Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2025 19 1 Team has scored a touchdown on each of their first four drives of a national champion- ship game (dating back to 2014): Ohio State against Notre Dame in 2024. The Buckeyes put together scoring drives of 11 plays for 75 yards in 6:05, 10 plays for 76 yards in 6:06, 12 plays for 80 yards in 4:26 and 5 plays for 75 yards in 2:14 to take a com- manding 28-7 lead just more than two minutes into the second half. In their three previous College Football Playoff contests, the Fighting Irish defense surrendered only three drives of 75 yards or more (12 plays for 76 yards in 3:17 by Indiana in garbage time, and two by Penn State, 15 plays for 90 yards in 7:17 and 7 plays for 75 yards in 3:47). The last time a team scored touchdowns on their first three possessions was Alabama in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game. The Crimson Tide did it en route to crushing the Irish 42-14 in their last title game appearance. 5-19-1 Record for former Ohio State players turned coaches that have had their teams play against their alma mater. The list includes Marcus Freeman (0-3 vs. the Buck- eyes as head coach at Notre Dame), Luke Fickell (0-1 at Cincinnati; 0-1 at Wisconsin), Glen Mason (1-7 at Minnesota), Gary Moeller (0-3 at Illinois and 3-1-1 at Michigan) and Bo Pelini (1-3 at Nebraska). 13 Straight completions to start the game for Ohio State graduate student quarterback Will Howard — the most ever in a national title game. Howard did not throw an incompletion until 1:19 remained in the first half. He finished the first half 14 of 15 for 144 yards with 2 touchdowns, and ended the game 17 of 21 for 231 yards with the 2 scores for a CFP championship game-record 204.8 passer rating. He added 16 carries for 57 yards, while accounting for 18 (10 passing, eight rushing) of OSU's 21 first downs (not including one they got by penalty). Per OptaSTATS, only one FBS or NFL quarterback has had a game where he threw for 200-plus yards, rushed for 50-plus yards, completed 80 percent of his passes, started 10 of 10 or better and rushed for eight or more first downs in the last 20 years — OSU's Howard against the Irish. Howard fell 19 passing yards short of becoming just the seventh player with at least 250 passing yards and 50 rushing yards in a BCS or CFP cham- pionship game. That list includes Virginia Tech's Michael Vick (1999), Texas' Vince Young (2005), Florida's Tim Tebow (2008), Auburn's Cam Newton (2010), Clemson's Deshaun Watson (2015) and LSU's Joe Burrow (2019). With his outstanding performance, Howard be- came the first transfer signal-caller to lead his team to a national championship in his first year with his new team since Newton did it at Auburn in 2010. 18 Plays and 9:45 in time of possession for Notre Dame's 75-yard touchdown drive to open the game — the longest this season for the Irish in both plays and time. It also marked the longest in the history of the College Football Playoff, surpassing the previous highs of 12 plays (for 75 yards) and 6:39 by Ohio State against Oregon on Jan. 12, 2015. Unfortunately, on their next four possessions, the Irish managed just 11 yards on 11 plays while possessing the ball for just 5:06 of game time while falling behind 31-7. 27 Yards was the length of the field goal missed by graduate student kicker Mitch Jeter with 9:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame finished this season 4 of 10 (40.0 percent) on kicks inside the 40, the worst field goal percentage on those kicks in the FBS. 36 Years and counting for Notre Dame's na- tional title drought. The Irish, who last won in 1988, have the second-longest title drought among FBS teams that have at least 800 all-time wins. Only Penn State's is longer at 38 years. 60.6 Percent of Ohio State's offensive plays in the first half (20 of 33) were run in Notre Dame territory. The Buckeyes were 6 of 6 on third-down conversions in the first half, and finished the game 9 of 12 (75.0 percent). 89 Years since Notre Dame last defeated Ohio State on the gridiron. The last time the Fighting Irish beat the Buckeyes was 7-2 in 1936. The Buckeyes now lead the all-time series 7-2 and are 3-0 versus the Fighting Irish in postsea- son matchups, having defeated them twice in the Fiesta Bowl (following the 2005 and 2015 campaigns). 308 Total yards for Notre Dame marked the third-lowest total in CFP National Championship Game history, all in the last three years. In 2023, Georgia held TCU to 188 yards, and last year Michigan limited Washington to 301. BY THE NUMBERS BY STEVE DOWNEY 128 Receiving yards — a career high — on 6 receptions for sophomore wide receiver JADEN GREATHOUSE. It marked his second consecutive 100- yard game, the only two of the season for the Irish receiving corps. He also tied a career high with 2 touchdown catches. Greathouse had the most productive day for an Irish receiver in a postseason game since Lorenzo Styles — who was on the opposite sideline of the CFP title game as a defensive back for Ohio State — had 8 catches for 136 yards and 1 touchdown in the Irish's 37-35 loss to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER