Jan. 11—ARLINGTON, Tex. — Jack Sawyer will probably never be at a more right place at a more right time than he was with 2 minutes, 13 seconds to go in Ohio State’s 28-14 win over Texas in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl on Friday night.
The senior defensive end sacked the Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers, stripped the football out of his hands and ran 83 yards for a touchdown to clinch a trip to the College Football Playoff national championship game against Notre Dame on Jan. 20 for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State (13-2) never was behind in the game. But Texas (13-3) applied more pressure by far than Tennessee or Oregon did in blowout victories in the first two rounds of the playoff.
Ohio State never led by more than seven points until Sawyer produced his legendary play. The game was tied at 7-7 and 14-14. And it looked like it was going to be tied at 21-21 when Texas was first-and-goal at OSU’s 1-yard line with three minutes left in the game.
But a run for no gain, a pitchout on which Lathan Ransom dropped the ball carrier for a 7-yard loss and an incomplete pass were the prelude to Sawyer’s big moment.
“It was a special moment,” Sawyer said. “We’re going to compete for a national championship now, 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.”
OSU coach Ryan Day said, “I’m sure the whole city of Columbus and Buckeye Nation exploded during that play.”
Linebacker Cody Simon said Sawyer “has got a knack” for making big plays. “He’s an elite player doing elite things. Not many players in America can make that play.”
The other huge play for the Buckeyes came in the final minute of the first half after Texas had tied the game 7-7 on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to running back Jaydon Blue.
On OSU’s first play after Texas’ kickoff, Will Howard threw a screen pass to TreVeyon Henderson and the senior running back took it 75 yards for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead.
Texas tied the game at 14-14 on a 26-yard run by Blue late in the third quarter before Ohio State regained the lead at 21-14 on Quinshon Judkins’ 1-yard run at the end of a 13-play, 88-yard drive with 7:02 left in the game.
Howard had one of the biggest plays in that drive when he ran for 18 yards on fourth-and-two at Texas’ 34-yard line.
“It was a statement drive,” Howard said. “We needed that. We’d been beating ourselves with penalties and getting behind the sticks all day.”
For the third consecutive game in the College Football Playoff the Buckeyes got off to a fast start when they drove 64 yards on 16 plays for a touchdown on their first possession. That touchdown came on a 9-yard run by Quinshon Judkins one play after Carnell Tate had dropped a sure-thing touchdown pass from Howard.
But the fast start stalled out this time. “It was gritty and tough. We knew it was going to be that way,” Day said.
OSU finished with 370 yards of total offense and Texas had 341 yards. The Buckeyes had 81 yards rushing and the Longhorns ran for 58 yards.
Howard completed 24 of 33 for 289 yards and a touchdown. Ewers was 23 of 39 for 283 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith had the quietest game of his career with 1 catch for 3 yards.
“Hell of a football game. They made two big plays,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said after the Longhorns lost in a College Football Playoff semifinal for the second year in a row. The Longhorns lost 37-31 to Washington last season.
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