Ohio State beats Notre Dame 34-23 in college football championship gameExBulletin

Ohio State celebrates after their victory against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday in Atlanta.

Brynn Anderson/AP

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Brynn Anderson/AP

ATLANTA The pass seemed to hang there forever. Did it feel like seven weeks? Did it feel like 10 years?

What a great debate for Ohio State fans forever.

When that drop of a throw from Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard on third-and-11 late in the fourth quarter Monday finally landed light as a feather in the hands of receiver Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State had a 34-year-old locked up. 23 victory over Notre Dame for the sixth national title and first in ten years.

It was that 56-yard gain that capped a feverish comeback at Notre Dame and made the Buckeyes champions of the sport's first 12-team playoff, just as they were champions of the sport's first four-team tournament a decade ago teams.

“They were covering guys and I said, 'Hey, I'm going to let this go and let him make a play on it,'” Howard said of a play that seemed about 100 years removed from Ohio State's once program-defining program . Three meters and a cloud of dust.”

Ohio State place kicker Jayden Fielding kicks a field goal against Notre Dame during the second half of the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday in Atlanta.

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Jacob Kupferman/FR171784AP

This was a victory that almost no one thought possible just seven weeks ago on Nov. 30, when a 13-10 loss to Michigan led to a near riot on the field and questions about whether coach Ryan Day would keep his job if the calendar would turn.

“It's a great story about a bunch of guys who just overcame some really tough situations, and at the point where a lot of people were ignoring us, they just kept waving and kept fighting,” Day said.

Buckeyes were on cruise control and suddenly ND came to life

It could have been so much sweeter because of the way it played out in a packed stadium in the middle of SEC land that looked like a Christmas tree. Ohio State fans were in red on one half and Notre Dame in green on the other.

Trailing 31-7, Notre Dame scored two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to make it a one-score game late in the fourth quarter. The stadium camera found legendary Irish coach Lou Holtz in his luxury box, ignoring all those cheering Buckeye fans and giving him a thumbs up.

But Notre Dame's time was running out. After stopping the Buckeyes on their first two plays and using their timeouts, the Irish posted Christian Gray, whose interception capped Notre Dame's semifinal win over Penn State in one post on Smith.

Smith came up the right sideline behind Gray and Howard dropped his best pass of the season into the hands of the second-team All-American.

It set up a field goal that started the celebration in earnest, and also helped Ohio State cover the 8 1/2-point spread at BetMGM Sportsbook.

Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding celebrates his field goal against Notre Dame in the college football championship on Monday.

Jacob Kupferman/FR171784 AP

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Jacob Kupferman/FR171784 AP

“It was do or die, it was that kind of down,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “He's a great player. He's hard to cover.”

Howard and Judkins are making the transfer portal pay off for Ohio State

Howard, a Kansas State success story, threw for 231 yards and two scores, but nothing can beat the pass to Smith with everything on the line.

The receiver, who was locked up by Texas in the semifinals and then fairly quiet for most of this game, finally broke free because of the type of play he's been making all year. He finished with five catches for 88 yards.

“We felt like at the end we wanted to give Jeremiah that opportunity,” Day said. “We really hadn't thrown it all night, but I thought, 'You know what, let's be aggressive, let's do this and put it on the line.'”

Ohio State didn't really look like a team that needed to take risks after scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions, then adding a field goal on the fifth.

When Quinshon Judkins (100 yards, 11 carries, three TDs), a transfer from Mississippi who highlighted Ohio State's judicious use of the ever-expanding portal, busted a 70-yard run to run up the score that tied the score 28-7, watched the game.

That wasn't the case, and now Freeman will have to answer some tough questions: one about the botched fake kick in the third quarter that resulted in a field goal for a 31-7 lead; the other about sending Mitch Jeter in for a short field goal attempt while trailing by 16 and facing fourth-and-goal from the 9. It might have seemed like a better decision if Jeter's kick hadn't cleared off the left upright.

“I know it's still a two-score game, but you're more likely to get 14 points than 16 points,” Freeman said.

Ohio State dominated most of the night, and throughout the playoffs

Ohio State celebrates after their victory against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday in Atlanta.

Brynn Anderson/AP

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Brynn Anderson/AP

But actually Ohio State was the better team. The Buckeyes outgained Notre Dame 445 yards to 308. Howard completed his first 13 passes and was never really stopped. Ohio State scored once in total.

The Buckeyes played four games in the new, expanded playoff. What great timing for Ohio State was that the tournament grew to a dozen teams in a year when it wasn't even playing for the Big Ten title with an average score of 36-21.

Ohio State was seeded eighth, but the seeding was virtually meaningless. The bottom seed won every game in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and the Buckeyes dominated in this No. 7 vs. No. 8 title match.

A nice ending to a season that almost got away

It puts to rest, for now, any concerns about Michigan's 13-10 loss in the fourth straight game to Ohio State in November in the series that ended with a brawl after Wolverine players tried to plant a flag at midfield.

The whole scene left many people, both inside and outside Buckeye circles, thinking that Day, in his sixth season, had outlived his usefulness on a campus that hadn't tasted a title in a decade.

Instead, the Ohio State marching band can dot the “I” with the national title trophy next time. And Day can join a list of title-winning coaches that includes Urban Meyer (2014) Jim Tressel (2002), Woody Hayes (“Three yards and a cloud of dust”) and Paul Brown (who later became the namesake of the NFL's Cleveland Browns ).

Additionally, Day's .873 winning percentage entering the game was third among coaches with 50+ games, one spot behind none other than Notre Dame legend Knute Rockne himself.

Notre Dame's loss means college football has never had a black coach win a national title. Freeman tried to be the first.

Instead, a different kind of history. This was the first time the Big Ten had won back-to-back titles since 1942. Last year's champion was Michigan, which was watching at home but still played a special role in a Buckeyes redemption story that almost no one saw coming.