Oregon vs. Ohio State: Buckeyes ride Ezekiel Elliott to title

Ken Bradley

Oregon vs. Ohio State: Buckeyes ride Ezekiel Elliott to title image

It's over.

Urban Meyer is a champion again.

Ohio State shut down Oregon's fast-paced offense and ran all over the Ducks in a 42-20 victory in the first College Football Playoff Championship game on Monday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Here's a quarter-by-quarter recap of how it happened:

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Fourth quarter

Ohio State

— Elliott put the icing on an MVP performance with his fourth TD run of the night, this one from the 1 with 40 seconds left in the game.

Score: Ohio State 42, Oregon 20

Oregon

— After forcing Ohio State to punt, the Ducks got the ball back, needing a score to have any chance at coming back.

— On fourth-and-11 from the 14, Mariota's pass was too high for Charles Nelson and the Buckeyes took over at the Oregon 14 with less than three minutes to play in the game.

Oregon

— On first down from the 23, Mariota throws an incomplete pass to Dwayne Stanford, but Joey Bosa drives Mariota into the ground after the pass. Mariota appears to injure his throwing shoulder and leaves the game. After the play, the Ducks pick up a 15-yard penalty for getting after Bosa for the hit (Bosa was not penalized).

— Mariota returned two plays later, but on third-and-26, his completion was well short of a first down. The Ducks punted.

Ohio State

— Needing a stop, Oregon could do little to slow down the Buckeyes.

— The Buckeyes marched 76 yards in nine plays — seven runs — ending the drive with a 2-yard Elliott TD run, his third of the game.

Score: Ohio State 35, Oregon 20, 9:44 left in game

Oregon

— Mariota hit Keanon Lowe for a 20-yard gain on first down.

— Royce Freeman was then stopped for no gain and two Mariota passes fell incomplete, forcing Oregon to punt on the first possession of the final quarter.

Third quarter

Stats to know:

Team: 

Total offense: Oregon 379, Ohio State 431

Third downs: Oregon 2-9, Ohio State 7-12

Fourth downs: Oregon 0-1, Ohio State 3-3

Turnovers: Oregon 0, Ohio State 4

Individual:

Mariota 19-25, 263 yards, two TDs

Elliott: 24 carries, 203 yards, two TDs

Ohio State

— The Buckeyes didn't let turnovers on their two previous possessions bother them.

— They drove 75 yards on 12 plays — six carries for 44 yards by Elliott — and Elliott scored from the 9 on the final play of the quarter. 

Score: Ohio State 28, Oregon 20, end of third quarter

Oregon

— The Ducks quickly picked up a first down to the Ohio State 12 after the Jones fumble.

— On third-and-4 from the 6, Mariota hit Baylis in the back of the end zone, but OSU's Eli Apple pushed him out of bounds. 

— Aidan Schneider kicked a 23-yard field goal and the Buckeyes maintained their lead.

Score: Ohio State 21, Oregon 20, 6:39 left in third quarter

Ohio State

— Urban Meyer rolled the dice again on fourth down and this time, Elliott delivered a first down to the Buckeyes' 49.

— But on the next play, Jones rolled out and lost the ball while backpedaling. Tyson Coleman forced the fumble and Arik Armstead recovered it for Oregon at the Ohio State 23. That was Ohio State's fourth turnover for the game.

Oregon

— And just like that, on the Oregon's first play, Mariota hit Byron Marshall over the middle and Marshall sprinted 70 yards for a TD.

Score: Ohio State 21, Oregon 17, 11:23 left in third quarter

Byron Marshall scores on a 70-yard catch-and-run toss from Marcus Mariota. (Getty Images)

Ohio State

— The Buckeyes received the second half kickoff and had an opportunity to put the Ducks in a big hole.

— On fourth-and-1 from the Oregon 33, Jones turned near disaster into a diving first down. 

— After a false start on first down, Jones' pass to Jalin Marshall was bobbled and Danny Mattingly took it from Marshall for an interception with 11:33 left in the third quarter.

Second quarter

Halftime score: Ohio State 21, Oregon 10

Key first half statistics:

Total yards: Oregon 292, Ohio State 315

Passing: Mariota (O) 18-23 193 yards, TD; Jones (OSU) 10-15 171 yards, TD

Rushing: Tyner (O) 10-55; Elliott (OSU) 11-98, TD

Third-down conversions: Oregon 2-8, Ohio State 5-8

Turnovers: Oregon 0, Ohio State 2

Oregon

— The Ducks responded with a 12-play drive, but it stalled at the Ohio State 9 when Mariota's third down pass to Evan Baylis sailed wide.

— Aidan Schneider kicked a 26-yard field goal to cut the lead to 11 points. 

Score: Ohio State 21, Oregon 10, 48 seconds left in first half

Ohio State

— First, Jones threw a strike to Devin Smith for a 45-yard gain down to the Oregon 6.

— Then Jones followed a 2-yard run with a run to the goal line. On third-and-inches, Jones forced his way into the end zone and a two-TD lead for Ohio State.

Score: Ohio State 21, Oregon 7, 4:49 left in 2nd quarter

Cardale Jones backs his way into the end zone for an Ohio State touchdown. (Getty Images)

Oregon

— The Ducks failed to capitalize on the turnover and were forced to punt after Mariota was sacked on third-and-5 from the 14. Another punt and the Buckeyes have the ball at the Oregon 49 with 8:46 left in the half.

Ohio State

— The Buckeyes quickly got out of a hole at their own 1 as Elliott gained 31 yards on two carries. 

— Jones then hit Corey Smith for 50 yards down the sideline, but Troy Hill got his helmet on the ball and Rodney Hardrick recovered the fumble at the Ohio State 9 for the Ducks.

Oregon

— After the Ohio State turnover, Oregon marched down the field and faced fourth-and-goal from the 3.

— Thomas Tyner was stopped short of the end zone and the Buckeyes took over from inside their own 1 with 11:10 left to play in the half.

WATCH: Ohio State's goal line stand

Ohio State

— On the opening possession of the quarter, Ohio State reached the Oregon 39, but Jones' handoff to Elliott never connected and Oregon's Alex Balducci recovered at the Ducks 40.

First quarter

End of quarter: Ohio State 14, Oregon 7

Oregon

— After scoring on its first possession, the Ducks have punted on their next three and totaled just 38 yards after 75 on the scoring drive.

Ohio State

— Jalin Marshall returned the Oregon punt 17 yards to the Oregon 46.

— A 7-yard Jones to Michael Thomas pass and 15-yard pass interference penalty took the ball to the Ducks 18.

— Elliott ran 17 yards to the 1.

— Jones then hit Nick Vannett for a 1-yard score with 1:08 left in the quarter.

Score: Ohio State 14, Oregon 7, 1:08 left in first quarter

Oregon

— After Ohio State tied the game, 7-7, Oregon made one first down.

— On third-and-12 from the 28, Mariota found Dwayne Stanford wide open past midfield down the sideline, but Stanford dropped the pass and the Ducks had to punt.

Stat update (4:36):

— Oregon: 15 plays, 110 yards; Ohio State: 16 plays, 114 yards

Ohio State

— Trailing 7-0, the Buckeyes took over on their own 3. 

— Cardale Jones hit back-to-back 26-yard passes to Corey Smith and Jalin Marshall.

— After being bottled up for just six yards on his first three carries, Ezekiel Elliott breaks free for a 33-yard TD run on second-and-10. 

Ezekiel Elliott finishes off his 31-yard TD run in the first half against Oregon on Monday. (Getty Images)

MORE: Who is Ezekiel Elliott?

Score: Oregon 7, Ohio State 7, 4:36 left in first quarter

Oregon

Oregon won the toss and elected to receive the game's opening kickoff.

Starting on its 25 after a touchback, Marcus Mariota completed 4 of 4 passes for 30 yards and capped off an 11-play drive with a 7-yard scoring toss to Keanon Lowe with 12:21 left in the opening quarter.

The drive nearly ended in disaster twice for the Ducks. Thomas Tyner fumbled on a second down run, but the ball bounced right back to him and he fell on it for a 12-yard gain.

Later on the drive, Mariota scrambled for seven yards, but was stripped of the ball and Ohio State recovered. But officials overturned the call on the replay as Mariota's knee clearly was down before fumbling.

Score:  Oregon 7, Ohio State 0, 12:21 left in quarter

Ken Bradley