Forever

If you’re going to win a national championship, why not win it by running through the toughest gauntlet in college football history.

And if you’re going to silence the doubters, why not silence them by doing what no college football team has ever done before.

The 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes were the first team to win the four-team College Football Playoff, and now 10 years later, the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes are the first team to win the 12-team edition as well.

On their run through the playoffs this year, the Buckeyes opened with an emphatic 42-17 win at home over No. 9 seed Tennessee, then went out west for a 42-21 manhandling of No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl, then traveled down to the Cotton Bowl and beat No. 5 Texas by two touchdowns in a road environment, and then capped it all off with a 34-23 win over No. 7 Notre Dame in the title game.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has said all season long that he wanted his team to leave no doubt, and after beating six of the top 10 teams in the final 2024 AP Football rankings – including teams two through five, there are no doubts left about the Buckeyes’ place in college football history.

Nobody has ever done what Ohio State has done, and that’s not an unfamiliar refrain in Buckeye football lore. Anybody that tries to diminish the Buckeyes’ title this year only diminishes themselves. Long gone are the days of having to win just one bowl game. Hell, winning two seems like a cake walk compared to what it takes now.

This was the hardest thing any college football team has ever had to do, and it was the Buckeyes that did it. That’s a hell of a thing.

They left no doubt.

And there are certainly no doubts left about this team’s place in Ohio State football history.

An easy season is ultimately a boring season. The Buckeyes lost at Oregon this year and had to dig themselves out of a funk. Then six weeks later, they lost at home to Michigan and had to dig themselves out of a grave.

They created their own momentum after the loss to the Wolverines, which was pretty damn impressive considering they were fighting uphill at the outset of the playoff.

But then they found their footing. And then stomped mudholes through anybody that was unfortunate enough to run into them along the way.

The Buckeyes were viewed as one of the most talented teams to start the season. That is how they ended it as well. They also proved themselves to be the most determined team in the nation as well.

They fought every battle that was put in front of them like it was another opportunity to hang out with the boys. Nobody on this team wanted the season to end until there was nobody left to play.

This was what they all came back to do. And they did it for each other and because of each other. They did it for their head coach and their assistant coaches. They did it for the support staff that has helped them every single day they’ve been Buckeyes.

This was a collective effort from top to bottom, and that’s what it takes to win it all.

That’s also what it takes to withstand the ups and downs.

Woody Hayes once said that anything easy ain’t worth a damn.

Even though the Buckeyes often made things look easy in their playoff run, the path and the preparation were anything but.

Any team that wins a championship is happy. But this Ohio State team winning a national championship after losing to Michigan and having to face the awful music of what that meant – that’s on an entirely different level. The lowest of lows followed by the highest of highs.

These are the memories that never go away.

These are the stories that everyone will always tell.

This was an Ohio State Buckeye football team for the ages.

Sophomore linebacker Arvell Reese said it best after the game. Those weren’t losses for the Buckeyes – they were lessons.

This team took those lessons and fought for the opportunity to keep fighting.

When everything went to hell, they brought out a flamethrower.

This was their kind of party.

And now they are national champs.

Forever.

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