On Thursday, Notre Dame dispatched Penn State in the Orange Bowl for a shot in the College Football Playoff National Championship. The Fighting Irish sat at home on Friday and tuned into the Cotton Bowl to see who their next opponent would be. After an intense, back-and-forth game with explosive plays and far too much laundry on the field, the Ohio State Buckeyes dispatched Texas, 28-14. The impressive, unexpected Ohio State CFP run survives for one more shot.
Ohio State Heads to the CFP National Championship After Defeating Texas
Something About Blue
In the Day era, the Maize and Blue have been the kryptonite of the Buckeyes. Michigan was not on that field but Jaydon Blue was.
For most of the game, the Longhorns’ best offensive threat came out of the backfield in the form of the junior running back. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian found an incredible wrinkle in the Ohio State in the form of a little running back wheel route out of the backfield. Quin Ewers found Blue not once but twice on the exact same play in the exact same scenario for scores.
In the second quarter, Blue hauled in a 19-yard touchdown pass with a touch pass right over Sonny Styles‘ head. Then, after covering its usual third-quarter demons, Texas found Blue again. This time, he was wide open as the Buckeyes went all-in on a blitz (and inexplicably dropped Tyleik Williams into coverage) and Blue scampered 26 yards into the endzone.
On the day, the talented back finished with 75 scrimmage yards with two scores. He led the way in both rushing and receiving for the Longhorns but it wasn’t enough.
Undisciplined Buckeyes
The biggest takeaway of this game, at least in the negative, was Ohio State’s inability to get out of its own way. In total, the Buckeyes finished with nine penalties for 75 yards. It all started with a rare unsportsmanlike penalty against TreVeyon Henderson on the second drive while up 7-0. A holding penalty derailed the Buckeyes’ third drive. On the next drive, a holding and false start killed any momentum.
That was all just in the first half.
Defensively, the officials were (mostly) letting them play. However, the Buckeye secondary got dinged with back-to-back defensive pass interference calls in the endzone to set Texas up with a first and goal, down 21-14.
It’s not like these calls were ticky-tacky, either. Ohio State was in its way from the start and did commit those penalties and likely more. Heading into the matchup with Notre Dame, Day and his staff will have to iron that out.
Answering the Call
In the lead-up to the Cotton Bowl, all eyes were on Jeremiah Smith. The talented freshman came into this game with two elite performances in the Ohio State CFP matchups against Tennessee and Oregon. Texas’s goal on defense was to eliminate his impact. When the clock hit 00:00, that game plan worked. Smith was held to three yards off of one catch.
However, one door closes and another opens.
Will Howard started hot, struggled in the middle, and finished strong. On the night, he finished with 289 yards and a touchdown while completing 73 percent of his passes. He did have a crucial interception on the first drive of the second half as he locked on to Smith and did not see the linebacker underneath. However, other receivers stepped up.
Carnell Tate reminded the college football world of his talent with all of the focus on Smith. He led the Buckeyes with seven catches for 87 yards. Five of those catches resulted in first downs for the Buckeye offense. Emeka Egbuka stepped up with 51 yards off five catches. However, the star was Henderson.
After Texas stole all of the momentum off a game-tying drive and Ohio State ran the most basic running back leak screen and Henderson did the rest. In a callback to his first-ever touch in his freshman season against Minnesota in 2022, he tore up the field 75 yards for the touchdown.
On the final offensive touchdown drive, Ohio State’s offense responded with some of Chip Kelly’s patented creativity. He drew up a Howard quarterback draw on fourth down and he broke through for 18 yards. After a chunk from Egbuka, Quinshon Judkins powered forward for the conversion. Two plays later, he scored.
All in all, it was not the prettiest game from the Ohio State offense. Even then, it got the job done.
Mr. Ohio
The play that will live forever for Ohio State will be Jack Sawyer‘s fourth down heroics. Reminiscent of former Buckeye Sam Hubbard in the 2023 NFL Wild Card against the Baltimore Ravens, Sawyer hit Ewers, forced a fumble, scooped it up, and ran it back 83 yards to put the game away.
.@jacksawyer33 @Sam_Hubbard_
O – H! pic.twitter.com/gXf0pqPHP6— 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 (@BengalsCaptain) January 11, 2025
Sawyer has been playing out of his mind in this CFP run and will be leaned upon again against Notre Dame. His running mate, Jaylahn Tuimoloau, also had himself a game despite fighting an ankle injury. Tuimoloau finished with seven tackles, one-and-a-half sacks, and two-and-a-half tackles for loss. Despite everyone picking on him because of those Blue touchdowns, Styles led the way with nine tackles and a trio of tackles for loss.
This was just the second time Ohio State’s defense allowed more than 300 yards of offense this year. This game was both closer than the score suggested and not as close. If the Buckeyes cleaned up those penalties, they win the Cotton Bowl soundly. At the same time, if they aren’t bailed out with two back-breaking touchdowns, Texas likely wins this one.
This defense is ready for Notre Dame, it seems. In the post-game hooplah, Sawyer gave the quote of the year, “if you give us an inch, we’ll defend it.” The irony of Ewers’ fumble and Sawyer’s scoop-and-score is that the two were roommates in Columbus when the now-Texas quarterback was at Ohio State.
Now, Sawyer and that defense gets to fight for the program’s ninth national title on January 20. And, despite all of the Day narratives, Ohio State is set to play in its second National Championship game in five years. Only Alabama and Georgia can say the same with the Buckeyes. The inexplicable Ohio State CFP run continues.
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