Ryan Day and Ohio State defeat the Fighting Irish

Ohio State took on Notre Dame at the 2025 College Football National Championship. A must win game for Ryan Day and Ohio State as they have faced much criticism not only this year, but really over the better part of 5 years. Some big losses for each team, Notre Dame losing to unranked Northern Illinois… yes that’s right if you don’t remember NIU beat Notre Dame AT Notre Dame super early in the season and ND was hit with the fraud talk. Since that loss, they were unstoppable and a force to be reckoned with. Ohio State’s biggest loss where they were then on fraud alert was losing to their rival, “that team up north.” Also known as Michigan, the former champions who have owned Ohio State over the last few years. Michigan, even with an average team this year, still took it to the Buckeyes and upsetted them, which made us question everything about the Buckeyes and Ryan Day’s team yet again. But in the end, Ohio State powered their way to a National Championship beating Notre Dame 34-23. 

The game started quickly with Riley Leonard marching down the field with the Fighting Irish’s offense, they scored right off the jump. It was looking like Notre Dame was going to be able to run and throw all over an average Ohio State defense. Boy were we wrong…

Ohio State went on to score 31 unanswered points. Yes that’s right, 31 unanswered points in a National Championship game. Notre Dame’s defense was totally exposed and Riley Leonard could not hold up with Ohio State’s defense. The Fighting Irish were being run and passed all over, Ohio State making big plays, while ND’s offense went completely mercurial. ND finally scored a couple touchdowns in garbage time, but after letting up 31 unanswered points it was clear that Ohio State was going to be the winner of this game. 

Will Howard looked awfully similar in player comp to JJ McCarthy. Both similar QBs who take advantage of the system they are playing in and get the job done. Both definitely not the best QBs in CFB, but they know how to win and how to manage an offense. Howard was very consistent the whole game going 17/21 with 231 yards and 2 touchdowns. Not to mention, with all the time they were on the field he did not throw a pickoff. Quinshon Judkins was another force to be reckoned with, running all over ND’s broken defense. He ran for 100 yards on 11 carries with 2 touchdowns. Jeremiah Smith was Howard’s go-to receiver who caught 5 receptions for 88 yards, averaging 17.6 per catch, and he caught a touchdown. 

Ohio State is back on top of the college football world, as the championship stays in the Big 10. 

Cameron Williams

DiSportsPhotoAgency

Senior Writer