Day, Buckeyes end ‘great story’ with CFP crown
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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
ATLANTA — Maybe Ohio State football fans will like coach Ryan Day now.
Fifty-one days after suffering the worst loss of his career, Day guided the No. 8-seeded Buckeyes to their first national championship in 10 years with a 34-23 victory over seventh-seeded Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship game presented by AT&T on Monday night.
“The story gets to get told now,” Day said. “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.
“It’s the reason you get into coaching, to see guys overcome things, learn life lessons and then reach their dreams. This is what happened tonight.”
The Buckeyes led 31-7 midway through the third quarter, but the Fighting Irish trimmed their deficit to eight points with a little more than four minutes remaining in the contest.
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaden Greathouse with 3:03 left in the third and tossed a 2-point conversion to tailback Jeremiyah Love to make it 31-15. After a late defensive stop, Leonard then found Greathouse again for a 30-yard touchdown, and Beaux Collins converted the 2-point attempt on a throw from fellow wideout Jordan Faison to make it 31-23 with 4:15 left.
The Buckeyes finally put away the Irish when quarterback Will Howard threw a deep ball to freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who beat cornerback Christian Gray for a 56-yard gain to the Irish’s 10-yard line. That led to Jayden Fielding‘s 33-yard field goal, putting the Buckeyes up by 11 points with 26 seconds remaining.
The victory was redemption for Day, whose team fell to rival Michigan, the so-called “School Up North,” for the fourth straight time in a stunning 13-10 defeat at home on Nov. 30. That loss, in which the Buckeyes were 21-point favorites, knocked Ohio State out of the Big Ten championship game.
Day and his players were booed mercilessly as they left the field that day.
“There’s a lot of things that certainly have an effect on you and your family,” Day said. “But you know, when you sign up for this job, that’s what you sign up for. You’ve got to be strong enough to withstand those storms to come out the back end, and now it’s an even better story.”
That defeat didn’t eliminate Ohio State from the first 12-team CFP. The Buckeyes took down No. 9-seeded Tennessee in the first round, top-seeded Oregon in the quarterfinals and 5-seed Texas in the semis before beating Notre Dame in their 16th game of the season.
That was what made Monday night so special for Day and everyone around him.
“Look, our program is never going to be defined by one other program — never,” Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said. “That doesn’t mean anything about de-emphasizing [the Michigan rivalry]. We will never be defined by somebody else; we take the lead. We’re not going to let others define who we are and what we stand for.”
Ohio State’s players said Day accepted some blame for coming up short against Michigan again. But the shocking defeat might have been what the Buckeyes needed to capture the seventh national title in program history.
“We had to address all the issues we had on the team,” Buckeyes defensive tackle Tyleik Williams said. “Everybody spoke up and just fixed those problems that we had. The leadership on this team is like I’ve never seen. That wouldn’t have happened a couple years ago.”
With a 70-10 record, Day has the second-best winning percentage (87.5) among coaches with at least 80 FBS games. Only Walter Camp, who coached at Stanford and Yale in the late 1800s, had a better winning percentage (90.7).
“I don’t pay attention to [the criticism],” Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said. “I don’t know what else you can do besides winning a national championship.”
And with Michigan having claimed the final four-team playoff following the 2023 season, the Big Ten captured consecutive national titles for the first time since 1940 to 1942, when Minnesota won back-to-back championships and Ohio State added a third.
Monday’s game also was redemption for Howard, the Kansas State transfer who struggled in his first start against Michigan. Against Notre Dame, Howard completed 17 of 21 passes for 231 yards with two touchdowns and also ran 16 times for 57 yards.
Buckeyes running back Quinshon Judkins, an Ole Miss transfer, rushed 11 times for 100 yards with three TDs in total. Smith caught five passes for 88 yards and one score.
Leonard led the Irish with 255 yards on 22-for-31 passing with two touchdowns. Greathouse caught six passes for 128 yards and a pair of scores.
This one was especially satisfying for the Big Ten because it came in the SEC’s backyard. The SEC was left out of the CFP title game for the second straight season, which hadn’t happened since 2004 and 2005.
Notre Dame, which was trying to capture its first national championship since 1988, had a 13-game winning streak snapped. It was Ohio State’s seventh straight victory against the Irish.
“We didn’t get it done, and it hurts,” Irish coach Marcus 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.
“The outlook of Notre Dame football is extremely high. 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.”
Ohio State looks loaded under Day, as well. And it seems like he’ll finally have Buckeyes fans behind him — at least until they play Michigan again in 313 days.
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.
On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.
With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
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