ESPN sportscaster Scott Van Pelt credited the Ohio State Buckeyes players’ faith in Jesus as a driving factor in their College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship win on Monday, Jan. 20.
In the first ever 12-team CFP playoff, the No. 8-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes beat the No. 7-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 34-23.
“It seems that both faith in above and faith in one another is what got Ohio State through,” Van Pelt said during his post game SportsCenter segment.
Rece Davis, the host of ESPN’s College Game Day and CFP Top 25 Show, shared with Van Pelt a conversation he had with Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka before the team’s playoff game with Tennessee.
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“I mean, look, we hear a lot of times people talk about their faith, and people sort of dismiss it,” Davis said. “These guys were sharing their faith and reaching out and baptizing guys on campus. You know, not just football teammates.”
“And it became something powerful to them,” he continued, “not because they thought it was going to be handed to them to win a game, but it changed their relationships, and it changed selfishness and made it go away.”
Davis added, “It was impactful for them.”
Like the Buckeyes, Notre Dame had many players vocally express their faith throughout the season. Davis said that Notre Dame Coach Marcus Freeman shared that the players’ faith made the “guys selfless.”
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Davis told Van Pelt, “I think that’s the power in it.” Having faith in Jesus doesn’t mean that “some magical things are going to go down and hand you the trophy…it just helps you maybe relate to your teammates differently,” Davis said.
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