College Football

Ohio State's CFP national championship win vs. Notre Dame, by the numbers

Updated Jan. 21, 2025 4:57 a.m. ET

Ohio State and Notre Dame made history even before kickoff of the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship. The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish were the first two teams to reach the inaugural 12-team playoff title game.

On Monday night, Ohio State built a 31-7 lead in the third quarter before Notre Dame came charging back. The Buckeyes held on for the 34-23 win, thanks in part to a 56-yard completion from quarterback Will Howard to freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith late in the fourth quarter.

The win gave Ohio State head coach Ryan Day his first national title in his second appearance in a championship game. It's also the first national championship for the Buckeyes since the 2014 season.

Here are the other numbers to know from Ohio State's victory.

13: Howard connected on his first 13 passes against Notre Dame to set the record for consecutive completions in a College Football Playoff Championship game. Alabama's Mac Jones set the previous record with 12 completions in a row against Ohio State in the 2021 title game.

81%: Howard completed 17 of 21 passes (81%), the highest completion percentage by a quarterback in a national championship in the CFP era with a minium of 10 attempts (the previous record was 80.0% by Mac Jones).

906: Riley Leonard ran for 40 yards against Ohio State and set the Notre Dame single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback (906), breaking the original record (884) set by Tony Rice in 1989.

205: Emeka Egbuka became Ohio State's all-time leader in receptions with 205, passing K.J. Hill (201).

1,315: Jeremiah Smith broke the Big Ten single-season record for receiving yards by a freshman with 1,315, passing Purdue's Rondale Moore (1,258 in 2018). Smith previously became the Big Ten's freshman leader in TD receptions, ending the year with 15.

Jeremiah Smith 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes Freshman Season Highlights

3: Quinshon Judkins is the sixth player in the CFP era to have three scrimmage touchdowns in the national championship, joining Ezekiel Elliott, Travis Etienne Jr., Najee Harris, Derrick Henry and DeVonta Smith.

4: Ohio State is the first team to score a touchdown on each of its first four drives in a national championship game.

1,000: Ohio State finished the year with four 1,000-yard performers, the first time that's happened in a single season in Buckeye history (Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins).

6:05: Ohio State trailed Notre Dame for 6:05 after the Irish scored a touchdown on their opening drive. It was the first time the Buckeyes had trailed in this year's CFP. The Buckeyes responded with a touchdown on their first offensive drive to tie it at 7-7 and never fell behind again.

5: Ohio State's five wins vs. AP top-five opponents this season is not only the most since the FBS/FCS split in 1978, but also the most in the AP poll era (since 1936); four of its five wins came in the CFP.

9: Ohio State won its ninth college football national championship, tied with USC for the sixth-most ever after Michigan (10), Notre Dame (13), Princeton (15), Alabama (16) and Yale (18).

5-19-1: Former Ohio State players-turned-coaches are now 5-19-1 against the Buckeyes. Marcus Freeman (0-3 with Notre Dame) joins Luke Fickell (0-1 at Cincinnati and 0-1 at Wisconsin), Glen Mason (1-7 at Minnesota), Gary Moeller (0-3 at Illinois, 3-1-1 at Michigan) and Bo Pelini (1-3 at Nebraska).

7: Ohio State has now won seven straight meetings against Notre Dame and is 7-2 all-time against the Irish; Notre Dame's only wins in the series came in 1935 and 1936.

8-4: Ryan Day is now 8-4 in postseason play, and has become the fifth coach in Buckeye history to win a national championship (Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer).

45: Ryan Day is the youngest head coach (45) to win the national championship since Urban Meyer in 2008 (44).

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