The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Ohio State Buckeyes meet in the college football national championship on Monday night, and only one team could be the winner.
It will mark the end of the first-ever expanded College Football Playoff. Neither team came into the tournament favored, and each team had to scratch and claw their way to get to the championship game. It will certainly be a scrap at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, but some of the top talent from each team has expressed at least one common thing to bring them together: their faith.
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, running back TreVeyon Henderson and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka have all talked about their belief in God in the days leading up to the game.
“I truly think things happen for a reason, not only us, but Ohio State as well. I think we’re the two main teams to just publicly display our faith the most,” he told reporters last week, per Sports Michiana. “I don’t know if this is some divine teaching, you know, who put us here.
“I truly believe that Jesus was looking over both our shoulders throughout the [whole] season and put these two teams on a pedestal for a reason.”
Howard talked about his belief in God after the team’s upset win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
“First and foremost, I got to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me this opportunity to be on this stage in the Rose Bowl,” Howard told ESPN. “Younger me would be in awe right now.”
Egbuka talked to Sports Spectrum during the season about how faith affected his performance on the field.
“I would say for the past couple years we’ve kinda been – there’s kind of been a number of players on the football team who have restored their faith in Jesus Christ. And that was something that was big for me my freshman year,” the star receiver told the outlet in November.
Egbuka, a graduate student, recalled in his interview the turning point for him. He was invited to attend Mass by his fellow teammates and said it was the first time he had felt a true connection to his faith.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL STAR ASHTON JEANTY TALKS POSSIBILITY OF DEION SANDERS COACHING COWBOYS
“Ever since then, my life has been changed. A complete 180, and I have a similar testimony to a lot of players on the team. We’ve been praying for a type of revival like this on our team, and we decided to share with everybody what God has been doing on our football team.”
Egbuka said he opted against going into the NFL Draft last season because he felt a calling that was “bigger” than football.
Henderson told the outlet in a separate interview that despite his standout rookie season, which included success and NIL deals, he had turned to his faith after an injury.
“He saved my life from going down that road of destruction. He saved me. He put me on this path of everlasting life … you see so many people go down that large path of destruction, but I’m so thankful that Jesus, He rescued me from that path and put me on His path.”
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman reinstated pregame Mass when he took over for Brian Kelly in 2021. He was baptized into the Catholic Church in and received his first Holy Communion in September 2022.
Freeman credited Notre Dame for encouraging the student body to grow their faith.
“It’s not only in Catholicism. It’s the reality of you having a faith and a belief in something bigger than yourself,” he said.
Come Monday night, each team will have a prayer and then lock in for the final 60 minutes of their season.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj, Chantz Martin and Peter Burke contributed to this report.
