With the 2025 Ohio State football still five months away and the 2024 championship still somehow only weeks behind us, there’s simply far too much offseason between now and more meaningful Buckeye action.
The Buckeyes’ four-game run through the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff was a historic one, as Ohio State navigated the toughest postseason schedule in the history of the collegiate game. Just because 10 weeks have passed since the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame to claim the crown, it doesn’t mean we have to stop enjoying what took place.
To that end, it’s a good time — and just plain fun — to revisit every touchdown of Ohio State’s championship run. Starting this week, my next three Monday columns will look back at the OSU touchdowns in those four games, ranking them countdown style.
While this is, admittedly, completely subjective, I did consider some criteria to make my decisions. I considered the degree of difficulty of each scoring play, the magnitude of the moment (i.e., how clutch they were), and the “wow” factor. Was I consistent in applying these criteria? I don’t know. I’m just a guy with a keyboard who loves college football.
Ohio State found the end zone 19 times — six times against Tennessee, five against Oregon in the Rose Bowl, and four times each against Texas and Notre Dame. To do this in three columns, I’m going to stuff nine of those touchdowns into this first part. I chose to do this because four of the touchdowns were 1-yard runs by Quinshon Judkins.
It was difficult to differentiate between their degree of difficulty, and I’m going to officially call that a four-way tie, but I’m not above doing a mini-ranking of them, so that’s what I did.
Let’s get to it.
16. (Four-way tie) Quinshon Judkins’ 1-yard touchdown runs
A. Vs. Notre Dame
Judkins ‘ most important 1-yard touchdown run came early in the third quarter of the national championship matchup against Notre Dame. At the time, it gave Ohio State a 28-7 lead which seemed on the verge of putting the game away. Despite adding a field goal, that lead shrunk as the game went on as the Irish continued to fight.
This play was also big because it came on third down, so a failure to score may have helped Notre Dame gain momentum earlier in the second half and it prevented Ryan Day from having to make a choice between kicking and going for it.
B. Vs. Texas
The game was tied at 14 in the fourth quarter of the 2025 Cotton Bowl, which served as a venue for one of the two College Football Playoff semifinals. The Longhorns had made it a new game late in the third quarter and the outcome of the game was on a knife’s edge.
Judkins was met at the line of scrimmage on second-and-goal and powered his way into the end zone. This is the touchdown that made it necessary for Texas to get into the end zone, which the Longhorns did not do. Their failure set up a play that we’ll look back on later in this series. Meanwhile, this was a vital touchdown from Q.
C. Vs. Tennesse (first quarter)
The win over the Volunteers ended up being no problem for Ohio State, but at the time of the first of two Judkins 1-yard plunges against Tennessee, no one knew the Buckeyes were going to be a postseason juggernaut. The last time they’d played…well, let’s not dwell on that.
This touchdown showed Judkins’ power and gave the Buckeyes separation at 14-0 early in a game they went on to dominate.
D. Vs. Tennessee (third quarter)
Judkins capped an 81-yard drive when he plowed in over the right side on second down, putting the icing on an already sweet cake. His running mate finished the scoring a bit later, but this made it 35-10 with just over 16 minutes remaining in the game.
15. TreVeyon Henderson’s 8-yard run vs. Oregon
In the first of Ohio State’s touchdowns longer than a single yard, Judkins’ stable mate makes his first appearance on the list. As far as 8-yard touchdown runs go, this was an easy one and not strictly needed.
The Buckeyes already led the Oregon Ducks 34-15 late in the third quarter. The defense was playing well, and the Ohio State offense could run and pass against a normally stout Oregon defense. Henderson took a toss from Will Howard on the left side and wasn’t threatened until he reached the 3-yard line, where he broke a weak tackle attempt and ran through another at the goal line as the Duck defense capitulated.
Ohio State made it 41-15 with the extra point and romped in the Rose Bowl.
14. Judkins’ 9-yard run vs. Texas
It was early in the Cotton Bowl and Ohio State’s defense began the game with a stop. Ohio State embarked on an opening drive that reached the Texas 9-yard line in nine plays. On the 10th, Judkins took a handoff up the middle, made a man miss in the backfield, cut around another inside the 5-yard line, and followed his blockers into the end zone to open the scoring.
Every point ended up being crucial against a stout Longhorns defense that came into the matchup with a solid game plan. Judkins ensured the Buckeyes got off on the right foot.
13. Henderson’s 29-yard run vs. Tennessee
It seems rude to put a 29-yard run this low in the countdown, but in the end, we love all our children equally. Something needed to go in this slot, and while this may be a hot take on my part, the ease with which this touchdown was scored factored into its placement.
Tennessee was not prepared for Henderson’s speed, and the future NFL running back punished the Vols for it, racing untouched through a gap created by Luke Montgomery and then down the sideline to make it 21-0, and the rout was on.
12. Judkins’ 9-yard run vs. Notre Dame
As 9-yard runs go, this was impressive, and it happened on the biggest stage. Judkins again avoided a loss in the backfield with a stiffarm that planted his defender in the artificial turf. He then broke left and carried a defender into the end zone for the final 4 yards, putting the Buckeyes ahead 14-7 in the second quarter.
It was the second of three unanswered touchdowns by Ohio State to close the first half with momentum.
11. Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith from 22 yards vs. Tennessee
The first pass play on my list — and I swear I’m not biased against rushing touchdowns…I love them, and there are more to come later — comes courtesy of a perfectly executed fade throw from Howard to freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith to open the scoring in the second half against the Volunteers.
Ohio State led 21-10 at the half, but this touchdown early in the third quarter essentially sealed Tennessee’s fate. Smith got separation, used his body well, and plucked Howard’s pass out of the air to extend the Buckeye lead. Ohio State tacked on two more touchdowns before the Volunteers added a late score against a lot of backup defensive players.
That’s it for the first part of three-straight weeks of looking back at glory. The scoring plays get bigger and better from here. See you next week for Part 2.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
