight games, including the last three of those games in the college football playoff.
Ohio State’s three-game roll was up against Notre Dame’s 13-game winning streak. Two teams on a mission.
In the national championship game last night, Ohio State continued to be relentless for two and a half quarters. With less than four minutes to go in the third quarter, the Buckeyes led Notre Dame, 31-7. But Notre Dame rallied with two unanswered touchdowns and two 2-point conversions. With 4:15 remaining in the game, the Irish trailed Ohio State, 31-23.
At about 3:00 remaining in the game, Notre Dame’s defense was looking good. The Irish had the Buckeyes facing a 3rd-and-11. That’s when Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith became Notre Dame’s worst nightmare. Howard hit Smith on a 56-yard pass play. Ohio State had the ball deep in Notre Dame territory. The Buckeyes went on to kick a 33-yard field goal. Ohio State ended Notre Dame’s 13-game winning streak. Ohio State was the worst thing that happened to Notre Dame. The Buckeyes won the national championship, beating the Irish, 34-23.
Notre Dame’s mission was looking good as the game began. Ohio State kicked off to the Irish. On its first possession, Notre Dame methodically moved the ball for 75 yards down the field to score the opening touchdown. At the 5:15 mark in the first quarter, Notre Dame led Ohio State, 7-0. Irish quarterback Riley Leonard scored the touchdown on a one-yard run. Leonard ran the ball nine times for 34 yards in the drive.
Ohio State’s mission was looking good too. On the Buckeyes’ first possession, they moved 75 yards down the field, scoring on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith. At the 14:10 mark in the second quarter, the score was 7-7. We had a ball game.
However, Ohio State really was on a mission. The Buckeyes were on a roll. They proceeded to score the next 24 unanswered points. Ohio State led 21-7 at halftime and 31-7 in the third quarter. Near the end of the first half, Howard had completed his first 14-straight passes of the game. The Buckeyes had three possessions in the first half, and they scored on all three possessions.
Ohio State came out in the second half and scored on its next two possessions. After scoring on its opening possession of the game, Notre Dame failed to score on its next four possessions. At the14:46 mark in the third quarter, Notre Dame recovered an Ohio State fumble. It was the Buckeyes’ first fumble since the November 2 game against Penn State. However, the Notre Dame drive following the Ohio State fumble ended in a missed field goal for the Irish.
It’s hard to win games when you have a one-man offense. Quarterback Riley Leonard was the only offense Notre Dame had. Leonard was 22-31-0, passing for 255 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 40 yards and another touchdown. Actually, the Irish became a two-man offense in the second half when Leonard finally found receiver Jaden Greathouse. Greathouse had 6 catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
On offense for Ohio State, the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame with a good mix of running and passing. Of the Buckeyes’ 445 total yards, 231 yards were from passing and 214 from running. Notre Dame only had 53 yards rushing. Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was 17-21-0, passing for 21 yards and two touchdowns. Howard also rushed for 57 yards. Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins rushed for 100. TreVeyon Henderson added 49 yards rushing. Receiver Jeremiah Smith ended up with 5 catches for 88 yards, while Emeka Egbuka had 6 catches for 64 yards.
Yeah, who knows? If Ohio State had not lost to Michigan at the end of the regular season, the Buckeyes might have become complacent against one of the playoff opponents and never made it to the championship. If Notre Dame had not lost to Northern Illinois early in the season, the Irish might not have made it to the championship game. Both teams were on a mission.
Both Ohio State and Notre Dame completed their seasons with identical 14-2 records. Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame was the second-straight national championship for the Big Ten Conference. Last year, Michigan beat Washington, 34-13, in the title game.
Attendance at the game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was 77,660.
Ticket resale prices for the championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame started at $1,800 and averaged $2,500. The average resale price per ticket for last year’s matchup between Washington and Michigan was $1,800.
Indiana laid off 25 athletic department employees Monday, as the school prepares for revenue sharing – the paying of athletes – which begins for all NCAA schools on July 1, 2025. Auburn announced that its ticket prices would be increasing to compensate for the revenue sharing.
MLB catcher, sportscaster, author, actor and humorist Bob Uecker died last week. In the 1960s, Uecker played six seasons in Major League Baseball with four different teams. He won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964. Following his baseball career, Uecker was the primary play-by-play announcer and broadcaster for the Milwaukee Bucks for 54 years. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Robert George Uecker was 90.
Quotes of the Week
“I say all the time to my players. The first time you got on a bike you didn’t just ride the bike. You fell down. And how quickly did you learn from falling down to get back on the bike to learn to ride the bike,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day.
Touchdown Tom
January 21, 2025
https://collegefootballweek.blogspot.com
(The next and season’s last CFW – Week 23 Farewell – will be posted Monday morning, January 27.)
No comments:
Post a Comment