By Eddie Pells

ATLANTA – Instead of crying over one other collapse, Ohio State can rejoice one other national title after staving off a Notre Dame comeback to narrowly escape with a 34-23 victory over the Fighting Irish on Monday night.

Will Howard hit big-play receiver Jeremiah Smith for 56 yards on a late third-and-11 to finish a game that had been amusing after which become something else.

Trailing 31-7, Notre Dame scored two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to make it a one-score game late within the fourth quarter.

The Irish stopped Ohio State on the primary two plays of the following drive and took advantage of their timeouts. But on third down, Howard found Smith in single coverage down the correct sideline and dropped his best pass of the season into the hands of the second-team All-American.

“They were running man coverage and I said, 'Hey, I'm going to let that go and let him play with it,'” Howard said.

It arrange a field goal that actually began the celebration (and helped Ohio State cover the 8 1/2-point spread at BetMGM Sportsbook). And it capped a seven-week climb from all-time low to 20-point underdog Michigan to the highest of faculty football after this, the game's 12-team playoff debut.

Ohio State will bring its sixth Natty and first because the 2014 season back to the Horseshoe in Columbus.

“It's a great story about a group of guys that just got through some really tough situations, and to the point where a lot of people were ignoring us (they) just kept going and kept fighting,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said .

Howard, a transfer portal success story from Kansas State, threw for 231 yards and two scores, but nothing can beat the pass to Smith when every part is on the road.

The receiver who was cornered by Texas within the semifinals after which pretty quiet for many of that game finally made the sort of play he's made all 12 months. He finished the sport with five catches for 88 yards.

Ohio State scored touchdowns on its first 4 possessions and added a field goal on its fifth.

When Quinshon Judkins (100 yards, 11 carries, three touchdowns), a transfer from Mississippi who highlighted Ohio State University's shrewd use of the ever-expanding portal, ran for a 70-yard run to make the rating 28-7 To rating, it was game over.

That wasn't the case, and now Irish coach Marcus Freeman has to reply some tough questions – one concerning the botched fake punt within the third quarter that become a field goal for a 31-7 lead; The other involved sending Mitch Jeter in for a brief field goal attempt while he was down 16 points and shooting from the 9 on fourth down. It would have looked like a greater decision if Jeter's kick hadn't bounced off the left post.

However, Ohio State was actually the higher team. The Buckeyes outgained Notre Dame by 445 yards to 308. Howard accomplished his first 13 passes and was never actually stopped. Ohio State posted a complete once.

The Buckeyes played 4 games in the brand new, expanded playoffs – what great timing for Ohio State, which wasn't even playing for the Big Ten title – with a median rating of 36-21.

Ohio State was seeded eighth within the tournament, however the seeds were all but meaningless. The lower seed won every game within the quarterfinals and semifinals, and the Buckeyes dominated No. 7 vs. No. 8 on this title game showdown.

It allays, for now, any worries concerning the 13-10 loss at Michigan in November – Ohio State's fourth straight within the series – that led to a brawl after Wolverine players attempted to boost a flag at midfield. The whole scene made many individuals, each inside and out of doors Buckeye circles, think that Day, in his sixth season, had outlived his usefulness on a campus that hadn't tasted a title in a decade.

Instead, he joins Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Woody Hayes and Paul Brown on a listing of title-winning coaches. Additionally, Day's .873 winning percentage ranks third amongst coaches with greater than 50 games, one spot behind none apart from Notre Dame legend Knute Rockne himself.

No black coach has ever won a national title in college football. Freeman tried to develop into the primary.

Instead, a unique form of story. This was the primary time since 1942 that the Big Ten won back-to-back titles. Last 12 months's champion was Michigan, which sat at home and watched that title but still played a special role within the Buckeyes' redemption story that few expected.

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Originally published: January 20, 2025 at 8:45 pm PST

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Before Mitch Jeter's 41-yard field goal sent Notre Dame to the national championship game, before Christian Gray's diving interception set the stage or before Jeremiyah Love's mutant performance ended with a braced right knee, Marcus Freeman was standing inside in front of his team on the Diplomat Hotel on Hollywood Beach on Wednesday afternoon.

Notre Dame's head coach had just returned from a final press conference before kickoff, the form of throwaway media event that will likely be forgotten before the ultimate photo of the bowl trophy might be taken. This wasn't one in all those moments. Not for Freeman, the pinnacle coach at Notre Dame, whose youth went against the grain of what it takes to achieve this sport of old guard and old-fashioned attitudes. A head coach, concerned that he hadn't won enough big games, decided to take a stand along with his counterpart.

Penn State head coach James Franklin playfully asked Freeman how old he was. He praised his hairline. He might as well have patted the 38-year-old on the pinnacle and told him what a very good job he was doing. Because that's how Freeman heard it and gritted his teeth. And now Freeman would channel that energy to a brand new source.

His players couldn't imagine it.

“He was angry. He was angry about the press conference thing, whatever happened in between,” safety Xavier Watts said. “He was angry about it. All the anger went to us and that anger went to the field.”

In a game where Notre Dame needed every little thing from a backup quarterback to 2 backup offensive linemen, Franklin managed to provide the Irish just a little more. There was more to this spectacular College Football Playoff semifinal than Franklin's self-inflicted verbal wounds – the confetti-strewn Hard Rock Stadium told that story. Notre Dame didn't win due to something said from the opposite sideline. It won because this program knows the way to catalyze every advantage and overcome every challenge.

Franklin just offered a bonus.

“I'm not going to talk about their head coach, but we felt like their team didn't really respect us,” Love said. “We wanted to come into this game and make a statement. Be the aggressor. Control her physically. That is the message. Be physical and play violent. The whole game.”

In the top, Notre Dame's 27-24 victory over Penn State was all that and more. The Fighting Irish lost three offensive starters in the primary half, with two offensive linemen missing for the sport and quarterback Riley Leonard suffering a head injury that Notre Dame ruled as something apart from a concussion. In his absence, backup Steve Angeli saved the primary half, if not the day, leading Notre Dame with a field goal after the Irish fell behind 10-0, their first double-digit deficit of the season.

There was more fire at halftime, Freeman urging Notre Dame to follow up its biggest bowl win in a generation against Georgia within the Sugar Bowl with something greater. The Irish were crushed on the bottom in the primary half by Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, not to say tight end Tyler Warren. They didn't set the perimeters, didn't make their drops, didn't get the small print right that they’d mastered all 12 months.

And Notre Dame's offense, a disaster in the primary half, needed Love to play hero when so few others could. Left tackle Anthonie Knapp was already out and was replaced by profession backup Tosh Baker, facing a future top-five pick in Abdul Carter. When guard Rocco Spindler went down, redshirt freshman Charles Jagusah stepped in, a tackle who hadn't played all season, asked to play guard. And he did so for some inexplicable reason, as Notre Dame built a 17-10 record early within the fourth quarter when Love's 2-yard run through 4 Penn State tacklers one way or the other topped his 98-yard rating against Indiana and the College football playoffs opened.

This have a look at Jeremiyah Love's touchdown pic.twitter.com/oSdhKereqU

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) January 10, 2025

Love aggravated his MCL injury against Georgia to the purpose where his availability seemed to be in query prior to Notre Dame's arrival in Florida. And even through the week, Love didn't know if he would do greater than just take snaps, which wouldn't have been enough for Notre Dame. Not in a game like this.

“I just came out here and said screw it and went out and played,” Love said. “Whatever happens, I trust in God. I trust in His plan for me.”

After two singleton touchdowns gave Penn State a 24-17 lead, making it look like Notre Dame may not have a solution to those latest questions, Leonard shook off a brutal interception and located Jaden Greathouse for a 54-yard touchdown with 4:38 to play. It was a part of Greathouse's 105-yard, seven-catch night, the primary 100-yard performance of his college profession.

“This team has faced adversity, challenges and struggles all year long, we have been able to overcome them all,” Greathouse said. “That’s the feeling tonight.”

And then Notre Dame closed the door on Penn State because it does best, luring Drew Allar into an interception that was believed to be coming all night. One from Gray in the primary half was canceled out by a penalty. Another within the second half by linebacker Jack Kiser was taken off the sector by pass interference. Gray kept the third down by playing a coverage that defensive coordinator Al Golden said he hadn't called all night.

“He’ll throw one to us, he’ll throw one to us,” Watts said. “We knew it would come at some point, and it came at the crucial moment.”

Linebacker Jaylen Sneed put barely enough pressure on Allar to provide the quarterback just a little less time to throw, which was all Gray needed. Nice edges again. Some earned money within the film room. Some were taken in the sector. Some are gifted for those who know where to listen when the microphones are on.

Notre Dame converted Gray's pick into field goal range on a seven-play, 19-yard drive. By this point, Franklin had already served his timeouts and was unable to even stop Jeter's game-winning attempt. And perhaps it wouldn't have mattered anyway. The transfer kicker drilled his second 41-yarder of the night, sending Notre Dame to Atlanta, where it captured its first national championship since 1988.

In the Notre Dame locker room, Kiser tried to make sense of all of it, his six-year journey to becoming an Irish captain under this up-and-coming head coach who was hired to take this system where some thought it couldn't go. Kiser didn't need to go into an excessive amount of detail about what triggered Freeman the day before kickoff, when the 38-year-old head coach showed this program has a weapon.

And yet, as Kiser turned back to the locker room, a red digital clock flashed: 12:17 a.m. Midnight had passed. It was not a game night. It happened to be Marcus Freeman's birthday, now the early morning minutes of January tenth.

“Let’s just say Coach Freeman turned 39 17 minutes ago,” Kiser said. “So he’s not the young guy that a lot of people treat him as. Guys want to play for Coach Freeman, and when you add gas to the fire, things can get really explosive in that locker room.”

By THOMAS ADAMSON

PARIS (AP) — Five years after a devastating fire reduced Notre-Dame Cathedral to a smoldering shell, journalists got their first have a look at the fully restored interior of the Gothic masterpiece during a visit with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The transformation is nothing in need of breathtaking: light dances across radiant stone, gilded accents shine anew, and the majesty of the enduring monument is reborn. From December eighth, visitors can once more marvel on the cathedral's mixture of history and craftsmanship.

Here's a reporter's perspective:

Nave: sensible stone

The nave, once darkened by soot and rubble, now radiates a heavenly glow. Visitors can see the true color of the cathedral's partitions: a lightweight Lutetic limestone – named after the Roman word for Paris, Lutecia – that glows in the daylight streaming through restored stained glass windows. The newly discovered blonde tones accentuate the tall Gothic columns and ribbed vaults, making a brilliant and uplifting atmosphere. Restorers say it’s the primary time in centuries that the true stone has been exposed in this manner.

The polished checkerboard marble floor, which shines underfoot, is so smooth it seems like you possibly can glide across it – and communicates with the choir area's gilded gold lattice partition.

Glowing chandeliers hang majestically from each vaulted arch, stretching from west to east, casting a warm, golden light across all the nave.

The meticulous restoration process included cleansing over 42,000 square meters of stone – an area such as about six football fields – using modern latex scrubs to remove centuries-old dirt without causing damage. Restorers discovered masonry marks engraved by medieval builders – intimate traces of the craftsmen who designed Notre Dame within the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

This sensible transformation stands in stark contrast to the rubble of 2019, when the nave was suffering from charred rubble.

Altar: Lead melted into the hand of Christ

The altar within the cathedral's choir bears a poignant symbol of the fireplace's devastation. The Pietà by Nicolas Coustou, a part of the ensemble “Vœu de Louis” The restorers decided to preserve this as a subtle but powerful reminder of the tragedy.

The ornate inlaid floor surrounding the altar, long hidden beneath layers of dirt, was assembled from fragments salvaged after the fireplace.

Nearby, the polished Cross of Glory, which famously glowed – literally – amid the flames, now shines in its full glory. Framed by the radiant blonde masonry of the nave, the cross serves because the centerpiece of the cathedral's rebirth.

Organ: A Complex Revival

The large organ, which is certainly one of the biggest and most traditional in France, has undergone an in depth revival. Spared from the flames but covered in lead dust, the 8,000 pipes, which ranged in size from that of a pencil to over 10 meters (33 feet) tall, were fastidiously disassembled, cleaned and retuned. Over two years, this work was performed with precision within the quiet, cavernous interior of the cathedral, where harmonization was done entirely by ear.

Now the majesty of the organ is unmistakable. Its soaring picket casing, decorated with carvings by earlier craftsmen, shines in the daylight streaming through the restored clerestory windows. Even in silence it inspires awe.

Chapels: murals rediscovered

The 29 chapels surrounding the nave and choir burst with color and detail previously dulled by dirt and neglect. Restorers revealed intricate murals, gilded stars on the ceiling and vivid motifs originally created under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Each chapel tells a novel story through its design and themes.

A masterpiece is the Chapel of Saint Marcel, whose wall painting with the saint's relics has been vividly restored. The brilliant colours enchant visitors and create an effect comparable to the Sistine Chapel in Rome – a visible fireworks display. In other chapels, traces of paint samples from Nineteenth century painters hidden in niches provide insights into their artistic creative process.

Transept crossing: reconstruction under pressure

The transept crossing, where the unique tower collapsed, presented certainly one of the best challenges of the restoration. Above, soaring latest vaults of Lutetic limestone reproduce the medieval originals with remarkable precision.

Beneath the crossing, archaeologists uncovered a treasure trove of history: fragments of Notre Dame's medieval jubé, or choir cabinet, buried within the rubble. These intricately carved stones, a few of which still show faint traces of polychrome painting, offer a rare glimpse into the cathedral's vibrant decorative history from the thirteenth century.

Roof, spire and security measures

The newly restored roof looks skyward, where medieval woodworking techniques have been faithfully recreated. The intricate picket framework often known as “the forest” stays hidden beneath the roofline, but a glance into the rafters reveals the precision of each ancient and modern craftsmanship.

Outside, the tower rises 96 meters and is a faithful replica of Viollet-le-Duc's Nineteenth-century design. It is paneled in oak and lead and topped by a gilded rooster containing relics of St Denis, St Genevieve and a fraction of the Crown of Thorns, alongside a scroll listing contributors to the restoration.

The tower also honors the late General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who led the project until his death in 2023. His name is now engraved on the bottom.

There is more to this restoration than meets the attention. Notre Dame now has unprecedented, state-of-the-art fire protection systems to stop future disasters. Thermal imaging cameras monitor the roof and a high quality mist system designed to extinguish flames at their source is seamlessly integrated into the structure. Fire barriers divide the roof into sections, stopping flames from spreading.

Reinforced water supply lines can deliver 21,188 cubic feet of water per hour, ensuring the cathedral is healthier protected than ever before.

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Originally published: November 29, 2024 at 8:56 am PST