Notre Dame had few answers for Will Howard and the Ohio State offense Monday night. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
There’s a new standard in the College Football Playoff era.
Will Howard has set it. The Ohio State quarterback completed his first 13 passes against Notre Dame in Monday’s CFP National Championship Game against Notre Dame. The start set the tone for a 34-23 Buckeyes win for the program’s first national championship since 2014.
The 13 straight completions are the most in a CFP championship game since college football switched from the BCS to the CFP in 2014. No quarterback in the 10 previous CFP title games threw 13 consecutive completions at any point, much less started a game 13 of 13.
It added up to a dominant start for the Buckeyes, who raced out to a 21-7 halftime lead after allowing an opening-drive touchdown to the Irish. Howard was pinpoint throughout the half, completing 14 of 15 passes for 144 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers.
He slowed down after halftime and finished the game completing 17 of 21 passes for 231 yard with two touchdowns and no turnovers. But his third-and-11, 56-yard bomb to standout freshman Jeremiah Smith in the final three minutes thwarted a Notre Dame comeback bid and allowed Ohio State to extend its lead to 10 points with 26 seconds remaining.
Howard’s only incompletion of the first half required a tremendous effort from All-America Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts to break up a pass intended for TreVeyon Henderson in the red zone with 1:12 remaining in the half.
No matter for Howard and the Buckeyes. Howard followed up with an 11-yard run for a first down before finding Quinshon Judkins in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown.
The score capped Ohio State’s third touchdown in three first-half drives in a perfect start for the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State’s first touchdown saw Howard find Smith for a walk-in touchdown from eight yards.
That touchdown marked the fourth time in four playoff games this season that Ohio State scored a touchdown on its opening drive.
The dominance continued in the second half as the Buckeyes took the opening possession of the third quarter 75 yards on five plays for a touchdown to extend their lead to 28-7. That drive was almost all Judkins, who set up his own 1-yard touchdown run with a 70-yard scamper from the Ohio State 25-yard line.
The touchdown was Judkins’ third of the night as he joined Howard as the co-star of Ohio State’s sizzling offensive showcase. The score also marked the first time in either the CFP or BCS era that a team scored a touchdown on each of its first four possessions in a national championship game.
Notre Dame threw the first punch Monday night. But Ohio State responded with an overwhelming offensive effort that the Irish had no answer for.
