Ohio State National Champions
General view of the stadium after Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the against the Oregon Ducks in the 2015 CFP National Championship Game at AT&T Stadium. Ohio State won 42-20. Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

ARLINGTON, TX – Oregon was beaten at their own game in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship 42-20. Ohio State used the read option, no huddle and a strong running game to keep the Ducks defense on their heels all game.

Ezekiel Elliot was unstoppable for the Buckeyes as he ran for a career high 246 yards and four touchdowns. Third string quarterback Cardale Jones had another strong performance with 242 yard passing and 38 yards rushing with two total touchdowns. The dynamic duo of Ohio State accounted for all five of the Buckeyes touchdowns.

“Our offense started clicking and our offensive line stepped up these last three games,” said Elliot. “They’re grinders and they deserve everything that we’ve accomplished.”

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer won his third national championship, and first for his home state as he joins an elite company of historic head coaches who have won three titles (Bernie Bierman, Bud Wilkinson, Woody Hayes, Darrell Royal, Barry Switzer and Tom Osborne).

Meyer may have completed the best coaching job in college football history as he turned around an Ohio State program that was severed by sanctions in just his second season. Additionally, Meyer had to go through three different quarterbacks over the course of the season and a devastating home loss at home to an unranked Virginia Tech team.

“It’s one of the great stories in college football history,” said Meyer of the Buckeyes system. “It’s a story of closeness of team of selflessness and strength. This will go down as one of the great stories in college football history.”

Oregon was atrocious in the red zone, a usually prolific stat for the number one scoring offense in the country. Oregon had four red zone possessions in the game but was only able to score one touchdown inside the 20-yard line. The Buckeyes on the other hand were perfect in the red zone going 4-4 with four touchdowns.

“It’s tough. Real tough,” said Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota about the loss. “They held us in the red zone and we weren’t able to finish drives.”

Mariota threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns, but he was contained by the big, strong, and fast Buckeyes defense and was unable to display his speed and athleticism.

All week the experts discussed turnovers as being a key to the game. “Whatever team won the turnover battle would win the game,” they said. Well Ohio State committed four turnovers, which Oregon was only able to convert into 10 points.

The Ducks took the opening drive 80 yards down the field in 2:39 for the first score of the game, but their offense struggled the rest of the way as the speed and strength of the Ohio State defense was able to matchup with the high-octane Oregon offense.

Dropped passes were also the Ducks Achilles heel in the first quarter as two separate drives were stalled on crucial third down drops by wide receivers Charles Nelson and Dwayne Stanford.

Oregon previously prided themselves on their ability to force mistakes and miscues against their opponents, but it was the Ducks who made all the mental errors and gave up the big plays when the game was on the line. Oregon committed 10 penalties for 76 yards, but struggled on third downs defensively and offensively.

Credit goes to the Ohio State defense that dominated the line of scrimmage and kept the highest scoring offense in the country in check.

“Our preparation in practice got us well prepared for it and that tempo thing really wasn’t a big deal for us,” said Defensive Player of the Game Tyvis Powell.

Mariota was in tears walking off the field as a blizzard of confetti reigned down on AT&T stadium. Mariota likely has played his last collegiate football game as he is expected to enter the NFL draft and be the top pick overall.

Game Notes:
Ohio State is 99-0 when leading by 8 points or more going into the fourth quarter. They are now 9-0 against the Oregon Ducks and have six national championships to Oregon’s zero. Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James was on the Ohio State sidelines as the Akron, Ohio native celebrated with Buckeyes players on the field.

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