| ESPN'S TAKE | 
Speed. Ohio State just had too much of it for Notre Dame. Troy Smith, Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr. were too much for the Irish to handle. The Buckeyes sprinted to 617 yards of total offense. Smith converted third down after third down to prevent Notre Dame from coming back. Notre Dame's other big problem was protecting QB Brady Quinn.
-- Rod Gilmore
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| Team Stat Comparison | | |  |  | | 1st Downs | 22 | 27 | | Total Yards | 348 | 617 | | Passing | 286 | 342 | | Rushing | 62 | 275 | | Penalties | 6-48 | 7-53 | | 3rd Down Conversions | 9-17 | 8-12 | | 4th Down Conversions | 1-2 | 0-0 | | Turnovers | 0 | 2 | | Possession | 29:16 | 30:44 |
| Notre Dame Passing | | | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | | B. Quinn | 29/45 | 286 | 0 | 0 |
| Notre Dame Rushing | | | CAR | YDS | TD | LG | | D. Walker | 16 | 90 | 3 | 20 | | A. Schwapp | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | | B. Quinn | 10 | -32 | 0 | 5 |
| Notre Dame Receiving | | | REC | YDS | TD | LG | | M. Stovall | 9 | 126 | 0 | 25 | | D. Walker | 7 | 37 | 0 | 13 | | J. Samardzija | 6 | 59 | 0 | 28 | | M. Shelton | 5 | 52 | 0 | 21 |
| Ohio State Passing | | | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | | T. Smith | 19/28 | 342 | 2 | 0 |
| Ohio State Rushing | | | CAR | YDS | TD | LG | | A. Pittman | 21 | 136 | 1 | 60 | | T. Ginn Jr. | 2 | 73 | 1 | 68 | | T. Smith | 13 | 66 | 0 | 15 |
| Ohio State Receiving | | | REC | YDS | TD | LG | | T. Ginn Jr. | 8 | 167 | 1 | 56 | | S. Holmes | 5 | 124 | 1 | 85 | | R. Hall | 2 | 22 | 0 | 17 | | A. Pittman | 2 | 6 | 0 | 10 |
| Scoring Summary | | FIRST QUARTER | ND | OSU | | TD | 12:59 | DARIUS WALKER 20 YD RUN (D.J. FITZPATRICK KICK) Drive info: 6 plays, 72 yards. | 7 | 0 | | TD | 10:02 | TED GINN JR. 56 YD PASS FROM TROY SMITH (JOSH HUSTON KICK) Drive info: 7 plays, 82 yards. | 7 | 7 | | SECOND QUARTER | ND | OSU | | TD | 14:16 | TED GINN JR. 68 YD RUN (JOSH HUSTON KICK) Drive info: 6 plays, 86 yards. | 7 | 14 | | TD | 2:21 | SANTONIO HOLMES 85 YD PASS FROM TROY SMITH (JOSH HUSTON KICK) Drive info: 4 plays, 98 yards. | 7 | 21 | | THIRD QUARTER | ND | OSU | | TD | 4:25 | DARIUS WALKER 10 YD RUN (MISSED KICK) Drive info: 10 plays, 71 yards. | 13 | 21 | | FG | 2:20 | JOSH HUSTON 40 YD FG Drive info: 5 plays, 42 yards. | 13 | 24 | | FOURTH QUARTER | ND | OSU | | FG | 10:12 | JOSH HUSTON 26 YD FG Drive info: 10 plays, 60 yards. | 13 | 27 | | TD | 5:27 | DARIUS WALKER 3 YD RUN (D.J. FITZPATRICK KICK) Drive info: 13 plays, 80 yards. | 20 | 27 | | TD | 1:46 | ANTONIO PITTMAN 60 YD RUN (JOSH HUSTON KICK) Drive info: 7 plays, 85 yards. | 20 | 34 |
| The Fan Pick |  | 49.6% of Bowl Pick'em players picked Ohio State to win the game. |
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College Bowl Mania
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 QB Troy Smith torched Notre Dame for 342 yards and two TDs. Perfect 10
Troy Smith's performance in Ohio State's 34-20 Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame resembled a breakout showing by another No. 10 last year, and that bodes well for the Buckeyes, writes Pat Forde. Story
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