Andy & Ari On3 - Ohio State HOLDS OFF Notre Dame to win the 1st 12-Team College Football Playoffs | Instant Reaction

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

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Welcome to Andy and Ari on three. We are right here. The national title game has just ended. The confetti has fallen. It is scarlet and gray confetti. So if you're gonna buy one of those Axia time commemorative watches, that's the confetti. It's gonna be on your watch right there. Axia time.com. The code is Ari and Andy for 10% off. But Ari, let's talk about the Buckeyes winning this game. I mean, this is Notre Dame starts out with a fabulous drive, thought it might kill Riley Leonard and then Ohio State controls the game until midway

through the third quarter. And then we get a game? Yeah, that was a pretty wild game because we were in blowout mode there for a minute and Notre Dame did what they had been doing all year, Andy, which is fighting back, never saying die, you know, fighting tooth and nail to keep it close and they did that, you know, for a minute there. Ohio State was up eight late and they were doing the conservative run the clock thing. Yes. And they faced a critical third down there at the end and Ryan Day threw it to who else but Jeremiah Smith weight down the field. Huge chunk play gets it down and Ohio State catches it, kicks a field goal, runs out the clock and wins the national title. So I know we're going to talk a lot about Ohio State but first Notre Dame had a hell of a season. Yes. And I thought

they played a hell of a game and probably the best game they could have played considering the circumstances. So they put up because they, they could have pitched it in the second quarter. I noted in what goes on a 10 minute drive to open this game. It's about as tough of a drive as you're ever gonna see. Riley Leonard was an absolute animal on that drive. Nine rushes on that first drive. He had nine rushes alone. But Ohio State then goes and scores

the next three touchdowns and you're like, there's no way Notre Dame can compete with this team. It was just too easy for Ohio State. But Notre Dame didn't quit. They fought and they were within eight and they were within eight and they had a third down and long and if they

get that stop, we might be having a different conversation or we might be in overtime right now. Yeah. You know, that's the kind of the story of the entire game though, Andy because even as Notre Dame was giving every single ounce of energy that it had, the reality is we set it all week and we saw it in the game.

Ohio state just has too much on offense to stop for four quarters. And you know, I thought that Notre Dame played a really tough game and you know, to take seven or eight minutes off the clock, right out of the gate, score that touchdown. And then Ohio state runs the ball and the fruits too. I was like, Oh no, here we go. Right. Yeah. I thought it was, they opened it up. It was fitting though the way that Ohio State slipped the dagger in the long.

57 yard pass to Jeremiah Smith, which was a beautiful throw from Will Howard, a beautiful throw who will Howard had an incredible game. Yeah, I don't know what this did for his draft stock. Yeah, we talked to Jim Nagy about it. We're going to go to the senior bowl next week. We'll have plenty of time to break that down. Yeah, exactly. But Will Howard didn't look like a guy who was the caretaker of a bunch of superstar weapons.

He looked like one of the weapons. Yeah, and he was. And to make that throw in that moment, I think it's super fitting that Ohio State wins the national championship just going down being who they were. Yes. And it's like, I already had thoughts swirling in my head of three quarterback draws

at the end of the game, third and six, snapping the ball with 15 seconds left. It was meltdown city and, uh, credits to Notre Dame for putting them in a position where you had those thoughts. But Ryan Day in Ohio state pulled it out and ended up winning the game. And you know, the fact of the matter is, is that Notre Dame is going to be in this setting a lot in the future and Ohio State just had too many good players. Yes. I mean, it felt like a blowout for a while. It wasn't a blowout at the end. And look, I wrote it this week. I do not think

there's going to be a team that is as stacked with old guys who are really good, who should be in the NFL like this again in college football for a while. It's just it's going to be too hard to do it too hard to keep those guys too hard to keep a team like that together. So Ohio State will be back in this position too because they care deeply about football. They're always going to have good players, but Notre Dame is going to be back on this stage and the

next time they're back on the stage Andy they're not gonna have to play that probably. Right they'll be playing a team that is much more similar to them or they might be I mean if you look at what Notre Dame is bringing back on the offensive line they might be the big bad. Yeah right so you know but for Ohio State I think it's kind of a it's an interesting season really I mean it's it's it's an unbelievable. Let's go back to the last day of the regular season in Columbus. They lose to Michigan It feels like the world is ending and yet here they are. They are down on that stage about to raise that trophy You know, we talk about being right a lot

Okay, and I think through the playoffs once we saw what they were when we went to Columbus together against Tennessee, we're like, okay, that's a team that can win the national championship. But I was wrong. Oh, yeah. After they lost to Michigan, I was ready to punt on day. I was ready to punt on the program. It felt broken. And for them to not only collect themselves and get a win in the playoff to find themselves the way that they did is gonna be one of the more remarkable stories in Ohio State history and a complete redemption arc.

Now, the thing that is interesting about the Michigan game, and you know what, we have to talk about it because that's who this team is, is for the first time in my entire Ohio State exposure, you could say with a straight face that all is forgiven. That is a wrong that's been written. Yes. And I'm not saying that Ohio State fans in 310 days aren't gonna be right back to where they were. Listen, Michigan fans are still gonna give them hell about it, but it doesn't matter because Ohio State fans are like, yeah, we got a national

title. Don't they? Yeah. And it's just like, Ryan Day, we've talked about equity. When you win the national championship, you become a legend. You know what struck me? And I might put this in my story. I took a lot of notes, but in the middle of the third quarter, they brought Urban Meyer out. Did you hear the crowd when they brought him out? Oh yeah.

Big pop. Want to know why? Because he won a national championship. And that's what it is. It doesn't matter that they lost to Iowa and Purdue at the end of the tenure. It didn't matter that he was loyal to a fault of some of the assistants. It doesn't even matter to a certain extent what happened with Zach Smith and those terrible times that ultimately led to the end of his tenure there.

What they remember is he's a national champion. Yes. And Ryan Day is a national champion and you could never take that away from him. Ever. Which completely changes his arc as a figure in the sport. I think it completely changes the paradigm and the mindset going into the Michigan game next year. I think it changes everything. So you know if you want to be a person that doesn't feel 100% full because of this championship isn't as wholesome or full to you

because it isn't like 14 when they beat you're thinking about it the wrong way. It's a new era of college football. Ohio State won the first national championship of the four team era. They won the first of the 12 team era and now they've got a lot of things to write moving forward. This was a hell of a first step and indoctrinated a coach that many people thought was fireable a month ago into the history books. It's a pretty remarkable turn around. We talked about this on the show. They were never going to fire him. I was joking about it with Ross Bjork, their athletic director the other day.

It was never even a thought. It is also something else we talked about. But it was a rational thought from fans in that moment. I don't want to act like you're right to be mad. I'm not going to go Desmond Howard on them. Their anger was understandable. But here's the thing, it's like something else we I don't want to act like you're crazy. No, they're right to be mad. I'm not going to go Desmond Howard on them. Their anger was understandable. But here's the thing.

It's like something else we always talk about in this show. We talked about it with Kirby Smart. We've talked about it with other coaches. If you keep knocking on the door, you will eventually open it. Ryan Day has knocked on the door with a team that is capable of competing for a national title every year that he's been the coach of Ohio State. And this is the third playoff trip or fourth for him, fourth I think. Yeah. They knocked on the door 19 with Clemson, had a heartbreaking loss. Very good team. Now I don't know that anybody would have beaten LSU but that was a really good Ohio

State. They knocked on the door in 2020 and the national title. Also one of the best teams in the last 20 years. They knocked on the door in 2022 with the Georgia game. And if that field goal goes in, they probably beat TCU and win the national. And you keep on knocking. Like you said, you make it through. So that's where Ryan Day is right now. And the thing is,

especially in this era of college football. As he's hugging Emeka Ibuca's face right now, crying on the podium. Yeah. This era of college football, like maybe there's going to be another undefeated team. I'm not going to say never, but it's going to be really hard to go undefeated. I think, I think back to what Brian Heartline said to us the other day, that's their receivers coach at Ohio state and Brian's played in the NFL and understands the game at pretty much every level. And he was talking about, don't these things usually average out? Like with NFL teams, they lose games, but doesn't it usually average out? And I think that's how things are going to be in this coming era of college football, not just because of

the bigger playoff, but also because of NIL, because of the transfer rules, the teams are going to be closer together. This Ohio State team, like I said, is going to be kind of the end of the dinosaurs, like the meteors hit now, everything's changing. It is going to be hard to get through a season without one or two losses. No, I mean, this team lost two losses and they were one of the dinosaurs. Yeah. So, I mean, it's, and the thing too is you play more games. Yes. So like that's the other part too.

More chances to lose against teams that are closer to you. Yeah. Which is how it's gonna be from now on. And you know, maybe in two years it'll feel normal, but two lost national champion. And it's like, the thing too is just like, we talk about the sanctity of the regular season, you know how much that means to me and it still means a lot to me. But when you win the four games that Ohio State had to win in order to do this, like there's really not much to say. What did we say when the bracket got set? We were, cause we were kind

of laughing about it. We weren't even thinking of Ohio State being able to get to this point because the path was so freaking hard. We're like, God, if they get it, boy, they earned it. Yeah. And did they ever earn it? So, if they get it, boy, they earned it. Yeah. And did they ever earn it? So, you know, it's going to be very interesting too tonight when we go down because after we're done with this video, uh, Andy and I are going to go down, report and write some stories. And then tonight, after we write the stories, we're going to do tomorrow's show. So we're going to have a lot of Ohio state national championship coverage here in the next, you know, 24 hours, but it'll be very interesting to see how he acts.

Because he has been knocking on the door, but we've never seen Ryan Day through the door. He's had some big wins, three in a row. I guarantee you he's gonna handle it better than I would. Because I would be like, F you, F you, F you. I am a national champion. And here's something too that I don't know if I said on the show, but I definitely wrote it

in the equity column earlier this week. A lot of people want to come down on Ohio State fans for being overly emotional or overly demanding. But the thing that Ryan Day is going to experience now that he was so far away from seemingly, even six weeks ago, is what it's like to be treated as a legend by those people. To how it is to be welcomed into the fraternity as somebody who, no matter what happens for the rest of this man's career at Ohio State, the guy could suck for the next five years. He's going to come out onto a field in Ohio Stadium in 2050 and that entire place is going

to stand and clap for him, no matter what. Exactly right. And you know what, I know something, you want to talk about how much money the man made and all the things that, you know know why it was okay to boo him all the stuff winning cures everything Andy and he won and now and the thing is he lost some games to Michigan we're not talking about scandal we're not talking about anything dirty or nasty he lost some games to Michigan fair and square and he redeemed himself by winning a national title.

And the last thing I want to do as Confetti is falling again behind us is belittle the importance of that rivalry because I think it's important. That said. Belittling it, but the national championship is the most important thing. It is. And in terms of where he stands, he's a made man. He is. There's no other way to say it.

Forever and ever, he's a national champion. And so is Will Howard. Will Howard spent one year at Ohio State. Will Howard is going to be a beloved figure in Columbus for the rest of his life. And two, to think about it, he has been there what, less than a year? Yeah, and Quintchon Judkins too, who was amazing in this game.

He had three touchdowns in this game? He was incredible. Yeah. But there's a lot to discuss about how to spend money and all that stuff too, but they did a really good job with their NIL budget. And a lot of people with the best roster money can buy. And it's like, yeah, a lot of people are saying that,

but it was the best roster you could assemble with your money. That's exactly right. Retention or addiction. It was spent wisely. And the retention piece is the part that everybody seems to be missing. Most of that money was spent to keep Jack Sawyer, to keep JT 2 and Malau, to keep Denzel Burke, to keep Lathan Ransom, to keep, uh, T Tilly Williams. I mean, all of these guys, Tilly Williams was maybe the most important player in the Texas game. If you go back and watch, he was incredible tonight. He actually got a hold. He drew a hold. Somebody called a hold on, on an Ohio state, it was kind of crazy. September, September 21st was the last time they drew an offensive holding call. Yeah. So all of those guys, and we've talked about Ryan Day,

we've talked about Will Howard, but we do need to talk about Emeka Buka. These are people who committed to Ohio State before the rules changed, before the world changed. They just went to Ohio State because that's a place they felt like they could compete for national titles. And by God, they brought Ohio State a national title. Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of them aren't from Ohio too, which is the other thing. Yeah. You know, he's all the way from Washington. Trey Henderson's from Virginia. A lot of these guys are not from Ohio. And I know that there was a lot said this year about having a coach from Ohio and having players from Ohio. And I understand the importance of that.

Jack Sawyers from Ohio and having players from Ohio and I understand the importance of that They did it with a group of people who were committed to the program whether that be financially or whatever you could say Make it off-color comment if you want but at the same time they were all they all brought them there So I mean money things just it's a silly argument Ohio State didn't win because of money Oregon spent money Texas spent money like everybody they beat spent a lot of money and in some cases more money than they spent Yeah, you know it is just like kind of a crazy thought because I was here with Bill Landis and Doug Lamar ease and we covered the 2014 National Championship in Dallas. Yeah, and you know for the entire 2014 National Championship in Dallas. Yeah.

And you know, for the entire last decade and the latter half of the decade, how many times on the show have I referred to Ohio State as the most underachieving program in America? You have. And if you would have told me in 14 that it would have taken them 10 more years in order to do this, I would have thought you were crazy. I wouldn't believe it either. Yeah. And the question too, I guess, and we'll have all offseason to talk about this, is this

the first step of Ohio State making a run at things? They're losing a lot of talent. the question is, yeah. And the question too, I guess, and we'll have all offseason to talk about this. Is this the first step of Ohio State making a run at things? They're losing a lot of talent. Here's the thing. If they are, they're going to have to do a lot with the with the roster retention portal. So, I think they're

going to retain a lot of this roster but they're going to have to do some stuff in the portal. They're going to have to to develop some guys that maybe we haven't seen yet because that defense is gonna look drastically different. Yeah, so it's an unbelievable turnaround and I'm super excited to get down there

and really get a feel for what's going on, but the sport, man. Listen to that. The sport, listen to those people. They are cheering for a Buckeyes national title, a Ryan Day national title, a Jack Sawyer national title, a JT2 Malau national title. This was a group of people that, let's be real, they've been through a lot here in the past month and the past four years. True. I mean, the Michigan thing's been hanging over their head. It becomes this

massive thing and feels like the end. And they said, no, this is not the end. Even though they were presented with the toughest path to go through in the playoffs. So I mean, Ohio State fans, I imagine you are very proud of this team right now. Yeah. And as you should be, um, I can't believe that happened, to be honest. We were talking about how they were broken six weeks ago. Yes. They do not sound broken now. They do not.

They sound pretty happy. But this has been such a fun season. This ride through the playoffs has been great. It's been great being back with you, man. Unbelievable. I don't want to get sentimental, but I thought it's our first year back together. It's been a hell of a man. I don't want to get sentimental but yeah, I thought you know It's our first year back together It's been a hell of a ride and you guys want to know something my buddy and I Sunday go into Mobile, Alabama to keep this thing going

I've got a senior ball baby. We're gonna be talking about this to game for the next 24 hours Maybe even longer we're gonna be talking about college football every day all summer. That's right. We're back and by the way, I can't not mention one of our beloved sponsors tonight. State Liberty. I'm head to toe in State Liberty. This is actually all stuff I had before they became a sponsor, but state liberty.com use the code staples 10% off your first order. They don't put stuff on sale because they know how good it is. Use that code staples 10% off. He looks really good. Yeah. I'm we're going to get you hooked up. Yeah. I need to get hooked up. But this is going to be a fun, fun off season. We actually recorded an interview

with a head coach today of one of the teams that we're really excited about for 2025. You're going to be seeing that later this week. It is spectacular. I'll give you I'll give you a little teaser. This coach got me subpoenaed. Only coaches ever done it. I'll let you figure out who that is.

We'll let you know later in the week but thank you so much for watching all season. I feel like a champion with you Ari. We're going to go talk to some Ohio State players. We'll see you in the morning. Stay tuned.