The Final Point
National Championship RECAP: Ohio State vs Notre Dame
(upbeat music) What is up everybody back with another episode of the final point podcast? You already know who it is. It's your host, Teas Mitty, and Luke, watch in the building. We're here to break down the college football playoff national championship between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Buckeyes versus the Catholics that came down to the fourth quarter where you're new national champions and staying at the top of the college football world, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Luke, what are your overall thoughts on this game? Yeah, what are your overall thoughts? What about this championship game? - It was pretty much what I expected it to be. I mean, I expected Ohio State to win. I thought it was gonna be a little bit closer. But you look at Notre Dame, first drive of the game. They spent like nine minutes on that drive and they score. And I thought that was pretty big just coming out of the gate with a long drive, but I think it also took a lot out of their offense. But then after that, which is, this is really where Ohio State did all their damages. After that Ohio State goes, it has 31 points unanswered. And I think that just shows the difference in offenses. Like Ohio State's offense, I think it just shows that Ohio State's offense has more weapons than Notre Dame's. And they probably have really the most talented roster in college football. And I think that just showed through the difference in offensive play. Notre Dame, they struggled to get points, especially in the end of that first half. And I mean, they made a run for it. They got some stops, got some scores, got that big two point conversion, but then couldn't get the stop they needed to on the last drive of the game with that throw to Jeremiah Smith. But overall, Notre Dame, they made it semi-close at the end. But I think overall, it just showed that Ohio State was the more talented team. And they had more weapons, and that's why they won. - Yeah, I agree with you on this one. Three points I want to hit at, OSU's talent. They were definitely the more talented team in Notre Dame. They come in and they get a win. I mean, we don't, yes, Ohio State was a better team than this game, but they were playing against a gritty Notre Dame team that did not give up. Down 31 to seven, they fought back. Got it to 31 to 23 at the end of the game. And then Jeremiah Smith just took over there at the end of the game. But this is a gritty Notre Dame team that they ran into. Will Howard, another point. Will Howard had a really great performance, a guy who came from Kansas State who had won a big total championship there. A lot of people didn't expect him a big 12 player of the year, but really, a lot of people didn't expect him to be the next two, be at Ohio State. And through the trial and error, losing to Michigan. And this team really showed up and it was led by Will Howard. They showed up big time in this playoffs. But I want to give a shout out to Notre Dame's, the grit and grind style that they played all college football playoff long and in this game right now. Just the grit and grind they played with to make the comeback because it easily could have been over it when it got to 31 to seven in that second half. But Marcus Freeman, Riley Leonard, they just fought back. The receiver, Great House, I mean, he played really good. And their defense took in it, forcing a fumble and a turnover and just given their offensive chance was definitely big for Notre Dame down the stretch there. But they did not, they didn't give up and they'll be back. Especially with Marcus Freeman as the head coach there. All right, so now on to Ryan Day. What does this mean now that Ryan Day just won the national championship? What does that mean for him? And he's had some criticism this season. He's faced him criticism. Do you think he deserves an apology for that as well? First, what does this mean for Ryan Day? Ryan Day, this just shows and proves that Ryan Day is a winner. He is 70 in 10 in his career at Ohio State. In his head coaching career, 70 in 10. Yes, has he lost to Michigan? Too many times, yes, especially this year, there wasn't a good loss to an average to pretty good Michigan team, right? It wasn't a loss that they probably should have, especially at home. But to bounce back, to bounce back and save his job and bounce back and win the national championship, it just goes and shows that the 70 in 10 record and that he is able to put together something and make it great, right? He's had a lot of great talented players and teams at his time at Ohio State as a head coach at Ohio State. This year, he will show that he was able to put it together. And a quote that I like, that thing kind of goes with this, is it's by Coach John Gruden. He says, you know what potential means? It means you haven't done Jack. I like this quote here. I discovered it today. I really like this quote. Potential has been a lot of what the Ryan Days teams have been. Oh, this team has potential. This team is potential to win the national championship. This team is potential to win the big 10. And it just felt like they kept falling short and falling short and falling short with all that potential. But they finally come through and they win the national championship. It just shows that he put together something great and it came together. What are your thoughts? So no, he doesn't deserve an apology. He won. What are your thoughts? Yeah, I mean, I agree with you on what it means for him. I mean, it means that he's the real deal. I mean, he just brought Ohio State a national championship. He brings that. He's bringing that home to the school. And that's a big deal. And so obviously, it means that he's keeping his job. And like you said, he's a winner. Now, does he deserve an apology for his criticism? I think the criticism that he faced was because he lost a Michigan. And like you said, he's 70 and 10, 70 and 10 record at Ohio State. But against Michigan, he's 1 and 4. So I think for the criticism that he faced against Michigan, no, he doesn't deserve an apology for that. I mean, it doesn't change. I mean, winning a national championship is better than beating Michigan. It doesn't change the fact that he's still lost to Michigan. And he has that record against Michigan. And in a way, I think that we don't need to-- there's no real apology needed for Ryan Day because in a way, this is what he was supposed to do as well. I mean, you spend $20 million on a team, you're supposed to have the best roster in college football. And when you have the best roster in college football, you're supposed to win the national championship. And I think that's what he did. He did what he was supposed to do with the $20 million roster that they spent their NIL money on. So yeah, he deserves-- no, he does not deserve an apology. He did what he is supposed to do. I do agree with you on that. Let's move-- let's switch gears to the Big 10 conference as a whole. Now, the last two champions have been Michigan, who beat Washington last year, and Ohio State, who beat Notre Dame this year. The big question is, yes, we have the SEC, which is football country. But is the Big 10 in control of college football right now? I think-- well, no, I don't think they're in control of college football. I think you have-- so I'd say maybe the best teams in college football, the best teams in college football are the best teams in the Big 10. But I would say that as a whole, the conference as a whole in college football, I think the SEC is still better than the Big 10. Not because the best teams in the SEC are better than the best teams in the Big 10. That is Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan. Those are the big dogs in the Big 10. I think the SEC as a whole-- I mean, even your middle-of-the-pack teams in the SEC have chances to beat the big dogs. I mean, you have your South Carolina, Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas A&M. I feel like those outbeat your teams, like your Illinois, your Iowa's, your Washington's. Teams like that, I feel like the SEC is better as a whole because all the teams-- I feel like there's more teams that have chances to beat the best teams. So I'd say-- I'd still probably say the SEC right now. I'm going to say yes in a way, but I agree with what you-- I do agree with what you said. I do agree with yourself. I'm going to say, in a way, because when it comes to-- I'm going to say these past two years, when it comes to winning championships, putting together successful championship runs, I will say the Big 10 has won that, with Michigan and Ohio State. Not necessarily being the highest ranked or not necessarily-- not necessarily being the highest ranked and the number one team that we've seen the SEC control in that top leaderboard right there, it's just how they finish the season. I feel like the Big 10 has-- these last two years, even with teams that haven't won Oregon, like a team like Oregon who was still undefeated pretty much all year long. They put together more of a more successful long-run championship teams, but I will say SEC is still a football powerhouse. That's just kind of in a championship drought here, but we know what your Georgia's and your Alabama's and your Texas's can do. So yeah, the Big 10 and the SEC is still a football country. And yeah, I think it's a tight race between those two. All right, our last question of the day. Ohio State spent-- this is a $20 million team. We talked about this at the beginning of the season. Ohio State spent $20 million on this roster and they won the national championship. So do you think that this creates a bad model for modern college football teams? I'm going to make this a quick one. I just think this is how college sports is going to turn into. It's not the best thing, it's not. It's not the best that we're paying all these guys, all this money. And now you got the new quarterback of Miami, Carson Beck getting paid a lot of money to go over and play for Miami. But this is kind of a thing that's been going on. This is how college football is. This is how college sports are going to become kind of like a semi-pro league where these players are getting paid to go different places as they enter the transfer portal or in recruiting. Ohio State wasn't the only team that paid $20 million for a roster. You had Oregon and probably a few other teams that did as well. So it's not like Ohio State had a definite advantage over any other other opponents. But it is definitely become a huge thing. It's not the best thing for college football. But at this point, it is reality in college football and in college sports. So I think it's just going to be a thing that continues to grow. What are your thoughts? Yeah, I mean, I think it's-- I think when you see one of the teams that spent the most-- one of the teams who just spent the most money out of all the teams in NIL, just won the National Championship, I just think that's bad for the game. I mean, I'm happy for Ohio State for winning, but I think-- I mean, it is inevitable. It's inevitable. It's bound to happen. I just think it's bad for the game, I think. But it is just what it's become. All teams are going to start paying a whole lot more in NIL. For-- they're going to start spending a whole lot more money on players. If players are going to start getting paid a lot more, more than they are right now, too. But it's just-- it's where the game's at, I guess. And just that it happened to Ohio State, I mean, it's bound to happen anytime. But yeah, I mean, teams definitely see this. The most expensive roster just won the National Championship. Teams definitely see that and think that we've got to start making more money and putting more money towards NIL and these rosters if we want to win a championship, too. So that's where I get out of that. Just quick question. Real quick. Do you feel like they had a fair disadvantage? Do you think other teams were also using the NIL? Because I heard that Oregon was up near 20 million, and a few of these other teams were up near that. Do you think that across the sport, it's become an abuse, but a lot of teams are using this to full extent, right? To put together a super team. I mean, if you could say that you spend this amount of money and you can win the championship, I think any team's going to do that. But I do think that it gives an advantage, but I guess it just depends on how much it's come to. How much do teams want to spend on their roster and in the transfer portal and recruiting to get these players to come in and help bring their teams to these championships? But yeah, I mean, like you said, Ohio State's not the only team that's up there. I mean, Oregon, Texas, they're all out there spending a lot, too. And it's just going to keep growing. Yep. All right. Thank you for tuning in to the top. Oh, thank you for tuning in to the final point podcast. If you got any other topics that you want us to talk about, leave them down in the comment section. Hope you had a great college football season. Tune in next time and enjoy your day. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
0:00 Game Thoughts and Recap
5:15 What does this mean for Ryan Day?
10:00 Is the Big Ten in control of College Football?
13:40 Is this a bad model for the modern CFB Team?