Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
into the
College Football Playoff National Championship game on Monday night… sorta.
It proved to be the perfect distraction, but for a few hours, the eight-seeded
Ohio State Buckeyes took on the seventh-seeded
Notre Dame Fighting Irish in what proved to be a top-notch watch as it came down to the wire.
However, it didn’t start like that, as it appeared the Buckeyes had run away with the game after Quinshon Judkins ran in three touchdowns to put them up 31-7 with only about eight minutes left in the third quarter. But at that moment, the tides began to change, scoring two touchdowns and two two-point conversions in 14 minutes to cut the lead to 31-23.
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So, with just four minutes left, they made it a one-score game, but the Buckeyes came alive again. It started with a three-and-11 drive where Will Howard threw a deep 56-yard pass to freshman wide receiver
Jeremiah Smith, setting them up at the 10-yard line.
They opted for the 33-yard field goal from Jayden Fielding with less than a minute left in the game to secure the 34-23 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was pretty disappointed not to reach the top of the college football mountain but is confident that with the team’s talent, he can make another playoff run next season.
“We didn’t get it done, and it hurts. My job is to figure out why, and I will. But I told these guys they’ve left this program better. I don’t care if you were here for one year or you’ve been here for six years, our program is in a better place,” 39-year-old Freeman told
ESPN. “The outlook of Notre Dame football is extremely high. As long as the people in that locker room that come back understand what it takes, the work these guys have put in, there’s a lot of success in our future.”
See how social media reacted to the game below, including an awkward, nearly 90-second halftime message from President Trump.
