michael cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
ATLANTA — As the last few songs of “Carmen Ohio” floated toward the cavernous roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Ohio State’s players and coaches took their arms off each other’s shoulders and used them to celebrate the state’s newest national team in college football. I used the spelling. Champions live there. It’s a tradition the Buckeyes celebrate after every game, home or away, win or loss, and there was no happier feeling than Monday night when the ninth national championship in program history was secured with a 34-23 victory. Notre Dame. Dear alma mater… Ohio!
Sitting at the celebratory podium where this year’s trophy presentation was just completed, Ohio State coach Ryan Day offered a variation on the traditional arm motion that concludes the song. Instead of mimicking the letters OHIO with his teammates like he usually does, Day held up a 50-pound award made of gold, bronze and stainless steel. He has finally completed his long and painful climb to the top of his scrutinized profession.
And how satisfying do you think that moment must have been for Day after everything he’s put through this season and the previous three? None of those included a Big Ten championship or a win over archrival Michigan. How beautiful would the song have been on this night and on this stage, juxtaposed with the hollow echo of Ohio Stadium on Nov. 30, as the Buckeyes lost their fourth straight game to the Wolverines and a brawl broke out near midfield. -The spray reality that I couldn’t empathize with Haru, who was shocked and bewildered. How lovely it would have been to hug his family if he had known that his children would not be bullied when they returned to school later this week, and that his wife would not have to worry about death threats aimed at her husband. Even the more enjoyable postgame scenes following the demolition of Tennessee, Oregon and Texas left lingering questions about Day’s future if Ohio State falls short against Notre Dame.
“I think in this day and age there’s so much going on with winning and losing and social media and people have to write articles and they have so much to say,” Day said shortly after midnight Tuesday morning. Yes, it will definitely affect you and your family. But when you apply for this job you have to be strong enough to weather the storm. It’s much better now. story.”
The story of Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame was about an unstoppable offense that scored touchdowns on its first four possessions and converted 9 of 12 attempts on third downs to take a 31-7 lead midway through the third quarter. no see. This was about a defense that responded after hitting a wall on the game’s opening drive by surrendering just 11 yards combined on its next four series, none of which resulted in a score. It’s about Jayden Fielding’s vicious kicker, who connected from 46 and 33 yards to keep the Fighting Irish at arm’s length in the second half. It’s about a key third-down conversion just before a two-minute timeout when the coaching staff beat freshman Jeremiah Smith over man coverage for a 56-yard completion that effectively put the game away.
But the story of Ohio State’s national championship cannot be told without exploring the growth and maturity of Day, who followed Urban Meyer in 2019 and spent the better part of a decade pondering and toiling from the first iteration to finally perfecting the formula. Of the 12-team playoffs. That said, the story of this year’s title is Day’s hiring of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State and his decision to stick with him after sloppy performances against Michigan (twice) and Georgia, and Knowles ultimately leading his unit in 2024. It’s about things like turning it into a force. It’s about Day identifying and recruiting former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard (17-of-21, 231 yards, 2 TDs). Leadership and talent were what the Buckeyes needed after a disappointing time with Kyle McCord. Here’s a look at how Day relates to the 2021 recruiting class. Most of them decided to bypass the NFL draft and come back for one more chance at winning it all. It’s about Day’s willingness to give up play-calling duties and hire then-UCLA head coach Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator to become more involved in other parts of the program, such as roster construction and fundraising. It is the most powerful transit portal in the country. It’s about Day’s incredible determination to lead Ohio State back to four straight postseason wins over No. 7, No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 teams after another terrible loss to Michigan when the College Football Playoff bracket was released. .
“I don’t know if other people were surprised,” Kelly said Monday night. . ‘Run with it because you were made for it.’ And the way he’s led this group – the players will say the same thing. – That’s what he always talked about, Ohio Against the World. “Because we were the center against the world.”
Still, there was always an expectation that Ohio State would come to Atlanta and take down Notre Dame, just as the Buckeyes had dominated their three previous playoff opponents by a combined score of 111-52. “They chant intermittently.oh! … io!” began rattling around downtown Atlanta shortly after 1 p.m. Monday. Hundreds of fans marched parade-style down Peachtree Street toward the stadium, all of them united against the unseasonably cold temperatures. The cheers from Ohio State’s pregame demonstrations were heard more than 60 times through the thick windows of the media hotel on the ground floor, a testament to the passion of Ohio State’s fan base and how laxly enforced open container laws can be. South block, A rotating billboard at the intersection of Marietta Street NW and Centennial Olympic Park Drive repeatedly flashed an Ohio State advertisement that said, “We’re taking things one game at a time.”
Their marketing efforts were placed just a stone’s throw from SkyView Atlanta, a giant observation wheel across the street where fans of both schools pose in front of the Olympic Stadium. Ireland’s stalwart family of fighters wore matching shamrock hats that wrapped around their heads and under their chins, with their faces poking out through the center where each leaf came together. Closer to the stadium, where valet attendants use propane heating tanks to keep warm, the Notre Dame equipment truck is painted from stern to cabin with statistics that will never need updating: 11 CONSENSUS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS” in white letters, bookended with shamrocks. .
And for a moment, albeit somewhat briefly, the possibility of another national title for Notre Dame certainly felt real. The fact that the Fighting Irish turned their opening possession into an 18-play, 75-yard odyssey, featuring back-to-back offensive scoring runs by quarterback Riley Leonard, who broke through Knowles’ defense with relative ease, is what coach Marcus Freeman and his band of independent underdogs have actually done in college football. You can hang out with the most explosive teams in . When Leonard crossed the goal line untouched for a 1-yard score to give Notre Dame an early lead, the stadium’s lively minority erupted in eardrum-ringing cheers. Day was so embarrassed by what happened that he spent the entire media timeout before kickoff studying film on his tablet, hovering near the 35-yard line in between occasional aimless wanderings.
“I would say first drives are not our signature,” linebacker Cody Simon said. “We expected to go out and dominate.”
Domination came soon after, and Day’s visceral display of emotion emphasized how much he longed for this national title after years of personal and familial tension. He pumped his fist twice and lifted his leg as tailback Quinshon Judkins powered past a tackler and into the end zone for a 14-7 advantage. He joined the crowd in cheering the Bronx when Notre Dame’s offense was flagged for holding. This was the first penalty against an Ohio State opponent since September. He jumped into the air and waved his arms excitedly when the Fighting Irish’s fake punt pass fell incomplete a few feet from where Day was standing. And when his players sprayed him with Gatorade in a waning moment (at which point a Buckeyes victory was certain), he jumped into the arms of offensive tackle Josh Fryar and howled with joy.
About 20 minutes later, after a back-and-forth between the trophy presentation and a rendition of “Carmen Ohio,” Day left the field under the thickest patches of Ohio State fans. It’s been just seven weeks since Day did the same in a crushing home loss to Michigan, at which point he was met with a barrage of abuse, insults and calls for him to resign. This time, Day simply raised his right hand while thousands of Buckeyes cheered him on.
“Nothing is guaranteed,” Day said. “But I always have in my heart that the people of Ohio and everyone in the Buckeye Nation go through difficult times and after seeing the team and coaches go through difficult times to achieve their goals and I hope they are all proud of what we did .”
Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with a focus on the Big Ten. follow him @Michael_Cohen13.
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