When Ohio State took control of Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship game vs. Notre Dame, an Alabama native was at the forefront.

Running back Quinshon Judkins, a former star at Pike Road high School near Montgomery, scored three straight touchdowns in the second and third quarters as the Buckeyes built a 21-point lead on their way to a 34-23 victory at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Judkins ran for 100 yards and touchdowns of 9 and 1 yard — and also caught a 6-yard touchdown pass — as Ohio State took home its first national championship in 10 years.

“When you look at Notre Dame’s front and you look at how they scheme defensively, they have a lot of great players on that defensive line, and those guys are super big,” Judkins said in a post-game interview with NBC Sports. “So the hardest thing was because they played two gaps, was getting those guys to shift over and move by the gap responsibility. I was able to do that today, so I’m super happy.”

Included in that effort was this 70-yard run on the second play of the third quarter:

Judkins transferred to Ohio State this season from Ole Miss, where he ran for 2,725 yards and 31 touchdowns in two years. He was the SEC Freshman of the Year as a freshman in 2022.

With the Buckeyes, he shared carries with established star TreVeyon Henderson, but was still highly productive in 2024. He recorded a third straight 1,000-yard rushing season (1,060), averaging 5.5 yards per carry with 14 touchdowns, and also caught two scoring passes.

“Obviously you just stay fresh,” Judkins said of the job-sharing arrangement with Henderson. “But I think more so just physically, you just keep the toll off our bodies, not taking so many hits and different things like that. I don’t think that was something that me and him were more so focused on, but I think it helped us in the long run.”

Judkins was a three-star prospect coming out of Pike Road, whom he helped win the Class 5A state championship in 2017. He was famously not offered a scholarship by Alabama (who preferred Geneva County’s Emmanuel Henderson and Texas native Jam Miller in the 2018 class), while Auburn got “out-recruited” by Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, as former Pike Road head coach Patrick Browning once told AL.com.

Though Judkins was twice first-team All-SEC at Ole Miss, he decided to leave Oxford for Columbus after the 2023 season (it was widely implied that the Rebels chose to “spread around” the NIL money they might have used to keep Judkins on board, though Judkins has denied that dollars played a role in the move). However it played out, his decision to transfer to Ohio State paid off with a national championship ring.

“I don’t think that was the wrong decision,” Judkins said. “Just when you look at all this, you look at how much support we have here, from so many different people from so many different places., truly unbelievable and the support not only from our fans, but from the alumni or the athletes who have come through here and just everybody. So it’s just truly an unbelievable experience.”

Judkins was one of several impact transfers on the Ohio State roster in 2024, along with quarterback Will Howard (Kansas State), safety Caleb Downs (Alabama) and center Seth McLaughlin (also Alabama). McLaughlin suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon late in the regular season, but played well enough to be named a first-team All-American and winner of the Rimington Trophy as the country’s top center.

Ohio State lost twice during the regular season, 32-21 at Oregon on Oct. 13 and, in shocking fashion, 13-10 to arch-rival Michigan on Nov. 30. But the Buckeyes rolled through the playoff, beating No. 9 Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon, No. 5 Texas and No. 7 Notre Dame all by double-digits.

“I think when you bring such a great group of guys in and they all have one mission in mind, one goal, we all are set on winning one thing and doing no matter what it takes, we’re gonna try to go out and accomplish that,” Judkins said. “I don’t think anything can stop us, so I’m just glad we ended up on top.”

Judkins’ next stop is presumably the NFL, though he has not officially declared for the draft. Players who participated in the CFP championship game have until Friday to do so.