Honestly, if you weren't sitting in a stadium seat in Atlanta on January 20, 2025, you might have missed just how heavy the tension felt. People were talking about a "new era" for months, but when the Ohio State Buckeyes finally hoisted the trophy after beating Notre Dame 34–23, it felt less like a new era and more like a return to the old one. Except, you know, with a 12-team playoff bracket that felt like a marathon.
The Buckeyes won. They took home their ninth national title. It was Ryan Day’s first, and man, did he need it.
The Night Ohio State Took Over
It started ugly for the Buckeyes. Notre Dame came out and basically tried to suffocate the clock. They had this 18-play opening drive that felt like it took three hours. Riley Leonard was just plunging forward, four yards here, three yards there. By the time he scored that 1-yard touchdown to put the Irish up 7–0, nearly ten minutes had melted off the clock.
Then things got weird.
Ohio State didn't panic. They just... accelerated. Will Howard, the transfer from Kansas State who everyone spent the summer doubting, started carving. He finished 17-of-21 for 231 yards. Not "Madden" numbers, sure, but he was efficient. He found the freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith for an 8-yard score to tie it, and suddenly the momentum didn't just shift—it evaporated for Notre Dame.
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The Quinshon Judkins Show
If we’re being real, Quinshon Judkins was the difference. He scored three times. He had a 9-yard run where he basically refused to fall down, a 6-yard catch from Howard, and then a 1-yard plunge.
- Final Score: Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 23
- Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
- Attendance: 77,660 fans (mostly in scarlet)
Notre Dame tried a late comeback. They actually got within eight points in the fourth quarter after Jaden Greathouse caught his second touchdown of the night. It felt like one of those "here we go again" moments for Ohio State fans who remember the heartbreak of years past. But Jayden Fielding knocked through a 33-yard field goal with 26 seconds left to ice the whole thing.
Why This Championship Was Different
This wasn't just another trophy for the case in Columbus. This was the first time a team had to navigate the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. To win the football national championship last year, Ohio State had to beat Tennessee in the first round, Oregon in the Rose Bowl, and Texas in the Cotton Bowl before they even got to Atlanta.
Think about that. Four playoff games. It’s basically an NFL postseason run.
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The Buckeyes finished 14–2. They weren't perfect—they actually lost twice in the regular season—but they got hot when the weather got cold. That's the formula now. You don't have to be undefeated; you just have to be the last one standing in January.
What Most People Get Wrong About the 2024-25 Season
There’s a common misconception that Notre Dame "backed into" the title game. They didn't. They beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and Penn State in the Orange Bowl. They were legitimate. Marcus Freeman has that program humming, even if they couldn't handle the Buckeyes' defensive front when it counted.
Speaking of defense, JT Tuimoloau and Cody Simon were possessed. Simon had eight tackles and was named the defensive MVP. They held Notre Dame to just 63 yards on the ground. You aren't winning a national title in 2025 if you can't run the ball, and the Irish found that out the hard way.
The Pro-Level Context: Super Bowl LIX
Since we're talking about national championships, we can't ignore the "other" big one. Just a few weeks after the Buckeyes celebrated, the Philadelphia Eagles dismantled the Kansas City Chiefs 40–22 in Super Bowl LIX.
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It was a weird month for football.
The Eagles denied Patrick Mahomes his three-peat. Jalen Hurts was the MVP, and DeVonta Smith became one of the few players to ever win a Heisman, a CFP National Championship, and a Super Bowl. It was a dominant performance in New Orleans that mirrored what Ohio State did in Atlanta—early defensive pressure that just broke the opponent's will.
How to Follow This Year's Title Race
If you're trying to track who might win it all this time around, keep an eye on these specific metrics that defined last year's winner:
- Transfer Portal Stability: Will Howard was the missing piece for OSU. Look for teams that filled a specific "veteran" hole at QB rather than just recruiting a 5-star freshman.
- Depth on the Defensive Line: The 12-team playoff is a war of attrition. Teams that rotate 8-10 linemen (like Ohio State did) tend to have fresher legs in the fourth quarter of the final.
- Red Zone Efficiency: Last year, Ohio State was nearly perfect in the red zone during the playoffs. Field goals lose games in January; touchdowns win them.
The Buckeyes showed that the blueprint for a national title has changed. It's no longer about a perfect September; it's about surviving a brutal December and January.
Check the current AP Top 25 and look at the "Strength of Schedule" remaining. The teams with the most "battle-tested" losses are often better bets for the playoff than the undefeated teams from weaker conferences. Last year's Ohio State run proved that a loss in October is just a footnote if you can win four straight in the winter.