We are back with the third and final look at the history of the Ohio State-Notre Dame rivalry.

On Monday, we shared the first installment looking at the history of the Ohio State-Notre Dame series. That article included a comparison of the two programs in various categories as well as a look at the first two games in the series, played in 1935-36. Notre Dame won both of those games.

On Tuesday, we had the second installment looking at the teams’ 1995-96 home-and-home series. Ohio State swept that series, winning 45-26 in Columbus and prevailing 29-16 in South Bend.

No. 2 Ohio State will host No. 5 Notre Dame in one of the marquee games of the 2022 college football season on Saturday night at Ohio Stadium (7:30 p.m., ABC).

Ohio State holds a 4-2 all-time lead in the series between these two college football powerhouse programs.

The two most recent meetings took place in the Fiesta Bowl, 10 years apart. The teams met at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., the last Fiesta Bowl played there after the 2005 season. OSU took a 34-20 win in that game. Ten years later, they met again at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., with OSU cruising to a 44-28 victory.

Below is our look at the two Fiesta Bowl games where Ohio State and Notre Dame went head to head.

It was just the fifth-ever meeting between Ohio State and Notre Dame, and the Buckeyes made sure they brought their big plays with them.

Fourth-ranked Ohio State used four long touchdown plays and some smothering defense to avalanche fifth-rated Notre Dame 34-20 before 76,196 in the Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 2, 2006.

The Buckeyes (10-2) won the Fiesta Bowl for the third time in four years.

"There is something special about this Fiesta Bowl, no question about it," said OSU coach Jim Tressel. "Our seniors are so superlative and they have done so much in their four or five years here. We wanted to send them out as champions."

The win allowed Ohio State to become the first school to post a 4-0 record in Bowl Championship Series games.

"The number one goal we had was to make sure our seniors left here with some wonderful memories," said Tressel, whose team ended the year on a seven-game winning streak. "They've done an extraordinary job. We're proud of them and the underclassmen for being committed to them. It was a tough football game. Our kids deserved to win it."

OSU led 21-7 at halftime, but could not put Notre Dame (9-3) away until Antonio Pittman's 60-yard touchdown run with 1:46 left. That was Ohio State's fourth long touchdown, following Troy Smith's touchdown passes of 56 yards to Ted Ginn Jr. and 85 yards to Santonio Holmes and Ginn's 68-yard touchdown run on a reverse.

The Buckeyes had only had three offensive plays of 50 yards or longer all season and had four in this game against the Irish. Those big plays allowed OSU to withstand two blown scoring chances in the first half and a pair of blocked field goals.

For the game, OSU accumulated 617 yards total offense and 27 first downs. The Buckeyes exploited a Notre Dame defense that was ranked 96th nationally against the pass at the end of the regular season.

"(Offensive coordinator Jim) Bollman and his staff worked long and hard for a month, watching where we thought that we could make some big things happen," Tressel said. "I thought they had a tremendous plan and our guys executed it so well. The one thing we talked about was we didn't want to overthrow the deep ones."

In that vein, Smith was the game's offensive MVP. He completed 19 of 28 passes for a career-high 342 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 13 times for 66 yards.

"I have to credit everything to the offensive play calling," Smith said. "The scheme today was set out to make big plays. The offensive line did a great job with withstanding the blitzes that came, and I was fortunate to be able to connect in a couple deep passes."

Equally impressive was Ginn, who had eight catches for a career-best 167 yards and one score and 73 yards and a touchdown on two carries.

"I had a lot of fun," Ginn said. "The point of the game was to play hard for the seniors. I have another year and the seniors don't. I try to go out and play hard and play fast and do everything right."

After the game, Holmes announced his plans to leave Ohio State a year early for the NFL draft. He goes out with five catches for 124 yards and one touchdown in his swan song.

Pittman ended up 136 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries.

Linebacker A.J. Hawk was the game's defensive MVP. He tallied 12 tackles, 3-1/2 tackles for loss and two sacks on Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, whose sister Hawk is dating (and subsequently married). In one of the key plays of the game, Hawk sacked Quinn on an ND fourth-down pass attempt from the OSU 6-yard line.

"Any time you get a quarterback, it feels good," said Hawk, who helped the Buckeyes get to Quinn for five sacks. "That was our game plan. We wanted to come out and pressure them. We felt we could do that. When we needed to make plays, we did."

"Obviously, he's a great player," Quinn said of Hawk. "He showed up today and had a great game. I'm sure he's got a bright future in the NFL. He was playing in the Fiesta Bowl and playing Notre Dame and he was amped."

For Notre Dame, Quinn was 29 of 45 passing for 286 yards. Wide receiver Maurice Stovall caught nine passes for 126 yards, while tailback Darius Walker had 90 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries.

"They were definitely the better team today," said ND coach Charlie Weis. "They deserved to win. They made the play at the end to put it away."

"We were just bringing a lot of pressure and disguising a lot," added OSU safety Donte Whitner, who tallied nine tackles, one fumble forced and three pass break-ups. "We wanted to take away the big plays from their receivers. They lived off big plays all season, and they didn't really have any of those in this game."

Ohio State won the toss but elected to defer. Josh Huston slipped on the kickoff and hit a squib kick, which ND upback Asaph Schwapp returned 10 yards to the ND 28. Quinn went right to work, throwing deep incomplete to Jeff Samardzija. He then found Samardzija for an 8-yard gain. Walker exploded through a big hole for 9 yards on third down before he gained 10 yards on a draw.

On first down at the OSU 45, the Irish went with an empty backfield. Quinn hit Stovall down the seam in front of safety Nate Salley for a 25-yard gain down to the 20. Then, on first down there, Walker took a toss right, picked up block from John Sullivan and accelerated into the end zone for the 20-yard touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead with 12:59 left in the first quarter. The Irish scoring march was 72 yards in six plays.

"We knew Notre Dame was coming out to make plays," Hawk said. "They have a ton of talent and a great coaching staff. San Diego State scored on the first play of the game on us and we just had to calm down and play our game."

Ohio State answered almost as quickly, moving 82 yards in seven plays. Facing third-and-9 from the OSU 19, Smith stepped up and rolled for a 15-yard game behind a block from Holmes. He then converted another third down with a 6-yard pass to Holmes. Then, on first down at the OSU 44, Smith dropped and threw deep down the left side to a wide open Ginn. Ginn got at least 10 yards behind ND's Ambrose Wooden and Chinedum Ndukwe and easily hauled in the pass at the goal line for the 56-yard touchdown that tied the game at 7-7 with 10:02 left in the first half.

Smith then committed a faux pas as he struggled to avoid the rush on first-and-20 from the OSU 27. ND's Corey Mays poked the ball out and ND's Ronald Talley recovered it at the OSU 15 with 3:45 left in the first quarter.

But Notre Dame failed to cash in on this golden opportunity. Three plays netted 9 yards. Weis opted to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the OSU 6. But Hawk came unblocked through the middle of the line and, along with teammates Mike Kudla and David Patterson, swarmed Quinn for a sack at the OSU 14, ending the serious threat with 1:32 left in the first quarter.

"I'm not big on second guessing," said Weis, who eschewed the field goal try. "We had a play we practiced where we felt pretty good about our chances of either scoring a touchdown or, in that case, not scoring a touchdown. It's easy to say take the points, but we went into the game planning on taking a lot of chances."

The Buckeyes began to drive out of their own end, but were pushed back by a personal foul on guard Rob Sims. But Smith converted a third down with an 18-yard pass to Ginn. Then, on first down from the 32, Smith pitched the ball back to Ginn on a reverse. He got around ND defensive lineman Talley to get to the left sideline. He then picked up a block as Sims eliminated ND's Wooden on the corner. It became a footrace between Ginn and Ndukwe down the sideline. But, just as Ndukwe closed in, Ginn cut back toward the middle of the field. Then, as Ndukwe and corner Mike Richardson closed back in, Ginn took it back outside to finish off a remarkable 68-yard touchdown play that put OSU ahead 14-7 with 14:16 left in the second quarter.

Ohio State then blew a big scoring chance of its own. After the Buckeyes had driven 56 yards down to the ND 15, Smith mistimed a pitch to Ginn and the ball was recovered by ND's Ndukwe at the Irish 9-yard line with 8:56 left in the half.

The OSU defense held and forced a punt, but the Irish downed it at the OSU 2-yard line. No matter, the Buckeyes needed four plays to go 98 yards and find the end zone for the third time. Smith scrambled for 9 yards to convert a third down. Then on first down from the 15, Smith faked and threw deep down the middle to Holmes. Once again, Ndukwe and Wooden were the nearest defenders. Holmes caught it at the 50-yard line and rolled the rest of the way. He was flagged for excessive celebration as ND's Tom Zbikowski converged near the goal line, but it was still an 85-yard touchdown that put the Buckeyes up 21-7 with 2:21 left in the first half.

"Our guys wanted to get into the end zone as much as possible," Holmes said. "We feel all the time we had a chance to get behind those guys."

Quinn was then victimized by a pair of dropped passes, allowing OSU to get the ball back on a punt with 1:47 left. Smith led OSU into the red zone, completing 4 of 5 passes for 42 yards. But the Buckeyes ran out of time and had to settle for Huston's 28-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the half. But ND's Ndukwe blocked the attempt to end the half.

OSU held a 21-7 halftime lead despite a pair of turnovers and in spite of a pair of missed opportunities. In the first half, the Buckeyes rolled up 391 yards and 18 first downs.

Weis said he wanted to change the tempo of the game in the second half.

"We were down 21-7 at halftime and we were lucky to be down 21-7," Weis said. "It could have been a three-score game."

The teams traded punts to open the second half before OSU moved 30 yards down to the ND 29. On fourth-and-6 there, though, Huston had his 46-yard field goal blocked by ND's Trevor Laws with 7:18 left in the third quarter.

The Notre Dame offense, held largely in check since its game-opening drive, then came to life. The Irish drove 71 yards in 10 plays. Quinn hit Matt Shelton for a 21-yard gain and then went to Maurice Stovall for a 19-yard gain on a slant. Shelton then made a sliding grab of a 13-yard pass for a first down at the 18. Finally, on third-and-2 from the OSU 10, Quinn looked as if he would pass and instead handed to Walker. He rolled through a big hole up the middle, juked OSU's Salley at the 5 and scored on the 10-yard touchdown run.

D.J. Fitzpatrick's PAT kick was just wide right, but Notre Dame had trimmed the gap to 21-13 with 4:25 left in the third quarter.

Ohio State then took possession at its own 35 after ND's kickoff went out of bounds. On first down there, Smith threw to Ginn in the left flat. ND's Wooden slipped on the play, allowing Ginn to roll for 44 yards down the sideline until Zbikowski saved the touchdown at the ND 21.

But one of the game's biggest plays came on third-and-12 at the ND 23. Smith threw underneath to Anthony Gonzalez, who appeared to fumble the ball. Zbikowski swooped in, picked it up and returned it 88 yards for an apparent touchdown, although the score would have been negated by a block-in-the-back penalty on the Irish. But the entire play was negated, though, when the replay official from the SEC called for a review.

Upon review, it was determined that Gonzalez did not have possession for a pass completion. It was ruled an incomplete pass and the Buckeyes, thankfully, retained possession. Huston came on and was finally able to avoid a blocked field goal. His 40-yard kick put Ohio State ahead 24-13 with 2:20 left in the third quarter.

After forcing a Notre Dame punt, OSU drove 50 yards down to the ND 9. The key play was Smith's 17-yard rollout pass to Roy Hall for a first down at the ND 16. But when Smith came up 3 yards shy of a first down on a third-down keeper, Huston came on and made a 26-yard field goal to push the lead to 27-13 with 10:12 left in the game.

Notre Dame answered with a had-to-have, methodical 13-play, 80-yard scoring march. Quinn converted a fourth down pass to Stovall for 16 yards, setting up Walker's 3-yard scoring plunge. The officials originally ruled Walker down at the 1, but replay overturned the call when it was clear Walker put the ball across the plane of the goal line. The touchdown trimmed the OSU lead to 27-20 with 5:27 left.

Notre Dame kicked deep and tried to stop the Buckeyes to get the ball back. But ND was unsuccessful as Smith completed key third-down passes to Pittman for 10 yards and Gonzalez for 15. Finally, on first down at the OSU 40, Pittman took the ball going left and beat everybody to the corner and down the sideline for the game-clinching 60-yard touchdown with 1:46 left.

"I'm thinking, ‘Don't get caught,' " Pittman said. "Touchdowns don't come easy for me. Whenever I get a chance to get it, I just have to run. It was real good to break the big one. They always say you have to play four quarters and when I broke that one we were able to seal it up."

Trailing by two touchdowns and with just two timeouts left, Notre Dame barely mounted a challenge on its final possession.

As the final seconds ticked off, OSU faithful in the north end zone chanted, "This is our house."

* The 85-yard touchdown pass to Holmes stands as the second longest TD pass in OSU history, trailing an 86-yard touchdown from Art Schlichter against Washington State in 1979. Holmes also has the fourth longest pass in OSU history, catching an 80-yarder from Justin Zwick against Marshall in 2004.

* This was the sixth time this season Smith eclipsed 200 yards passing. He ended the year throwing for 2,282 yards and 16 touchdowns against four interceptions. Smith is now 13-2 in his career as a starter and has 24 career TDs against seven interceptions.

He becomes the first Ohio State quarterback to pass for more than 2,000 yards and rush for more than 500 yards in the same season.

Smith ended the game with 408 yards in total offense, the most-ever for a Buckeye in a bowl game, surpassing the 330 yards by Steve Bellisari against South Carolina in the 2002 Outback Bowl.

* Holmes ended the year with 11 touchdown grabs and 24 for his career, the third highest total in OSU history.

* Ginn ended the year with seven touchdowns, six of which were 58 yards or longer. In his career he now has 15 TDs with 12 of them going 58 yards or longer.

* Pittman enjoyed his seventh 100-yard game of the year and eighth of his career. He finished the year with 1,331 yards and seven touchdowns on 250 carries. That yardage total is the 10th highest single-season total in school history.

* Tressel improved to 50-13 after five years as the OSU coach and 185-70-2 in 20 years as a college head coach.

* Ohio State ended up ranked fourth nationally in the final AP poll. The Buckeyes would take the winning streak to 19 games by winning their first 12 games in 2006 before losing to Florida in the BCS national championship game.

No. 7 Ohio State jumped on No. 8 Notre Dame for a 28-7 first-half lead and withstood a challenge from the Fighting Irish to take an entertaining 44-28 win in the 45th annual Battlefrog Fiesta Bowl before 71,123 at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Jan. 1, 2016.

The win gave OSU’s seniors an NCAA FBS record-tying 50 wins in four years, matching what Boise State had done between 2008-11. No Power Five conference team has ever accomplished this feat.

“This was a group of kids who came in with a blind faith four years ago,” said OSU coach Urban Meyer, who improved to 50-4 in four years with the Buckeyes. “We had been through a little turmoil. For them to come in and win 50 games, I’d say they are one of the best teams in college football history.”

Ohio State (12-1) reached the 12-win plateau for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year.

“We’re part of history,” OSU senior offensive tackle Chase Farris said.

The Buckeyes also took their fourth win in six games all-time against Notre Dame. And the Fighting Irish (10-3) still haven’t beaten the Buckeyes since 1936 and only have one win over a top-10 team in the last 10 seasons.

OSU’s late-season loss to Michigan State knocked the Buckeyes out of a chance to defend their Big Ten and national championships. But commanding wins over Michigan and Notre Dame to end the season should soothe some of the hurt going into the off-season.

“It’s a grind, man,” Meyer said of the season. “Expectations are at the highest level and it’s like it’s never good enough. But we won the Fiesta Bowl. I was worried about this game. They are a very good team.”

It figures to be an off-season of great change for Ohio State, which loses eight senior starters and could see as many as seven or eight junior starters also depart early for the NFL. QB Cardale Jones, RB Ezekiel Elliott and DE Joey Bosa had all declared prior to this game. There were no others who followed suit after this game, but the NFL deadline isn’t until Jan. 18.

The Buckeyes lost Bosa, projected as an NFL top-five draft pick, even earlier than expected. Bosa was ejected after being flagged for a targeting penalty against ND quarterback DeShone Kizer. The call was viewed as controversial as it seemed Bosa’s helmet hit Kizer in the chest.

“I guess it was a proper call,” Meyer said. “He hit him below the neck But it was leading with the crown of the helmet. I looked out, we were down another lineman, Adolphus Washington didn't make the trip. We were playing with some cats out there I didn't know were going to play. But they played hard and did fine against a very good team.

“This team has a way of fighting through adversity, and that's a great example.”

Another one of those early NFL departures had another huge game, however. Elliott capped his decorated OSU career with 27 carries for 149 yards and four touchdowns. Elliott goes out as the second-leading rusher in OSU history with 3,961 yards.

“I think Zeke, all due respect to all the great running backs in Ohio State history, my first-round draft pick, I'd pick Zeke Elliott,” Meyer said. “What he does without the ball, his work ethic in practice, just his attitude every day, the way he shows up, bounces around with us. I love him.

“He's as good a running back as I've ever been around.”

Quarterback J.T. Barrett also had a big day completing 19 of 31 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown to Michael Thomas. Barrett, who was named as the offensive player of the game, also carried it 23 times for 96 yards.

Thomas, who ended up with seven catches for 72 yards with that touchdown, said the Buckeyes were agonized by watching Alabama blow out Big Ten champion Michigan State in a CFB Playoff semifinal Thursday night.

“We watched that game last night,” Thomas said. “We wanted to come out here and put our foot on the pedal and not let up. We wanted to play at a high level. We had a chip on our shoulder.

“We weren’t (in the playoff). All we could do is control what we could control and win this game.”

OSU had 285 of its 496 yards on the ground.

“That's what we do as far as an offensive line,” Barrett said. “That's what we strive to do, is definitely dominate the line of scrimmage, those guys definitely did that, which opens up our whole offense when you're able to do that.

“Zeke being able to run, me being able to run then playaction pass, and then drop-back pass when you have control of the line of scrimmage. Offensive line did a great job today.”

Notre Dame’s offense sputtered early as OSU went up 28-7 midway through the second quarter. But the Irish scored before halftime and again in the third quarter to cut the lead to 28-21. OSU tacked on a fourth touchdown by Elliott (this one a 47-yarder) and a Sean Nuernberger field goal to go up 38-21.

But Kizer answered with an 81-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller to trim the gap to 38-28 with 11:27 left in the game. But Nuernberger came back with a pair of field goals and the OSU defense closed it out in fine fashion.

Linebacker Darron Lee had seven tackles and a forced fumble in the game, while safety Tyvis Powell had an interception for the Buckeyes. Corner Eli Apple (five tackles) was named the defensive player of the game.

“It was a great team win,” Lee said. “The coaches put us in positions to make plays. We felt we should have won that (MSU) game. It sucks that we came out on the wrong end of it. We couldn’t lose two in a row.”

Kizer ended up 22 of 37 passing for 284 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Fuller had six catches for 113 yards and a touchdown.

Notre Dame lost All-American linebacker Jaylon Smith to a first-quarter injury termed “significant.” The Fighting Irish were also playing without three typical starters in the secondary.

“He's a monster,” Meyer said of Smith. “He's a dude. He's a guy that is going to be playing in the NFL for a long time. I wish I had the chance to shake his hand. I know his family. I hope he's fine.”

Notre Dame had the ball first and went three-and-out. OSU got it at its own 20 and moved 80 yards in nine plays. The key play was a 20-yard run by Braxton Miller on a Jet sweep. Elliott capped it with his 2-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead with 9:48 left in the first quarter.

The Buckeyes forced another punt and took over on the Notre Dame 43. OSU needed just three plays to find the end zone. Barrett hit seldom-used tight end Marcus Baugh for a 27-yard gain to start it. Two plays later, Barrett hit Thomas on a slant in the right flat. He sidestepped one defender and powered through another for his 15-yard TD that made it 14-0 with 7:41 left in the first.

“I knew as I started my route, I saw the guy jumping the out route,” Thomas said. “I saw the safety had gone past. We had run that play in the red zone during the season and I got stopped at the 1 or 2. I knew I had to stretch out and get into the end zone.”

Bosa was ejected on ND’s next possession for his hit on Kizer, negating an interception by Tyvis. But ND’s Smith also left the game with his injury at about the same point. (In fact, they were headed to the tunnel within seconds of each other).

Notre Dame, aided by a pass interference penalty on OSU’s Joshua Perry, then went 70 yards in 13 plays before Josh Adams plowed in from 3 yards out, cutting the lead to 14-7 with 7:34 left in the first half.

Elliott came back with a pair of touchdown runs just over three minutes apart for what seemed like a commanding 28-7 lead.

OSU went 62 yards in 11 plays on the first drive. OSU converted a pair of third downs and Elliott had a 15-yard run before he soared in from the 1 for the touchdown and a 21-7 lead with 4:55 left in the half.

OSU forced a punt and then went 63 yards in six plays. Elliott broke a big play down the left sideline, setting up his own 1-yard TD again and a 28-7 lead with 1:48 left in the half.

Notre Dame finally got off the mat with Kizer directing a nine-play, 75-yard drive. He had a 14-yard gain down to the 1, setting up his own touchdown on a keeper to cut it to 28-14 with 29 seconds left in the half.

OSU’s Barrett then had a pass tipped and intercepted by ND linebacker Joe Schmitt. That spurred the Irish toward a seven-play, 58-yard scoring march capped by Kizer’s 4-yard TD toss to Chris Brown. That made it 28-21 with 8:58 left in the third quarter.

Ohio State answered the challenge by moving 75 yards in six plays. Barrett converted a third down with a pass to Jalin Marshall. On first down from the ND 47, Elliott took a give going right. Linemen Billy Price and Pat Elflein sealed the hole and tight end Nick Vannett blasted the linebacker. Elliott slammed through there and was gone on his 47-yard touchdown run that made it 35-21 with 6:37 left in the third.

“Our job, the offensive line, one of the best lines in the country, whether it be J.T. or Zeke, get them to the second level,” Meyer said. “He's such a fantastic player, once he hits the second level. The first level blocking gets him to the second level, then Zeke hit the third gear, whatever, took off.”

In tribute to his friend Bosa, Elliott flashed a shrug after the touchdown.

“I felt like I had to do a tribute to him for the way that he had to finish his career,” Elliott said. “I know that I would be devastated if I wasn’t going to be able ot finish my last game as a Buckeye. He’ll be remembered as one of the greatest, if not the greatest Buckeye ever. I’ve never seen a guy work so hard when he already steps on the field and knows he’s the best player out there. It’s great to see the type of things he’s able to do at his size.”

Kizer was then intercepted by OSU’s Powell setting up a 37-yard Nuernberger field goal that made it 38-21 with 12:10 left in the game.

Once again, Notre Dame showed resilience as Kizer hit Will Fuller in the right flat. When OSU’s Gareon Conley slipped, Fuller was gone down the right sideline. He outraced OSU’s Vonn Bell for the 81-yard touchdown, trimming it to 38-28 with 11:27 left in the game.

On the next possession, OSU was able to take off five minutes of clock time. Facing fourth-and-10 at the ND 29, Barrett tried to hit Marshall down the middle but the receiver was grabbed by an Irish defender – otherwise it would have been a touchdown. The holding penalty kept the drive alive.

“My favorite play was the fourth down,” Barrett said. “They called no deep (safety). They held Jalin. That wasn’t the initial play, but I changed it.”

But on third-and-7 from the ND 16, Barrett appeared to miss a wide open Miller down the left seam. He was sacked by Romeo Okwara and OSU settled for Nuernberger’s 38-yard field goal and a 41-28 lead with 6:09 left.

Notre Dame was then backed up in its own end and it got worse as OSU defensive ends Tyquan Lewis and Sam Hubbard, playing in place of the ejected Bosa, sacked Kizer on consecutive plays to force a punt.

“I want to give a shout-out to all the people who stepped up,” Lewis said. “I’m just thankful for all of them. Tracy (Sprinkle) started up big and got a push in the middle. I just re-traced my steps and the play was right there. Then Sam gets his sack. We hit them three straight times to seal the deal.”

OSU then settled for Nuernberger’s 35-yard field goal and a 44-28 lead with 2:42 left in the game.

The OSU defense then ended it with linebacker Darron Lee hitting Kizer to force a fumble, which Tracy Sprinkle recovered with 1:27 left.

* OSU played the game without DTs Adolphus Washington (suspension) and Tommy Schutt (foot injury). The starting defensive line was Hubbard, Lewis, Bosa at defensive tackle and Michael Hill at tackle as well.

“I think I did pretty good,” Hill said. “After Bosa left, it was pretty much the D-line we’re going to have next year out there really. So I think everybody did great.”

“I feel we responded great,” added senior DT Joel Hale, who also filled in. “Coach Johnson said once we got it in here that God has a plan for everything. He was testing us to see who was going to rise to the occasion and go out there and make plays when we have thre players out.”

* OSU's Elliott tied Arizona State's Woody Green's Fiesta Bowl record, set in 1972 vs. Missouri, with his fourth rushing TD in the third quarter.

The 4 TDs by Elliott marked the fourth game of his career with at least 3 rushing TDs, three of those games coming this season. Elliott’s four TDs also ties the Ohio State postseason record, set last season by Elliott in the national championship game vs. Oregon, and ties the Fiesta Bowl record.

* Barrett improved to 15-2 in his career as Ohio State’s starting quarterback.

* OSU got its fourth straight 12-win season under Meyer as well as its seventh 12-win season in school history. OSU reached that plateau in 2002 (14-0), 2006 (12-1), 2010 (12-1), 2012 (12-0), 2013 (12-2) and 2014 (14-1).

* The Buckeyes ended up fourth in the final AP poll for the 2015 season.

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