ATLANTA — The pass seemed to hang up there forever. Did it feel like seven weeks? Did it feel like 10 years? What a great debate for Ohio State fans to have forever. When that teardrop of a throw from Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard on third-and-11 finally landed, light as a feather, in the hands of receiver Jeremiah Smith late in the fourth quarter Monday, Ohio State had locked up what would be a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame for its sixth national title and first in 10 years.

It was that 56-yard gain that snuffed out a feverish Notre Dame comeback and made the Buckeyes the champion of the sport's first 12-team playoff, just as they were champions of its first four-team tournament a decade ago. “They were running man coverage and I said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna let this loose and let him make a play on it,’” Howard said of a play that felt about 100 years removed from Ohio State's once program-defining “Three yards and a cloud of dust.” This was a win that hardly anyone thought possible a mere seven weeks ago — Nov.

30 — when a 13-10 loss to Michigan led to a near-riot on the field and questions over whether coach Ryan Day would keep his job when the calendar flipped. “It’s a great story about a bunch of guys who have just overcome some really tough situations, and with the point where there’s a lot of people that counted us out (they) just kept swinging and kept fighting,” Day said. Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard is sacked by Ohio State safety Son.