Jan. 21—ATLANTA — Ohio State claimed its ninth national championship with a 34-23 win over Notre Dame on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.The Buckeyes finished the first half on a 21-0 run to take a two-touchdown lead into the locker room at halftime then held off the Fighting Irish in the second half.Notre Dame got the opening kickoff and put together the exact type of drive the Fighting Irish likely expected to need to win the game.They used 18 plays to go 75 yards and take 9:45 off the clock before Riley Leonard scored from 1 yard out. That was the Notre Dame quarterback's ninth carry on the drive, and it resembled most of the others as he lined up in the shotgun and went up the middle against a spread out defense.He also completed three passes, but the thrust of the attack was obvious.The Irish covered two third downs and two fourth downs along the way to the end zone.Ohio State answered with its own type of quintessential drive, mixing the run and pass to go 75 yards in 11 plays. A play-action throwback pass from Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith covered the last eight yards to tie the score at 7 less than a minute into the second quarter.The Buckeyes stuffed Notre Dame on the following drive then drove 76 yards for a goahead touchdown. Quinshon Judkins capped the drive with a 9-yard run on which he did most of the work, breaking two tackles against a loaded up defensive front and stretching the ball into the end zone with 6:15 left in the second quarter.After another Ohio State stop, the Buckeyes went to work again from their own 20 with 4:53 left.Howard remained hot, moving the chains with his arms and his feet before finding Judkins alone in the end zone on a scramble drill. The 6-yard touchdown gave Ohio State a 21-7 lead with 27 seconds left.Howard completed 14 of 15 passes in the first half for 144 yards and two touchdowns.Emeka Egbuka was his top target, catching four passes for 33 yards to break the record for career receptions at Ohio State, while Smith also caught four passes for 32 yards.TreVeyon Henderson ran for 37 yards on seven carries while Judkins added 26 yards on six carries.Notre Dame gained only 18 yards after its opening drive, finishing the half with 93, while Ohio State had ...
