Classy Notre Dame football acknowledges Ohio State after loss

Notre Dame sent a classy message Ohio State after the two football programs clashed in the national championship game. The The Buckeyes secured their ninth national championship over Marcus Freemanwith the team in a 34-23 victory. Riley Leonard and the company nearly completed its legendary fourth-quarter comeback after going down as much as 31-7. The Fighting Irish cut the lead to just eight points with 4:15 left.

Unfortunately, Notre Dame’s elite defense, which struggled to contain Ohio State’s explosive offense for much of the night, gave up a 56-yard touchdown reception to Jeremiah Smith in a critical third to seal the game. Despite an outstanding season, the Fighting Irish were unable to win their first national title since 1988. The school’s athletic Twitter page subsequently posted a classy congratulatory message Buckeyes on winning the biggest prize in sports.

The Fighting Irish did well in the national championship game against a team with significantly more talent. This wasn’t the 2013 title matchup against Alabama, where the matchup looked like a mismatch from the start. Marcus Freeman’s team set the tone with a 75-yard first drive that lasted nearly ten minutes.

Unfortunately, despite that great time of possession, Ohio State’s offense dominated possession the rest of the game. The Buckeyes rushed for a whopping 214 yards on the ground, which opened up the offense for quarterback Will Howard and company. Transfer degree from Kansas State won the offensive MVPcompleting 17 of 21 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns. Howards also rushed for a clutch 57 yards.

Notre Dame will now head into an offseason where they will lose and return some key players from this year’s team. Quarterback Riley Leonard just played his last game for the Fighting Irish. Meanwhile, sophomore star Jeremy Love is set to return to South Bend. One thing that is clear is that Marcus Freeman has built a culture that should keep this program in the national championship for the foreseeable future.

All in all, the 2024 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team has a lot to be proud of. This group was the first Notre Dame team since 1994 to win a New Year’s Six bowl game. In this case, the Fighting Irish won two of them in the 2025 Sugar Bowl and the 2025 Orange Bowl. There was nothing fake about this team or this program as a whole. The Fighting Irish are here to stay and expect to be in the College Football Playoff next season.