Australian punter Cameron Johnston and his Ohio State teammates have completed their fairytale run to claim American college football's biggest prize.
The Buckeyes upset the short-priced favourite University of Oregon Ducks 42-20 in the national championship game played at AT&T Stadium in Texas on Monday.
"This will go down as one of the great stories in college football history," Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said.
Geelong-raised Johnston was drafted by Melbourne in 2010, but the AFL club delisted him at the end of the 2011 season so he set his sights on putting his big boot to use in the American game.
The 22-year-old redhead was called on to punt three times for 48, 47 and 31 yards gained.
The Buckeyes earn a place in American sporting history as the inaugural winners of college football's new four-team playoff to decide the national champion.
Ohio controversially snuck into the playoffs, with a selection committee giving the team the final slot despite widespread criticism by rival colleges and commentators.
They proved the doubters wrong.
The Buckeyes, forced to play with their third-string quarterback Cardale Jones after injury hit the top two starters, knocked out the No.1-ranked University of Alabama last week.
The powerfully built 196cm tall, 113kg Jones was a sensation in the playoffs.
Against the Ducks he completed 16 of 23 passes for 242 yards with one touchdown.
The Buckeyes went into halftime up 21-10, but midway through the third quarter Jones fumbled the ball deep in his own half and the No.2-ranked Ducks scored soon after to trail 21-20.
Jones and running back Ezekiel Elliott, who had four touchdowns and ran for 246 yards, overpowered the Ducks in the fourth quarter.
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, winner of the highest individual honour in college football, the Heisman Trophy, had 24 completions from 37 passes for 333 yards.
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