The win was OSU’s ninth championship in history and the first since 2014. OSU was the No. 8-seeded team in the playoffs while Notre Dame was No. 7. The victory was the first championship for OSU coach Ryan Day. 

“The story gets to get told now,” Day told ESPN. “It’s a great story about a bunch of guys who have overcome some really tough situations. There was a point where there was a lot of people that counted us out, and we just kept swinging and kept fighting.”

Day also expressed his pride in his team’s overcoming of adversity. He said what his team endured this year provided valuable life lessons that will help them beyond the football field. He cited this kind of personal development in his players as one of the main reasons he wanted to become a head coach.

“It’s the reason you get into coaching, to see guys overcome things, learn life lessons, and then reach their dreams,” Day said. “This is what happened tonight.”

The second quarter was the difference in the game for both teams. OSU scored three touchdowns and took a commanding 21-7 lead into halftime. The Buckeyes added 10 more points in the third quarter and never looked back, putting the game out of reach for Notre Dame and sealing the championship victory. 

Notre Dame sought to win its first title since 1988 when Lou Holtz was coach. Monday night was the school’s first appearance in a championship game since 2013. It came into the game riding a 13-game winning streak, including a thrilling victory at the Orange Bowl semifinal game against Penn State. In the end, the Fighting Irish just couldn’t get it done, a sentiment the team’s coach, Marcus Freeman, expressed. 

“We didn’t get it done, and it hurts,” Freeman said. “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.”

Despite the defeat, Freeman believes his football team’s best days have yet to come.

“The outlook of Notre Dame football is extremely high,” the Notre Dame coach said. “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.”