CNN
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Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer once lived with Quinn Ewers. On Friday, he earned a rent-free spot in the Texas quarterback’s head, stripping the ball from his former roommate and taking it 83 yards for a touchdown that sealed the Buckeyes’ place in the college football national championship game.
The senior standout’s strip of Ewers and subsequent rumble to put the Buckeyes up 28-14 late in the fourth quarter of Friday’s College Football Playoff semifinal in the Cotton Bowl will live long in Ohio State history, the capstone to an epic goal-line stand that sent the Buckeyes to the national championship game.
Ohio State had taken a 21-14 lead with about seven minutes to go on another tough run from Quinshon Judkins, but Ewers and Texas looked like they had yet another answer in a brutal, physical game that had seen momentum swing back and forth. The Longhorns got to the Ohio State one-yard line and had four downs to try and punch in the tying touchdown.
The Ohio State defense, the nation’s top-ranked unit, was beyond ready for the challenge.
On first down, running back Jerrick Gibson was stuffed for no gain. On second down, a pitch out wide to Quintrevion Wisner lost seven yards and the scarlet-and-gray fans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, began to feel like something magical was about to happen. On third down, Ewers lined up in the shotgun and tried to pass for the tying score but the ball was deflected at the line and fell harmlessly incomplete.
And on fourth down, Sawyer broke free of his blocker and tracked down his former roommate as Ewers shuffled to his left, looking into the end zone for an open receiver. Instead, the senior defensive end knocked the ball from his former roommate’s hand, pushed him to the ground, picked up the bouncing ball and had nothing but open field in front of him.
As his teammates went insane next to him on the sideline, Sawyer cruised into the end zone for the score that sealed the game.
“I was just put in a good position by the coaches, I saw the ball pop out right to me as I tackled him. I was just thinking, ‘I gotta stay on my feet,’” Sawyer told ESPN after the game. “Almost blacked out when I scooped it, saw nothin’ but green grass ahead of me.”
After the game, Ewers summed up the feeling succinctly: “It sucks, man.”
“It’s hard. All the work we put in, being in the final four back-to-back years and coming up short two years, it’s tough,” Ewers added.
It was a legendary play that sealed a remarkable turnaround for the Buckeyes during these playoffs. After a demoralizing defeat to archrival Michigan on November 30, the fourth straight loss to the Wolverines, the Ohio State fanbase faced a crisis of confidence. There were calls for head coach Ryan Day to be fired and worries that home-field advantage in the opening round of the playoffs would be lost when Tennessee fans invaded Ohio Stadium ahead of the Volunteers’ game against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State blew away Tennessee and easily handled top-ranked Oregon in the quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl. The Cotton Bowl against Texas promised a much stiffer challenge and for much of the contest it felt like the game might come down to whoever had the ball last. Now, all that stands between them and a national championship is Notre Dame on January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Ohio State’s opening drive seemed like it would set the tone early, with Buckeyes’ quarterback Will Howard simply picking apart the Longhorns secondary. It ended up being a strong run up the middle by Judkins that got the scoring started, putting Ohio State up 7-0 early in the first quarter.
Behind its top-ranked defense, the Buckeyes refused to let Texas get into a rhythm early and it seemed like Ohio State could take a hold of the game early as Howard once again moved the offense down the field on their second possession. Texas had no answers for the Ohio State offense, but then running back Treveyon Henderson helped them out with a 15-yard personal foul for unsportsmanlike conduct. The penalty knocked the Buckeyes out of field goal range, and they’d end up punting.
From there, the game settled into a rhythm for the next quarter or so of game time. Texas kept trying to establish their run game –which blew away Clemson in the opening round of the playoffs – but could not break through. Ohio State meanwhile would start to move the ball and end up with a self-inflicted drive stopper of a penalty, killing their momentum. Howard also had to play through an apparent injury to his non-throwing hand, as ESPN’s cameras showed a golf-ball-sized knot forming after an apparent collision with a Texas defender.
Texas finally got some momentum at the end of the first half with a touchdown drive that tied the game. Arch Manning, the high-profile backup to Ewers, entered the game to pick up a key fourth-down conversation. On the next play, Ewers passed to Silas Bolden, who broke a tackle for a 24-yard gain to the OSU 18-yard line. Two plays later, Ewers hit running back Jaydon Blue with a looping pass that fell perfectly in stride for the tying touchdown.
It looked like the Longhorns were going to head to the locker room with the wind at its back, but the Buckeyes stole the momentum right back right before halftime. Henderson took a short screen pass and weaved through the second level of the defense, patiently following his offensive line. Suddenly has nothing but open field in front of him. He ran 75 yards, untouched, to put the Buckeyes back on top heading into the half.
They couldn’t keep that momentum going after the break though – Howard threw an interception on the opening possession of the second half and the teams once again traded punts for much of the third quarter before Ewers once again found Blue for a long touchdown, this time going for 26 yards.
It was a carbon copy of the first Texas touchdown as Blue ran a wheel route out of the backfield and found himself wide open in the Ohio State secondary. Blue made one man miss and eased into the end zone to tie the game at 14 with 3:12 left in the third quarter. It was a perfect answer to Ohio State’s blitz, as the Texas coaching staff and Ewers adjusted to the pressure the Buckeyes had brought in the first half that stymied so much of Texas’ offense.
Ohio State searched for an answer but couldn’t stop shooting themselves in their collective feet. Howard started off the next drive with a 15-yard completion that was immediately wiped out by a personal foul penalty for a late hit by offensive lineman Austin Siereveld. The penalty proved to be yet another drive killer and Ohio State punted after failing to get anything going against an increasingly confident Texas defense.
The solution to the offensive malaise for the Buckeyes as the fourth quarter dawned was to simply start to cut Howard loose. Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly called multiple deep shots as the Buckeyes got the ball early in the final frame, with varying levels of success. A drive full of passes set up the key play on the drive – on fourth and three from the Texas 34, Howard dropped back to pass and then tucked the ball and ran for 18 yards, picking up a key first down that could have been the go-ahead touchdown if Howard didn’t stumble.
Four plays later, it was Judkins powering into the end zone to put Ohio State up 21-14 with a little more than seven minutes to play.
It looked like Texas had the answer as Ewers drove his team down the field, getting down to the Ohio State one yard line. But then the Buckeyes made their stand, with Sawyer putting the dagger into the Longhorns.
“It was a really nice drive by the offense to get all the way down there. And first and goal on the one and we don’t score? You know, quite frankly, you probably don’t deserve to win that way,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said later.
For Ohio State, it became a moment to celebrate a new school legend.
“I can’t say enough about Jack Sawyer,” Day told ESPN after the game. “He’s a guy who loves being a Buckeye. He loves his teammates. He’s done everything that’s asked him to do. He’s a captain. He’s everything that we could possibly ask for in a captain. To make a play like that in that moment … you want to leave a legacy behind? You become a legend. He just became a legend at Ohio State.”
