BACKPanini NIL: Ohio State Football Claims National Championship
Written by: Connor Zimmerlee
There’s no better feeling in sports than watching the clock strike zero, pouring onto the field with your teammates and celebrating a championship win. For the Ohio State Buckeyes, that feeling became reality when they emerged victorious in the CFP National Championship.
Perhaps the only feeling comparable to the pure euphoria those players experienced is the one that collectors can encounter when they acquire cards of those trophy-lifting athletes. Fortunately for you, the Buckeyes fall under the Panini NIL umbrella and can be easily added to your collection.
Of course, that begs the question — with such a loaded roster, how do you decide which players should enter your collection? Well, fret not. We’ll take you through a handful of the top performers from the championship tilt to help make that decision easier.
Starting on the offensive side of the ball, Ohio State deployed a balanced attack to overpower its opponent and rack up 445 yards of total offense. A key piece of that effort was Quinshon Judkins, the sensational ball-carrier capable of taking any tote to the house. He averaged a spectacular 9.1 yards per attempt and scored a trio of touchdowns, including a lead-growing receiving score just before the halftime break.
Through the air, the duo of quarterback Will Howard and wideout Jeremiah Smith continued to be unstoppable. Howard threw for 231 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the contest, while Smith was responsible for 88 of those yards and one score across five grabs.
Flipping over to defense, the Buckeyes’ stout unit was led by linebacker Cody Simon with a team-best eight total tackles, as well as the safety tandem of Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs. Simon earned Defensive MVP of the match for his excellent outing.
After a long, arduous season, the Buckeyes officially stand alone at the top of the college football mountain. As they take a well-earned victory lap, be sure to check out Panini’s NIL portal to celebrate the championship.
