How Ohio State tuned out the doubters and unleashed a run for the ages
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Ryan McGee
ATLANTA — The 2025 edition of the College Football Playoff National Championship game was not about vengeance. It wasn’t about proving people wrong. Nor was it about wadding up a scarlet and gray rag and stuffing it directly into the mouths of the chorale of outside noise.
Bless their hearts, that’s what the Ohio State football team and coaching staff kept telling us. That beating Notre Dame on Monday night and winning the school’s first national title in a decade wasn’t about any of that stuff.
But yeah, it totally was.
“We worked really hard to tune out the outside noise, truly,” confessed Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, words spoken on the field moments after having a national champions T-shirt pulled over his shoulders and punctuated by slaps to those shoulders from his current teammates as well as Buckeyes of days gone by. “But outside noise can also be a great way to bring a team together. You close the doors to the locker room to lock all that out, bunker down together and go to work. That’s what it did for us. I think anyone on this team will tell you that.”
Well, now they will. Finally.
The “it’s not about that” mantra was what the Buckeyes kept repeating, in unison, beginning way back in the summer weeks leading into a campaign when they were voted No. 2 in the nation in both preseason polls. Those expectations were earned in no small part because of a much-hyped offseason, powered by an NIL shopping spree worth $20 million, according to athletic director Ross Bjork, to lure transfers from around the nation.
We were told that, no, it wasn’t about those players justifying their decisions to change teams. Like Howard, who came to Ohio State from Kansas State, and running back Quinshon Judkins, who became a Buckeye after carrying the football at Ole Miss. Both are still viewed as traitors by many at the places they departed. But no, it was never about sending a message that they were right to pack up and move to Columbus.
Yeah, right.
“When people asked me why I left Ole Miss to come here, my answer was always the same: To go somewhere that I could win a national championship,” said Judkins, who scored three of Ohio State’s four touchdowns against the Fighting Irish. He grew up one state over from the site of the CFP title game, 270 miles away in Montgomery, Alabama. “Now, that championship has happened. And I’m not going to lie: To do it back here in the South, in Atlanta, in front of so many people who have known about me all the way back to high school, that makes it even more special.”
We were told that, no, it wasn’t about the all-star coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who once served as head coach with the Oregon Ducks, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers and left the same gig at UCLA to take a demotion at Ohio State. In no way was this winter about proving that Kelly hadn’t lost the edge that once had him hailed as a mastermind of modern football offenses.
Um, OK.
“For me, it feels good to have fun again,” said Kelly, 61, flashing a face-splitter grin rarely seen during his NFL and UCLA tenures. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day, 45, is a Kelly protégé, having been coached by Kelly as a New Hampshire player. Kelly’s playcalling that has been a CFP bulldozer scored touchdowns on Ohio State’s first four drives. “I never forgot how to coach. But maybe I forgot how to have fun at the job.”
“I know this,” Kelly added, laughing. “It’s a lot more fun when you’re moving the football and winning.”
And, man, we were told so many times that in no way was this season or postseason about hitting a reset button on the perception of Day, in his sixth season as the leader of an Ohio State football program that is second to none when it comes to pride but also exceeded by none when it comes to pressure. Day dipped deep from that “Guys, it’s not about me” well on the evening of Nov. 30, after his fourth straight regular-season defeat at the hands of arch nemesis Michigan. When the Buckeyes were awarded an at-large berth in the newly expanded 12-team CFP, he once again implored to anyone who would listen that the narrative of his team’s postseason should be about its destiny rather than the future of the coach.
For a month of CFP games and days, all the way up until Monday’s kickoff, Day reminded us all that none of this was about him. Even though a security detail was assigned to his home in Columbus ever since the Michigan game. Even as the internet was aflame with posts about his job security and memes questioning his choice of beard dyes. Even as, in the days leading into the title game, his wife opened up to a Columbus TV station about the family’s dealings with death threats.
And even as, during the championship game itself, Ohio State’s seemingly insurmountable lead shrank from 31-7 midway through the third quarter to a scant eight points in the closing minutes.
But as the clock finally hit zeroes and the scoreboard read “Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 23” with OSU-colored confetti raining down over the Buckeyes’ heads, the story — as told by the team itself — was indeed suddenly about Day, and his staff, and his players, and their shared personification of the T-shirts and flags worn by so many of their supporters among the 77,660 in attendance: “OHIO AGAINST THE WORLD.”
Even if, for them, sometimes Ohio’s flagship football team found itself up against a not-insignificant percentage of Ohio itself, including the folks who refused to attend the CFP opener in Columbus because they were still mad about the Michigan defeat and no doubt will still consider this natty as having an asterisk because of that same loss.
Because for all of Day & Co.’s talk of this not being about revenge, the truth was revealed on their postgame faces. Their shared expressions of restraint, the ones we’d seen all fall, were instantly replaced by a collective look of relief. Their frowns washed away by Gatorade dumps, revealing the smiles of men who had indeed just sent a message and were finally willing to admit that had been their motivation all along.
You only had to ask. Because, finally, they would answer.
“I feel like, from the start of this thing, we were knocking on the door. But you have to find a way to break through and make it to where we are right now,” said Day, no longer stiff-arming the question but definitely still working to stifle his emotion. “In this day and age, there’s so much noise. Social media. People have to write articles. But when you sign up for this job, when you agree to coach at Ohio State, that’s part of the job.
“I’m a grown-up. I can take it. But the hard part is your family having to live with it. The players you bring in, them having to live with it. Their families. In the end, that’s how you build a football family. Take the stuff that people want to use to tear you apart and try to turn that into something that makes you closer.”
For 3 hours and 20 minutes, the Buckeyes pushed back on Notre Dame with both hands. They also pushed back on those would-be team destroyers and head coach firers. When it was over, they extended one finger in the direction of those same haters. It wasn’t a middle finger, but it was close. It was the finger that soon will be fitted for a national championship ring.
“Ohio State might not be for everybody,” Day added, smiling once again. “But it’s certainly for these guys.”
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Greg Wyshynski
After the New Jersey Devils saw their season end in double overtime Tuesday night, goaltender Jacob Markstrom wanted to express his frustration via his stick. He thought about boomeranging it to the boards. Instead, he swung it hard against his goalpost, breaking it in half.
Sebastian Aho‘s goal at 4:17 of the second overtime in Game 5 gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 5-4 win and a 4-1 series victory over the Devils. It was the first puck Markstrom had fly by him in 37 consecutive shots on goal, dating to the second period. That included 18 saves he made in overtime, as Carolina marauded a short-handed and exhausted Devils defense but couldn’t solve the 35-year-old goalie.
“That was one of the better goaltending performances that I’ve witnessed,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Markstrom, who finished with 49 saves. “He let in a few early that he’d like to have back. But once he got dialed in, you’re thinking it’ll have to bank off somebody, because we’re not beating him.”
Markstrom’s frustration wasn’t just with the overtime goal. The Devils built a 3-0 lead in the first period. Carolina scored three times in the first 5:40 of the second period to erase it. New Jersey responded with a Nico Hischier goal, only to have Aho knot the score at 4 moments later.
“We put up four goals on the road,” Markstrom said. “We should have brought it home. It should have been enough.”
But as his teammates noted, Markstrom’s effort in the overtimes should have been enough to win Game 5.
“We were under siege. He was outstanding. We were reeling,” coach Sheldon Keefe said.
“He played unbelievable. Marky kept us in that first overtime,” Hischier said. “I feel bad for him because he battled his ass off.”
Markstrom was acquired by the Devils last offseason in a high-profile deal with the Calgary Flames that was intended to fix the team’s goaltending, which ranked 30th in 2023-24. He won 26 times in 49 games with a .900 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. He was outstanding, for the most part, in the playoffs: .911 save percentage and a 2.78 goals-against average in five games.
But Markstrom couldn’t overcome two things in the postseason for the Devils. The first were their injuries. Already without star center Jack Hughes, who had season-ending shoulder surgery, the Devils saw defensemen Luke Hughes, Johnathan Kovacevic and Brenden Dillon leave the series with injuries, with defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton playing at less than 100%.
“We had a few guys go down in the series. A few guys step up and battle. We’ve got to get better. We don’t like the result,” forward Timo Meier said.
The other factor was the Devils special teams. Their power play was officially 0-for-15. Their penalty kill allowed six goals on 19 Carolina power plays.
“That’s why we lost the series for sure. We couldn’t get the power play going. That’s on those guys, including me, that are on the ice. That’s definitely frustrating,” Hischier said.
But the Devils gutted out the series, pushing Carolina to double overtime in an elimination game despite those deficiencies.
“There’s a lot of will in this room,” Markstrom said. “It sucks right now.”
ARLINGTON, Texas — Everything came together in the same game for two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and the Texas Rangers batters.
Texas had a much-needed offensive breakout while deGrom struck out seven over six scoreless innings for his first win in more than two years, though he had pitched well enough to win in several other starts this season.
“When was the last one, ’23? Yeah, it’s been a while,” deGrom said after the Rangers’ 15-2 win over the Athletics on Tuesday night.
“He earned it. He had great stuff tonight, he kept us on our toes,” second baseman Marcus Semien said. “We were just talking about how the time of possession was. You know, we were hitting for a long time and he’s getting quick outs. So usually that’s a good recipe.”
The 36-year-old deGrom (1-1) had gone 737 days since also beating the A’s on April 23, 2023, then made only one more start in his debut season with Texas before Tommy John surgery.
He scattered four singles and didn’t walk a batter in a 65-pitch outing (47 strikes). It was only that short since the right-hander didn’t return after an eight-run outburst in the Rangers sixth that matched their previous season high for runs in an entire game and put them up 12-0.
So just how efficient was deGrom? The right-hander honestly thought he was “probably in the 70s or something to 80,” as did catcher Jonah Heim.
“A lot a strikeouts that I feel like he just overpowered a lot of hitters, which is who he is. He’s got that electric fastball,” Heim said.
“My mechanics were pretty good,” said deGrom, a meticulous worker who was feeling good after a side session the day before the game. “I’m constantly trying to perfect it and get in the best positions that I can get based on performance and health.”
Texas entered the night last in the majors with 91 runs scored, and only 12 combined the previous six games. DeGrom had gotten only nine runs of support in his first five starts.
The Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak while setting season highs for runs, hits (18) and walks (nine). They had three bases-clearing doubles in the same game for the first time in team history – Adolis García and Wyatt Langford each had one during a four-batter stretch in that big sixth, and Kyle Higashioka added his three-run double in the eighth.
Their offensive outburst came after the full squad was required to be on the field for batting practice before the game.
“Good to see you guys break out and have a good game. … Some success, it’s contagious,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “You’re hoping this is something these guys can build on, build some confidence.”
For deGrom, he improved to 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA in his 15 starts for the Rangers since signing a $185 million, five-year contract in December 2022. He is 85-58 in 224 career starts, the first 209 with the New York Mets from 2014-2022.
“He was really good tonight. You know, I said when season started, it’s just going to get better with him as he builds up his strength and stamina,” Bochy said. “Really good command tonight, really good stuff. And it’s just getting better with him.”
BALTIMORE — The New York Yankees became the first team in major league history to open a game with three consecutive home runs more than once in a season when Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice went deep off Baltimore‘s Kyle Gibson in the first inning Tuesday night.
New York started the bottom of the first of its March 29 game against Milwaukee with three homers in a row. In that game, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Judge needed only three pitches to hit three homers.
The Yankees added a fourth home run later in the first inning of both that game and Tuesday’s game, making them the first team to belt four in the first inning twice in a season.
On Tuesday night, the Yankees hit three of the game’s first five offerings out to right field.
“Grish got it going for us and set the tone for us early on,” Judge said after the 15-3 win. “When he goes up there and … sends one to Eutaw Street, it’s pretty impressive and gets you going.”
It was an ugly return to the majors for the 37-year-old Gibson, who made 30 starts for the St. Louis Cardinals last season before Baltimore signed him to a $5.25 million, one-year contract in late March. He’d been working in the minors since then before being called up before Tuesday’s game. He was finally pulled with two outs in the fourth after allowing nine runs and 11 hits.
“He gave up four homers in the first inning. That’s kind of a telling sign,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “At that point I’m just trying to figure out how we’re going to get through the game.”
After Rice’s home run made it 3-0, Gibson retired Goldschmidt on a grounder before Bellinger also homered. Anthony Volpe‘s RBI double made it 5-0 before the first inning was over.
Rice homered again in the second to make it 6-0. Austin Wells hit New York’s final home run — all six came with nobody on — with two outs in the ninth.
“It just shows that we’ve got a lot of depth in the lineup,” Rice said.
Not all the news was great for the Yankees, however. Jazz Chisholm Jr. left the game with right flank discomfort in the first inning.
Chisholm, who is hitting .181 with seven home runs this season, appeared to have hurt himself while he was batting. After being checked on, he stayed at the plate and hit a double, advancing to third on an error by right fielder Ramon Laureano.
Chisholm said he wasn’t worried about needing to go on the injured list.
“I’m really not as concerned as everybody else,” Chisholm said. “I tore my oblique before. I know it’s not torn or anything.”
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
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