Kirk Herbstreit is as professional as it comes when he calls college football games for ESPN.

However, the former Ohio State football quarterback could not control his emotions after the Buckeyes’ 34-23 win over Notre Dame in Monday’s College Football Playoff national championship game. In a segment with ESPN Sportscenter’s Scott Van Pelt, Herbstreit got emotional when talking about the national championship for the Buckeyes.

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“Don’t start with me, man. I am a little emotional,” Herbstreit said. “I’m just fired up for these guys. When I call these games, I am incredibly objective, and I love all these Ohio State teams, but this team, because of what they went through to get to this point, is just happy. Just happy for them.”

Van Pelt asked fellow commentator Chris Fowler a question to allow Herbstreit to collect himself. Then, he appeared back on screen with a napkin and wiped the tears away from his face.

The Buckeyes were denied a chance to play in the Big Ten Conference championship game after a major upset loss to rival Michigan in the final week of the regular season. However, Ohio State bounced back with four straight wins, including a win over No. 1 Oregon, to win the national championship.

Herbstreit attended Centerville High School in Centerville, Ohio, and played for the Buckeyes from 1989 to 1993. In his senior season, he earned a starting role and led the Buckeyes to the Florida Citrus Bowl. Herbstreit’s father, Jim Herbstreit, was a co-captain on the 1960 Ohio State team and later became an assistant coach.

With Monday’s win, the Buckeyes clinched their first national championship since 2014, the first year of the 4-team CFP. Monday’s championship game concluded the first version of the 12-team CFP.

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After a two-game road trip to the West Coast, No. 11 Purdue has a quick turnaround, hosting Ohio State at Mackey Arena on Tuesday. Boilermakers coach Matt Painter says that, despite the Buckeyes’ record, he expects a really tough game in West Lafayette.

Purdue enters the game on a seven-game winning streak, winning six of those by double digits. Ohio State, on the other hand, has dropped each of its last three games, losing by a combined five points.

While the Buckeyes have had some late-game errors that have cost them, Painter said Jake Diebler and his staff are bring an extremely talented team to Mackey Arena.

“They’re 2-5 in our league and they’re three possessions away from being 5-2. I think you’ve got to keep that in perspective,” Painter said. “The games they’ve lost, the last one (to Indiana) in overtime, and the other ones could have went either way.

“They’re a very good team, Bruce Thornton is very talented, (John) Mobley (Jr.) is a guy you have to be aware of at all times.”

Four Buckeyes enter Tuesday night’s contest averaging double digits. Thornton is the leader, posting 17.4 points per game while shooting 52.6% from the floor and 41.1% from 3-point range.

His physical style of play and ability to knock down shots anywhere on the court could cause some problems for Purdue’s defense.

“He can get to his kill spots. He’s shifty, he’s quick, but he’s also physical,” Painter said. “He can get to the basket, he can make pull-up threes, but he can also get into the paint, jump stop and make that reverse pivot shot where he fades away and knocks that down. He also plays off his shot fake and draws fouls.

“Just a versatile guard. A versatile lead guard who is good at distributing the ball, but also being aggressive and scoring.”

Devin Royal — who missed last week’s game against Indiana — is averaging 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Mobley is scoring 12.5 per game and Micah Parris is adding 10.5 per contest. In other words, Ohio State has a lot of weapons.

Purdue’s defense has been stifling recently, holding each of its last seven opponents to 68 points or less. The Boilermakers are also forcing turnovers at a much higher rate, with opponents giving the ball up 14.6 times per game in the last seven contests.

It’s going to take another strong defensive effort from Purdue to try and quiet an Ohio State offense that has plenty of scorers on the floor.

“Across the board, they have a good team. They have good athleticism on their front line, good size, they have depth,” Painter said. “It’s going to be a tough game.”

KAUFMAN-RENN EARNS NATIONAL HONOR: Purdue junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn was named the Naismith Men’s College Player of the Week after leading the Boilers to wins over Washington and Oregon. CLICK HERE

PURDUE JUMPS IN LATEST AP POLL: After wins over Washington and Oregon to extend its winning streak to seven games, Purdue jumped up six spots to No. 11 in the latest Associated Press poll. CLICK HERE

BRADEN SMITH MIDSEASON ALL-AMERICAN: Purdue guard Braden Smith has been tabbed as a midseason first-team All-American by FOX. He’s averaging 15.1 points, 8.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals. CLICK HERE

PAINTER GETS MAJOR SHOUTOUT: FOX college basketball broadcaster John Fanta is giving Purdue coach Matt Painter incredible praise for the job he’s done with the 2024-25 Boilermakers so far. CLICK HERE

Ohio State football and coach Ryan Day made a coaching hire splash in the offseason, when it hired former UCLA coach Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator.

It was an interesting move for Kelly, who decided he’d rather be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State than the head coach at UCLA, a position he held from 2018-23.

Day and Kelly have history, which made the move make sense, as Kelly was Day’s offensive coordinator when Day was New Hampshire’s quarterback from 1998-2001. Day was also the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers when Kelly was an NFL head coach.

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Day’s first coaching job as New Hampshire’s tight ends coach in 2002 was also under Kelly’s offense.

Kelly, who won three Pac-12 championships and led Oregon to the 2011 national championship, is among the most experienced offensive minds in all of college football.

Here’s why Kelly left UCLA for Ohio State ahead of the 2024-25 season:

Why did Chip Kelly leave UCLA for Ohio State?

Kelly explained his decision to move from UCLA head coach to assistant at Ohio State in his first spring with the Buckeyes in March.

Kelly, who hadn’t been an assistant being the offensive coordinator at Oregon in 2008, coached UCLA’s quarterbacks for the Bruins’ LA Bowl matchup with Boise State, after Ryan Gunderson left to be the offensive coordinator at Oregon State.

He said being a position coach reinvigorated his love for football.

“I actually coached the quarterbacks for the bowl game, and I just started to think, like I hadn’t actually coached a position since 2008,” Kelly told reporters in his introductory press conference. “I think my wife remarked, she was like, ‘I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.’ And, to me, the best part of football is football. And so, you got to do football, and not do some of the things involved with the head coaching deal.”

Kelly then said he started looking into possible opportunities to be an assistant coach again.

“So I started to look into, ‘Is there an opportunity?’” Kelly said. “And it would have had to been the right spot to go somewhere and just coach a position again and be back with that group.”

Kelly has been the head coach at Oregon and UCLA, and also the NFL’s Eagles and 49ers since he last stint as an assistant.

Of course, it would’ve taken one of the top assistant roles in college football to likely lure Kelly away from UCLA, which Ohio State provided. It’s unclear what some of the things with head coaching were that turned Kelly away from the Bruins, however, with the current age of college football in recruiting, name, image and likeness and also leading UCLA into a new conference, it likely took a toll on Kelly’s time.

Kelly said being a head coach in the current era of college football requires being a “CEO.”

“I just want to be happy. And I’m really happy coaching the position,” Kelly said. “Really happy to be at this place. It would have taken a special place for me to leave UCLA, because I love those players and I love that coaching staff, but to be here with Ryan, had a great relationship, I’ve known Ryan since he was a little kid. So, I think a lot of things just fell into place that way.”

Kelly took the job that was previously filled by Bill O’Brien during the offseason, but O’Brien never actually coached the Buckeyes as he turned around and took the head coaching position at Boston College, leaving the opportunity open for Kelly.

“Sometimes I do a lot of things other people don’t do,” Kelly said with a laugh. “I don’t know if that’s right or wrong.”

Chip Kelly contract

According to USA TODAY’s assistant coaches’ salary database, Kelly is the eighth-highest paid assistant in college football, making $2 million this year.

He also can make up to $940,000 in bonuses.

Chip Kelly buyout

Ohio State paid UCLA $1.5 million to hire him as offensive coordinator, according to USA TODAY’s salary database. Ohio State also paid an undetermined amount to reduce the tax impact on Kelly.

Kelly signed a contract extension with the Bruins in 2023, which would’ve paid him $6.1 million in 2024.