ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Ezekiel Elliott ran 33 yards for a touchdown to cap a 97-yard drive, Cardale Jones threw a short scoring pass and Ohio State led Oregon 14-7 after the first quarter of the national championship game Monday night.
The fourth-seeded Buckeyes answered a scoring pass by Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota on the opening drive of the first national championship under the four-team playoff system.
The second-seeded Ducks are bidding for their first national championship, while Mariota is trying to become the seventh player since 1996 to win the Heisman and a national title in the same season. Florida State’s Jameis Winston did it last season.
Slightly more than half of the crowd at the oversized $1.2 billion home of the Dallas Cowboys was filled with red-clad Ohio State fans hoping for the Buckeyes’ fifth national title, but first under coach Urban Meyer.
Jones, Ohio State’s third starting quarterback this season, threw consecutive 26-yard passes when the Buckeyes faced third down from their 5-yard line on their first scoring drive.
The first pass was to Corey Smith and the second to Jalin Marshall, who later converted a fourth-and-2 with a run that picked up the first down by the nose of the football. Elliott’s scoring run came two plays later.
It was the second-longest scoring drive of the season for the fourth-seeded Buckeyes.
Elliott, who had 63 yards rushing in the first quarter, ran 17 yards to the Oregon 1, setting up Jones’ scoring pass to Nick Vannett for a 14-7 lead with 1:08 left in the first.
Mariota’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Keanon Lowe capped a 75-yard drive to start the game.
The opening drive was kept alive when a run by Mariota initially ruled a fumble recovered by the Buckeyes was overturned on video replay that showed the Heisman Trophy winner’s knee down before Curtis Grant stripped the ball.