Notre Dame meets OH in college football national championship with faith at the fore

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Ohio State Buckeyes meet in a college football game. national championship on Monday night, and only one team could emerge victorious.

This will mark the end of the first ever expanded college football playoff. Neither team came into the tournament as favorites, and each team had to scratch and claw their way to the championship game. It’s sure to be a scrap at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, but some of the top talent from each team has expressed at least one thing in common to unite them: their faith.

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard celebrates with fans in the stands after defeating the Georgia Bulldogs at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. (Images by Amber Searles-Iman)

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, Ohio State quarterback Will Howardrunning back Trewayon Henderson and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka talked about their faith in God in the days leading up to the game.

“I really think things happen for a reason, and not just here, but Ohio State. I think we’re the two main teams that show their faith the most publicly,” he told reporters last week. Sporty Michiana. “I don’t know if this is some divine teaching, you know who put us here.

“I truly believe that Jesus has been looking over our shoulders throughout the (entire) season and put these two teams on a pedestal for a reason.”

Howard talked about his faith in God after the team’s upset win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

“First of all, I have to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me the opportunity to be on this Rose Bowl stage,” Howard told ESPN. “The younger me would be thrilled right now.”

Egbuka spoke to Sports Spectrum during the season about how faith affected his performance on the field.

“I would say in the last couple of years, we’ve kind of — we’ve had a few players on the football team that have renewed their faith in Jesus Christ. And that was something that was important to me as a freshman,” the Star Receiver told the outlet in November.

Ohio State Buckeyes’ Emeka Egbuka celebrates scoring a touchdown in the second quarter against the Indiana Hoosiers at Ohio Stadium on Nov. 23, 2024. in Columbus, Ohio. (Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

Egbuka, a graduate student, recalled in an interview the turning point for him. He was invited to Mass by his teammates, and he said it was the first time he felt a real connection to his faith.

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“Since then, my life has changed. A complete 180 and I have similar testimony from many players on the team. We prayed for a similar revival in our team and decided to share with everyone what God was doing in our football team.”

Egbuka said he didn’t enter the NFL draft last season because he felt a calling that was “bigger” than football.

Henderson said output in a separate interview that, despite having a great rookie season that included a hit and NIL trades, he turned to his faith after the injury.

“He saved my life from going down this road of destruction. He saved me. He put me on this path of eternal life … you see so many people walk this great path of destruction, but I’m so thankful that Jesus, He saved me from that path and put me on His path.”

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman reinstated Mass before the game when he took over in 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman reinstated the pregame Mass when he replaced Brian Kelly in 2021. He was baptized in the Catholic Church and received his First Holy Communion in September 2022.

Freeman credited Notre Dame encouraging the student body to grow their faith.

“It’s not just about Catholicism. It’s the reality of having faith and believing in something bigger than yourself,” he said.

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On Monday night, each team will say a prayer and then hang around for the final 60 minutes of their season.

Fox News’s Paulina Dedaj, Chanz Martin and Peter Burke contributed to this report.