Ohio State Wins National Championship
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ARLINGTON, Texas — A third-stringer one-upped a Heisman Trophy winner.
And with it, history was made in the first-ever College Football Playoff national championship game.
Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones went from third on the depth chart at the start of fall camp to national champion after leading the Buckeyes past Oregon 42-20 Monday night at AT&T Stadium.
“It’s even better than I thought,” said Jones, the former backup to Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett. “It’s an unreal feeling.”
Jones got loads of help from Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott, who produced four touchdowns and 246 punishing yards on a season-high 36 carries, earning the Offensive MVP award.
Ohio State’s magical run, which produced the school’s eighth national title and first since 2002, ended with Jones under center for wins over Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game, top-ranked Alabama in the Rose Bowl and finally over the second-ranked Ducks with gold confetti raining down at AT&T Stadium.
“The chase is complete,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. “These guys accepted their final mission and did it. It was our mantra the past few weeks, and I’m very grateful for the work these guys put in.”
The dominating performance to conclude the inaugural playoff lifted Meyer into exclusive company. Not only did he take home his third national title after claiming two at Florida, but Meyer also joined Nick Saban as the only coaches win championships at two different schools.
“I’m very humbled,” Meyer said of joining Saban, “but I’m also the first one to
appreciate the people that did this, and that’s our players.”
Oregon’s quest for its first national championship came up short in what was possibly the final game for Heisman-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota. The junior is expected to be one of the top picks in the NFL Draft should he come out.
Mariota wasn’t ready to make an announcement about his future after the loss.
“I will take the next couple of days to make that decision with my family,” he said.
While Jones might never match Mariota’s on-field production, for one memorable night, the sophomore from Cleveland was every bit his celebrated counterpart’s equal. Jones overcame two third-quarter turnovers to account for 280 yards passing and rushing, along with one touchdown on the ground and one through the air.
“Even though I made some stupid turnovers, I knew I didn’t have to do too much, and just have faith in my teammates and faith in our defense,” Jones said.
Elliott was a force on offense while moving into second place on the school’s all-time single-season rushing list with 1,878. Eddie George ran for 1,927 yards during his Heisman-winning 1995 season.
“I knew going into the game that we wanted to run the ball,” Elliott said. “We know how our O-line was bigger and more physical than their D-line, and we wanted to punch them in the mouth.”
However, it was Jones’ poise and determination, on top of sheer physicality, that helped wear down Oregon’s defense as the game wore on. The Ducks’ up-tempo offense, led by Mariota, also slowed after an initial burst out of the gate.
Oregon (13-2) led 7-0 and pulled within 21-20 in the third quarter after Jones coughed the ball up twice. The Buckeyes (14-1) righted the ship behind Jones and Elliott to retake control.
Mariota completed 24 of 37 passes for 333 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, and he added 39 rushing yards. Oregon finished with 465 yards of offense in its lowest-scoring game of the season after averaging 553 coming into the game.
“They’re an outstanding defense,” Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said. “We knew that coming in.”
Ohio State piled up 538 total yards and held the ball for more than 37 minutes.
The Buckeyes led 21-10 at halftime, and Jones guided an Ohio State drive coming out of the break, converting a fourth down by leaping over two Ducks. On the next play, however, he threw his first interception, and Oregon didn’t waste time turning the gift into six points.
Mariota found streaking receiver Byron Marshall on a 70-yard pass right up the seam. Marshall nearly dropped the ball short of the goal line, but a replay confirmed the touchdown.
Jones gave away possession again on Ohio State’s next drive, getting the ball knocked out of his hand by linebacker Tyson Coleman. Ducks defensive end Arik Armstead recovered on the Buckeyes 23-yard line.
The possession stalled inside the 10, and kicker Aidan Schneider nailed a short field goal to make it 21-20.
Jones didn’t wilt after the two momentum-changing mistakes, leading a methodical 75-yard drive that ended with Elliott’s 9-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter.
Oregon won the coin flip, took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in less than three minutes. Mariota wound find wide-open receiver Keanon Lowe in the end zone for a 7-yard scoring pass.
Jones authored a 97-yard drive with a pair of big passes and a fourth-down conversion to tie the game. Only once this season did Ohio State put together longer touchdown drive — a 98-yarder against Kent State.
The Ducks failed to take advantage of two Ohio State turnovers in the second quarter, allowing the Buckeyes to reach the break with an 11-point lead.
