News
Ohio State defeats Notre Dame 34-23 in college football championship game
Ohio State celebrates after their win against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday in Atlanta.
Brynn Anderson/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Brynn Anderson/AP
ATLANTA — The pass seemed to hang up there forever. Did it feel like seven weeks? Did it feel like 10 years?
What a great debate for Ohio State fans to have forever.
When that teardrop of a throw from Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard on third-and-11 finally landed, light as a feather, in the hands of receiver Jeremiah Smith late in the fourth quarter Monday, Ohio State had locked up what would be a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame for its sixth national title and first in a decade.
It was that 56-yard gain that snuffed out a feverish Notre Dame comeback and made the Buckeyes the champion of the sport’s first 12-team playoff, just as they were champions of its first four-team tournament a decade ago.
“They were running man coverage and I said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna let this loose and let him make a play on it,’” Howard said of a play that felt about 100 years removed from Ohio State’s once program-defining “Three yards and a cloud of dust.”
Ohio State place kicker Jayden Fielding kicks a field goal against Notre Dame during second half of the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday in Atlanta.
Jacob Kupferman/FR171784 AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jacob Kupferman/FR171784 AP
This was a win that hardly anyone thought possible a mere seven weeks ago — Nov. 30 — when a 13-10 loss to Michigan led to a near-riot on the field and questions over whether coach Ryan Day would keep his job when the calendar flipped.
“It’s a great story about a bunch of guys who have just overcome some really tough situations, and at the point where there’s a lot of people that counted us out (they) just kept swinging and kept fighting,” Day said.
Buckeyes were on cruise control, then suddenly, ND came to life
It might be that much sweeter because of how it went down in a jam-packed stadium in the middle of SEC country that looked like a Christmas tree — Ohio State fans on one half in red, Notre Dame’s on the other in green.
Trailing 31-7, Notre Dame scored two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to make it a one-score game late in the fourth quarter. The in-stadium camera found legendary Irish coach Lou Holtz in his luxury box, and he ignored all those booing Buckeye fans and flashed a thumbs-up.
But Notre Dame’s time was running out. After stopping the Buckeyes on their first two plays and using their timeouts, the Irish put Christian Gray — whose interception wrapped up Notre Dame’s semifinal win over Penn State — in single coverage on Smith.
Smith got behind Gray on the right sideline and Howard dropped his best pass of the season into the hands of the second-team All-American.
It set up a field goal that started the celebration in earnest, and also helped Ohio State cover the 8 1/2-point spread at BetMGM Sportsbook.
Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding celebrates his field goal against Notre Dame in the college football championship on Monday.
Jacob Kupferman/FR171784 AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Jacob Kupferman/FR171784 AP
“It was do or die, it was that type of down,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “He’s a heck of a player. He’s difficult to cover.”
Howard and Judkins make transfer portal pay off for Ohio State
Howard, a transfer-portal success story from Kansas State, threw for 231 yards and two scores, but nothing will beat the pass to Smith with everything on the line.
The receiver, who had been bottled up by Texas in the semifinals then fairly quiet for most of this game, finally got loose for the kind of play he’s been making all year. He finished with five catches for 88 yards.
“We felt at the end we wanted to give Jeremiah that shot,” Day said. “We really hadn’t thrown it all night, but I thought, ‘Know what, let’s be aggressive, let’s do this and lay it on the line.’”
Ohio State didn’t really look like a team that needed to take risks after scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions, then adding a field goal on its fifth.
When Quinshon Judkins (100 yards, 11 carries, three TDs), a transfer from Mississippi who highlighted Ohio State’s judicious use of the ever-growing portal, busted a 70-yard run to set up the score that made it 28-7, this game looked over.
It wasn’t, and now Freeman will have to answer a few tough questions — one about the failed fake punt in the third quarter that turned into a field goal for a 31-7 lead; the other about sending Mitch Jeter in for a short field goal attempt while down 16 and facing fourth-and-goal from the 9. It might have looked like a better call had Jeter’s kick not clanged off the left upright.
“I know it’s still a two-score game, but you have a better probability of getting 14 points than you do 16 points,” Freeman said.
Ohio State dominated most of the night, and all through the playoffs
Ohio State celebrates after their win against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday in Atlanta.
Brynn Anderson/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Brynn Anderson/AP
Really, though, Ohio State was the better team. The Buckeyes outgained Notre Dame 445 yards to 308. Howard completed his first 13 passes and never really got stopped. Ohio State punted a grand total of once.
The Buckeyes rolled through four games in the new, expanded playoff — what great timing for Ohio State that the tournament swelled to a dozen teams in a year it didn’t even play for the Big Ten title — by an average score of 36-21.
Ohio State was seeded eighth, but the seedings were pretty much meaningless. The worse seed won every game in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, and the Buckeyes dominated in this title-game showdown of No. 7 vs. No. 8.
A fine ending to a season that almost got away
It puts to rest, for now, any angst about that 13-10 Michigan loss in November — Ohio State’s fourth straight in the series — that ended with a brawl after Wolverine players tried to plant a flag at midfield.
The whole scene left a lot of folks, both in and out of Buckeye circles, thinking Day, in his sixth season, had outlived his usefulness on a campus that hadn’t tasted a title in a decade.
Instead, the Ohio State marching band can dot the “I” next time with the national-title trophy. And Day can join a list of title-winning coaches with Urban Meyer (2014) Jim Tressel (2002), Woody Hayes (“Three yards and a cloud of dust”) and Paul Brown (who went on to become the namesake of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns).
Also, Day’s .873 winning percentage coming into the game was third among coaches with 50-plus games — one spot behind none other than the Notre Dame legend Knute Rockne, himself.
The Notre Dame loss means college football still has never had a Black coach win the national title. Freeman was trying to become the first.
Instead, another kind of history. This marked the first time the Big Ten has taken back-to-back titles since 1942. Last year’s champion was Michigan, which was sitting home watching this one, but still played a special role in a Buckeyes redemption story hardly anyone saw coming.
An explosion and fire drew a large emergency response on Friday to a lumber mill in the Midcoast region of Maine, officials said.
The State Police and fire marshal’s investigators responded to Robbins Lumber in Searsmont, about 72 miles northeast of Portland, said Shannon Moss, a spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.
Mike Larrivee, the director of the Waldo County Regional Communications Center, said the number of victims was unknown, cautioning that “the information we’re getting from the scene is very vague.”
“We’ve sent every resource in the county to that area, plus surrounding counties,” he said.
Footage from the scene shared by WABI-TV showed flames burning through the roof of a large structure as heavy, dark smoke billowed skyward.
The Associated Press reported that at least five people were injured, and that county officials were considering the incident a “mass casualty event.”
Catherine Robbins-Halsted, an owner and vice president at Robbins Lumber, told reporters at the scene that all of the company’s employees had been accounted for.
Gov. Janet T. Mills of Maine said on social media that she had been briefed on the situation and urged people to avoid the area.
“I ask Maine people to join me in keeping all those affected in their thoughts,” she said.
Representative Jared Golden, Democrat of Maine, said on social media that he was aware of the fire and explosion.
“As my team and I seek out more information, I am praying for the safety and well-being of first responders and everyone else on-site,” he said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Crime scene tape surrounds a bicycle in front of St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Atlanta on May 14, 2026. (SKYFOX 5)
ATLANTA – The woman stabbed to death on the Beltline has been identified as 23-year-old Alyssa Paige, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner.
The backstory:
Paige was killed by a 21-year-old man Thursday afternoon while she was on the Beltline. Officials confirmed to FOX 5 that the stabbing happened near the 1700 block of Flagler Avenue NE.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the department was alerted around 12:10 p.m. that a woman had been stabbed just north of the Montgomery Ferry Drive overpass. She was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital where she later died. Another person was also stabbed during the incident, but their condition remains unknown.
According to officers, the man responsible attacked a U.S. Postal worker prior to the stabbing before getting away on a bike. He then used that bike to flee the scene of the stabbing as well.
The suspect was arrested near St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Peachtree Street in Midtown around 5:25 p.m.
What we don’t know:
While officials haven’t released an official motive, they noted the man may have been suffering a mental health crisis.
The Source: Information in this article came from the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office and previous FOX 5 reporting.
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.
The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.
The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.
The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.
Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.
The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.
“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”
The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.
Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.
“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”
Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.
-
Delaware2 minutes agoHistoric School House Opens at Bellevue State Park – State of Delaware News
-
Florida8 minutes agoJudge to rule on Florida congressional map dispute
-
Georgia14 minutes agoKemp extends Georgia’s gasoline tax suspension by 2 weeks
-
Hawaii20 minutes agoMan accused of stabbing teen in Kalihi charged, held on $100K bail
-
Idaho26 minutes ago“Mamas know best”: Idaho Fish and Game Warns against interfering with spring baby animals – LocalNews8.com
-
Illinois32 minutes agoIllinois, Brad Underwood agree to new contract terms
-
Indiana38 minutes agoIndiana gambling case, Bears schedule and McDonald’s Park | Week in Review
-
Iowa44 minutes agoTwo separate traffic stops leads to four arrests in Iowa County