Ohio State vs Oregon final score: Ezekiel Elliot leads Buckeyes past Ducks for national championship, 42-20

The first College Football Playoff National Championship Game lived up to everything fans hoped it would be as the Oregon Ducks and Ohio State Buckeyes 

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Oregon took the opening kickoff and made things look easy, driving 75 yards in 2:39 with Keanon Lowe hauling in the pass from Marcus Mariota for a seven-yard touchdown before many fans had even got to their seats at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.

Not much would come that easy for the Ducks the rest of the first half as the Buckeyes ran up 21 unanswered points to assert their dominance in the first half with Ezekiel Elliott leading the way en route to winning the national championship over the Ducks, 42-20.

Elliott ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns as the MVP as the Ohio State Buckeyes are the first national champions in the playoff era.

The sophomore running back dominated in the Sugar Bowl win with 23 yards and two touchdowns in the win against Alabama and outdid himself in the championship game, beginning with a 33-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to answer the Oregon score.

Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones made his third career start and continued to play with the poise of a fifth-year senior. Jones threw a one-yard touchdown to Nick Vannett one play after Elliott ran the ball to the Oregon 1 to take a 14-7 lead with 1:08 left in the first quarter.

The second quarter began with an inauspicious start that threatened to shift momentum back to Oregon after Jones fumbled at the Oregon 39 and Alex Balducci recovered. Mariota completed five-of-six passes on the ensuing drive with two passes going to Byron Marshall for 37 yards as the Ducks got in the red zone.

Always aggressive, Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich went for it on fourth-and-goal from the Ohio State 3 but Thomas Tyner was stuffed at the 1 and they turned the ball over on downs and failed to get points off the Jones fumble.

Five plays later Oregon forced another fumble after Jones hit Cory Smith for a 50-yard reception but Troy Hill, forced the ball loose and Rodney Hardrick recovered for Oregon at the Oregon 9.

Oregon failed to take advantage of a second straight turnover after Adolphus Washington sacked Mariota on third down to force a punt.

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Scarlet and Game

Ohio State flirted with literally turning the game over to Oregon on their previous two possessions but didn’t make the same mistake on this drive. Jones hit Devin Smith for a 45-yard reception to the Oregon 6 and the Buckeyes 250-pound quarterback did the work from there.

Jones pounded the rock for a two yard gain and later bulldozed his way up the middle for what appeared to be a touchdown, but after review was ruled down at the one. Naturally, Jones kept it on the next play for a one-yard touchdown to put Ohio State up 21-7 with 4:49 remaining in the first half.

Mariota and the Ducks faced a crucial possession before half in need of points in the worst way and they got them, but they had to settle for a Aidan Schneider 26-yard field goal after the drive stalled at the OSU 9 after an incomplete pass to Evan Baylis.

Momentum slowly began to creep back in the direction of Oregon after the Ducks forced their third turnover when Danny Mattingly intercepted Jones and returned it to the Oregon 30. On the first play after the pick, Mariota hit Byron Marshall for a 70-yard touchdown down the middle of the field to cut the deficit to 21-17.

At this point it looked like the Ducks were ready to take control of this game and after Arik Armstead recovered another fumble from Jones on the following drive the Ducks were in business to take the lead.

The high-powered Oregon offense couldn’t crack the end zone on the ensuing possession and had to settle for another short field goal from Schneider to make it 21-20.

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Betsided

Ohio State sensing they were fortunate to be in the lead despite four turnovers at this point reverted to the form they showed for much of the first half and put the ball in Elliott’s hands and let him do run wild. Elliott ran for 44 yards on six carries, capping the drive with a nine-yard touchdown drive as time expired in the third to give Ohio State a 28-20 lead.

Oregon failed to answer the score as the fourth quarter began and was forced to punt for the fifth time of the game after only four plays.

Attempting to put the final nail in the coffin of the Ducks, the Buckeyes put together a nine-play drive spanning 76 yards and taking 4:13 off the clock with Elliott scoring his third touchdown of the game to give Ohio State a 35-20 lead.

Ohio State dominated in the trenches as Elliott sets the Ohio State bowl record with his rushing yards and put himself in the conversation for the 2015 Heisman Trophy and Jones looked like the second coming of Daunte Culpepper.

Urban Meyer wins his third national title as a head coach, his first at Ohio State, and the eighth overall for the program who last were atop the college football world in 2002.

Meanwhile, Mariota failed to become the ninth player to win the Heisman and national title in the same season, but he’s looking at potentially being the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and Oregon loses in the title game for the second time in four years.

Mariota was 24-of-37 passing for 333 yards and two touchdowns and one interception, but other than the first drive and the 70-yard pass to Marshall the explosive plays we’ve come to expect from Oregon wasn’t there as the Buckeyes defense forced six punts and outgained them on the ground 296-132 and dominated the time of possession.

Ohio State had the ball for 15:06 longer than Oregon despite four turnovers, but the only stat that mattered after the first playoff ended was the 42 points the Buckeyes scored to knock off the Ducks by 22.

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