CFP National Championship: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame by the numbers

This year’s College Football Playoff National Championship will likely be one for the books, as Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State takes on one of the most storied programs in the sport’s history in Notre Dame.

This will be the Buckeyes’ first appearance in the national title game since the 2020 season and the Fighting Irish’s first since 2012.

Quarterback Will Howard and freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith lead Ryan Day’s squad, which is outscoring its opponents by an average margin of 19.7 points per game in the CFP.

On the other side, Riley Leonard and Jeremiyah Love lead Marcus Freeman’s team, which is looking to become the 10th underdog to win the national title in the CFP/BCS era and the first since Clemson in 2018.

Here are the numbers to know ahead of Monday’s championship tilt:

(8) Ohio State vs. (7) Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET)

0:00: Ohio State has not trailed for a single second in the CFP and has only trailed for 76:35 all season— which ranks second in FBS behind Ole Miss (56:25).

2: Since the FBS/FCS split in 1978, Ohio State is just the second team to have four wins against top five AP-ranked opponents (Indiana, Penn State, Oregon, Texas). With a win against Notre Dame, it would be the first with five such wins in a single season.

3: Leonard is one of three quarterbacks in all of FBS this season to have 2,600 passing yards and 800 rushing yards, joining John Mateer and Devon Dampier.  

4: Notre Dame is one of just four Power 4 or Independent programs to have eight or more wins in each of the past five seasons, joining Alabama, Clemson and Georgia.

5: Five former Ohio State players-turned-coaches have faced their alma mater, and they are 5-18-1 in those games. The list includes Freeman (0-2 with Notre Dame), Luke Fickell (0-1 at Cincinnati and 0-1 at Wisconsin), Glen Mason (1-7 at Minnesota), Gary Moeller (0-3 at Illinois, 3-1-1 at Michigan) and Bo Pelini (1-3 at Nebraska).

7-4: Day’s record in postseason games at Ohio State (2-0 in Big Ten title games, 5-4 in CFP games). He also joined Urban Meyer as the only Ohio State coaches with two seasons of at least 13 wins.

8: Notre Dame is an 8.5-point underdog. In the BCS and CFP eras combined (since 1998), there have only been eight underdogs of 8-plus points in the national title game — with the most recent one coming in the 2022 season (TCU was a 13.5-point underdog).

9: This will be the ninth meeting between the two schools, with Ohio State having won the past six games (1995-96, 2006, 2016, 2022-23) and Notre Dame having won the first two (1935-36). This is the sixth consecutive game (since 1996) where both schools are ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll. 

12.2: The number of points Ohio State is holding opponents to per game, which is the best mark of any team in FBS this season. Notre Dame ranks second at 14.3 points per game allowed.

13: Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts has 13 interceptions since the start of the 2023 season — the most of any player in FBS in that span. He’s also the only player to eclipse the double-digit mark in the category. 

14: Freeman has 14 wins vs. AP-ranked opponents in his career, tied with Georgia for the most of any program since 2022. That’s also more ranked wins than any other Notre Dame head coach in the first three years of their tenure.

18: Love needs one rushing touchdown for his 18th of the season, which would tie the Notre Dame single-season record held by Audric Estimé (18 last season).

19: Leonard needs to finish with just 19 rushing yards to break the Notre Dame single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback; the record is 884 yards set by Tony Rice in 1989. Leonard also needs just two rushing touchdowns to tie the single-season Notre Dame record (18 held by Estimé in 2023).

21: Ohio State and Notre Dame have a combined 21 national titles between the two of them, recognized by the NCAA. Notre Dame has the fourth-most of any school with 13, while Ohio State’s eight are tied for the seventh-most.

32: Jeremiah Smith needs 32 receiving yards to break the Big Ten single-season record by a freshman, a record currently held by Rondale Moore (1,258 in 2018). He already holds the Ohio State freshman records for catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, as well as the Big Ten freshman record for touchdown catches in a season.

50: TreVeyon Henderson needs two more touchdowns to become the third player in Ohio State history to reach 50 career scrimmage touchdowns, joining Keith Byars (50) and Pete Johnson (58).

95: Emeka Egbuka needs 95 receiving yards to break the school career record, held by Michael Jenkins (2,898). He also needs just three catches to break the Ohio State all-time record for receptions, held by K.J. Hill (201).

555: The number of points Notre Dame has scored this year, which is the most in a single season in program history. It’s also just the second time in program history the Irish have scored 500-plus points in a season (509 last year).  

1,000: Ohio State could have four 1,000-yard performers in one season, which would be the first time that has happened in program history; Smith already has eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving, Egbuka needs 53 receiving yards to reach it, Henderson needs 33 rushing yards and Quinshon Judkins needs 40 rushing yards.

13,167: Notre Dame’s last college football title came against West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, 1989. On Jan. 20th, it will be a whopping 13,167 days since that title.

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