(CNN)In a national title game where most of the pregame focus was on the starting quarterbacks, it was a determined running back who was the star. Ohio State sophomore tailback Ezekiel Elliott continued his record-setting running with 246 yards and four touchdowns as the Buckeyes rolled to a 42-20 victory over Oregon in the inaugural College Football Playoff national championship on Monday. It was the third consecutive game in which Elliott ran for more than 200 yards. After a record 220 in the Big Ten championship in December and a record 230 in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day, he set a mark for the national title contest (including the BCS title games) by making Oregon use multiple players to bring him down. And even that didn't always work.
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Ohio State held Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota to just two TD passes
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The Buckeyes had a balanced offense led by running back Ezekiel Elliott, who scored four touchdowns
@placeholder (14-1) overcame four turnovers, including two mistakes that led to 10 points in the second half as Oregon (13-2) closed an 11-point halftime deficit to just one.