The scoop before the score…Jack Sawyer picks up the fumble on a sack of Quinn Ewers and runs 83 yards for the clinching touchdown in Friday’s Cotton Bowl win over Texas. (Press Pros Feature photos by Scott Stuart)
Texas had a chance to tie the score late, but Jack Sawyer forced a fumble and ran 83 yards to score the dagger, and into Ohio State lore.
Arlington, TX – Jack Sawyer’s little-boy dream to bring a national championship trophy back to Columbus just might come true.
Because, when Ohio State’s football future wasn’t looking good in the final minutes, Sawyer got to be the hometown hero who kept the Buckeyes’ dream alive.
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You’ve probably seen Sawyer’s touchdown 20 times by now. And you know that Sawyer made the most important, most timely, most memorable, most unforgettable, defensive play in Ohio State football history.
“We talked before the game about how you leave a legacy is to become your own legend,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “And there’s some guys on this team today that I believe will become legends in Ohio State history.”
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
In a state rife with legendary tales, Jack Sawyer became a legend in Texas on Friday night. So let’s examine the anatomy of the play that shook AT&T Stadium and ended a game that either team could have won.
The play when Sawyer – the pride of Pickerington North High School – sacked Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and forced him to fumble. The play when Sawyer scooped up the bouncing football. The play when he returned the loose ball 83 yards for a touchdown with 2:13 left to secure a 28-14 victory in the College Football Playoff semifinal in the Cotton Bowl.
“We’re going to compete for a national championship now,” Sawyer said, “which is something I’ve always dreamed of bringing back to Columbus since I was a little kid throwing the football in the backyard with my dad with an Ohio State jersey on.”
Texas tried to steal that dream. The Longhorns had a first down at the 1-yard line but went backward and faced fourth-and-goal at the 8. Ewers dropped back, slid to his left and looked toward the end zone. Sawyer treated the right tackle like a busted turnstile and was coming fast. And Ewers recognized No. 33. When Ewers spent his first college season at Ohio State, he was Sawyer’s roommate.
The play…Jack Sawyer knocks the ball out of the hands of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.
“I felt him, I started drifting away, thought I was going to be able to get the ball off before he got there,” Ewers said.
As Ewers cocked to throw, Sawyer’s big hand knocked the ball out of Ewers’ grip. The Ohio State sideline leaped in unison. But that was just the beginning of the jumping up and down. The ball bounced on the green turf and into Sawyer’s hands.
And Jack Sawyer, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive end, ran as fast as he could.
“Obviously, it’s not like I tried to give him the game,” Ewers said. “But I saw Jack running with the ball down the sideline, and, you know, it sucks, man. He’s a great player, great individual, great person … it sucks.”
Sawyer’s teammates followed and got in the way of a couple Longhorns. But offensive linemen were doing most of the chasing, and they ran out of gas before Sawyer did.
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“I hit about the 30 and I looked back and I hope I got some blockers – I’m running out of steam here, and they were running with me side by side,” Sawyer said. “And that just speaks volumes to who this team is, too. We always have each other’s back. It was a special moment. I love Columbus, I love the state of Ohio, and I love Ohio State football.”
Sawyer’s touchdown means the Buckeyes will play Notre Dame for the national championship on January 20 in Atlanta. A matchup like that for the first 12-team playoff final couldn’t bring more history and tradition to Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Texas almost crashed that spotlight. On that final drive, Ewers made two big pass plays to get the Longhorns inside the Buckeyes’ 20. Ewers kept the pressure on with two throws to the end zone that resulted in pass interference penalties on Lathan Ransom and Jermaine Mathews.
Bucks’ defense hooks a ‘Horn…Lathan Ransom and Cody Simon close in on Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner.
The Longhorns had first-and-goal on the one. Surely they would tie the score and have a chance to win in overtime if they could stop a two-minute drill by Ohio State.
But the Buckeyes’ goal-line stand mentality that saved them at Penn State made an encore appearance.
J.T. Tuimoloau stopped a straight-ahead run play for no gain. Then Texas tried to go around the left side. Ewers tossed the ball to his running back, but safety Caleb Downs knifed through the hole, forced the back wider and Ransom tackled him for a seven-yard loss.
If Downs had been blocked, the Longhorns would have scored. Now Ewers had to throw. But his third-down throw was offline into the end zone because Sawyer was about to sack Ewers. With so little time left, Texas had to try to score on fourth down. But Sawyer killed the Longhorns’ dream.
“They’re resilient, and they’re great people,” Day said of his veteran team. “They do everything the right way, and so now they get 10 more days together, and an opportunity to tell their story if they go win one more.”
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The story of how the Buckeyes got to the point of Sawyer’s moment had its ups and downs just like the season.
The Buckeyes treated Texas like Tennessee and Oregon on their first possession even if the touchdown drive was far more methodical. The Buckeyes were clinical in pass protection and run blocking. The drive should have been nine plays, but Carnell Tate dropped Will Howard’s pass at the goal line.
Quinshon Judkins took advantage on the next play and picked his way through the middle of the defense for a nine-yard touchdown run and 7-0 lead with 7:24 left in the first quarter.
TreyVeyon Henderson sets sail on his 75-yard run for a score on a screen pass before halftime.
Then the Buckeyes couldn’t get out of their own way and looked more like the team that lost to Michigan. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on TreVeyon Henderson killed the next drive. An Emeka Egbuka holding penalty stifled the next one. A Josh Fryar holding penalty was the next drive’s killjoy.
Finally, Texas took advantage after a key Ohio State injury. Tuimoloau, who already had 1.5 sacks, went down when Eddrick Houston was blocked to the ground and rolled up on Tuimoloau’s right ankle. He was replaced by Caden Curry and Kenyatta Jackson for the rest of the half before returning in the second half.
With Tuimoloau out, Ewers had more time to throw and drove the Longhorns 59 yards in seven plays in 1:22. Ewers threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to running back Jaydon Blue with 29 seconds left in the half when he got behind linebacker Sonny Styles.
But Ohio State wasn’t finished. They had the biggest offensive play of the game buried in the playbook to spring on the Longhorns – a simple screen pass.
Day said they work on screen pass drills in every practice. But the play never gets called in a game.
“I actually said to the coaches, ‘We’re going to stop doing screen drill because we don’t call any dang screens,’” Day said.
Then with 29 seconds left in the half, play caller Chip Kelly asked Day if he wanted to run or take a knee to end the half.
“No, just run the screen,” Day said.
“All right, you sure?”
So Howard dropped back and tossed the ball out to the right to Henderson, who reached down to catch the low throw five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Out in front of Henderson was the convoy of guards Tegra Tshabola and Luke Montgomery and center Carson Hinzman. And throw in tight end Gee Scott Jr. just in case he’s needed.
Quarterback Will Howard is stopped short of the goal line during the Buckeyes’ fourth quarter touchdown drive.
Henderson used the blocks and outran the entire stadium for a 75-yard touchdown with 13 seconds left in the half. The play took 16 seconds and stole back the momentum.
“I don’t think anyone thought that that was going for 75 yards,” Howard said. “That’s kind of a drive starter in that two-minute scenario. If you get a positive gain, then maybe we can continue to work our two-minute drill. But when you’ve got a guy like 32 that can make plays like that, that was a huge play for us.”
Ohio State had a chance to build on its 14-7 halftime lead when it started the second half with the ball. But it wasn’t until Texas tied the score with 3:12 left in the third quarter on Ewers’ 26-yard touchdown pass to Blue that the Buckeyes found their offensive rhythm again and gave the defense a rest.
The Buckeyes traveled 88 yards in 13 plays and erased 7:45 off the clock. The key play came on fourth-and-2 at the Texas 34. Howard, who threw for 289 yards, kept the ball, burst through a hole and looked headed for the end zone. But he stumbled down at the 16 for an 18-yard gain.
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“They gave us a good look for the play, O-line blocked it up well … I fell on purpose,” Howard said and laughed. “I’m joking. I didn’t fall on purpose. It should have been a touchdown.”
In time it would be. A pass to Emeka Egbuka moved the ball to the eight. Judkins ran to the two. Howard ran to inside the one. And Judkins scored on the next play for a 21-14 lead with 7:02 left.
The stuff of legends…Jack Sawyer crosses the goal line with his 83-yard fumble recovery and score.
And the stage was set for Sawyer to be the hero and for the Buckeyes to reflect on what all this means to them.
Day: “I believe that the resilience that we’ve had to show throughout the entire season and through some of these guys’ career has led us to this opportunity to win this game and go play for a national championship.”
Sawyer: “We kept swinging because this guy next to us (Day), he shows up every day to work, and he loves each and every one of us so much. He’s the most resilient guy I’ve ever been around, and that’s the reason why you see this team fight so hard each and every week.”
Howard: “The thing that hurts me about this, the only thing that I wish I could go back and do different about my time here, is I wish I had more time.”
Thanks to Sawyer he gets another 10 days.
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