Ezekiel Elliott and No. 7 Ohio State overpower No. 8 Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, 44-28

Ezekiel Elliott bulldozed his way into the end zone in the first half, showing off his strength as Ohio State’s drive capper.

He flashed his speed in the second, becoming the show stopper as he raced up the middle for a long run.

Those skills should translate well in the NFL. They certainly worked out for the Buckeyes over the last three seasons.

Elliott ran for 149 yards and matched a Fiesta Bowl record with four touchdowns to close the curtain on his college career, sparking No. 7 Ohio State’s prolific offense in a 44-28 win over No. 8 Notre Dame on Friday.

“With all due respect to all the other running backs in Ohio State history, my first-round draft pick, I’d pick Zeke Elliott,” Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer said. “He’s as good as any running back I’ve been around.”

The Buckeyes (12-1) were left out of the College Football Playoff thanks to a November loss. They may leave the desert wondering what could have been after blowing past another late-season playoff contender.

Ohio State rolled past the Fighting Irish (10-3), quick-hitting its way to one scoring drive after another and 496 total yards.

Elliott, who’s leaving school early for the NFL, scored on three short runs in the first half and left Notre Dame defenders flailing as he raced past them for a 47-yard score to open the second.

J.T. Barrett gave the Buckeyes some balance, throwing for 211 yards and a score and rushing for 96 yards in the highest-scoring game against Notre Dame’s defense this season.

Ohio State’s seniors finished 50-4, tying the FBS record set by Boise State’s 2011 class for most wins in a four-year span.

“It’s been a wild journey with this team, something I couldn’t even imagine,” Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple said.

The Fighting Irish had some good offensive moments behind DeShone Kizer after Buckeyes star defensive end Joey Bosa was ejected for targeting in the first quarter.

They just couldn’t keep up with the blistering Buckeyes after a string of injuries, the latest a knee injury suffered by do-everything linebacker Jaylon Smith in the first quarter.

“The guy is so impactful on our defense,” Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly said. “You lose a guy like that early on, it significantly affects what you’re doing defensively.”

Notre Dame missed its CFB chance by four points — two-point losses to Clemson and Stanford.

Ohio State lost to Michigan State in its penultimate game and had to watch the Spartans join fellow one-loss teams Alabama and Oklahoma in the playoff.

Those just-misses turned the Fiesta Bowl into a talent show, with NFL-caliber players dotting the rosters of both teams.

Two of the best players were gone before the first quarter ended.

Smith, the Butkus Award winner as the nation’s best linebacker, had to be helped off four minutes in after suffering what Kelly said was a significant leg injury.

Bosa, projected as a top-10 NFL draft pick, was gone a few minutes later after driving the top of his helmet into the chest of Kizer, long after the Notre Dame quarterback had released the ball.

“That was a kidney shot right there, but I guess it was the right call,” Meyer said.

Ohio State had its way with Notre Dame’s defense without Smith in the lineup, racing down the field for scores like a seven-on-seven drill.

Elliott, another potential first-round pick, was the Buckeyes’ punctuation mark, scoring on a pair of one-yard runs and another from two yards. Barrett accounted for the other score, finding Michael Thomas on a 15-yard touchdown pass to put Ohio State up 28-14 at halftime.

Elliott showed off his speed to open the second half, blurring through a hole for his 47-yard touchdown to match the Fiesta Bowl record set by Arizona State’s Woody Green against Missouri in 1972.