2006 Fiesta Bowl

2006 Fiesta Bowl

The 2006 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, played on January 2, 2006, was the 35th edition of the Fiesta Bowl, featuring Notre Dame and Ohio State. Ohio State won the game 34–20.

Ohio State's quarterback, Troy Smith, became the frontrunner of the 2006 Heisman race, after he completed 19 of his 28 passes for 342 yards, including 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Notre Dame's Brady Quinn completed 29 out of his 45 passes for 286 yards.

Notre Dame got the 1st score of the game, with a 20 yard touchdown run by Darius Walker. Then Ohio State responded on a 6 play 86 yard drive capped off with a 56 yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn, Jr. In the second quarter, off a wide-receiver reverse, Ginn rushed 68 yards to the left side for a touchdown. Then with just over 2 minutes to go in the half, Troy Smith found Santonio Holmes for an 85 yard touchdown pass, and Ohio State led 21–7 at half-time.

In the second half, Notre Dame' Darius Walker scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, to make the score 21-13. Notre Dame's defense forced 2 Ohio State field goals, and the score was 27–13. With 5 minutes left to go in the game, Darius Walker got his third rushing touchdown of the game, to make the score 27–20. On third and 5, with Ohio State eating up the clock, Ohio State iced the game with a 60 yard touchdown run by Antonio Pittman.