Coach Ryan Day shushed the critics, running back Quinshon Judkins scored three touchdowns, and the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes held off a furious second-half rally to beat No. 7 seed Notre Dame, 34-23,

Ohio State’s defense has been hard to score on all season and that remained true even in a College Football Playoff National Championship game where it surrendered 23 points to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are one of just four teams in the last two years to score more than 17 points with the others being eventual nation champions Georgia (2022) and Michigan (2023) plus Oregon this

This is The Athletic’s college football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday directly in your inbox. After the Ohio State Buckeyes won the College Football Playoff national championship last night,