Nobody is more Ohio State than Jack Sawyer. The Cotton Bowl’s defining play had to be his

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jack Sawyer stood on the stage after winning the Cotton Bowl with a smile on his face and a hand holding up one side of Ohio State’s infamous “Ohio Against The World” flag. Quarterback Will Howard held the other end as coach Ryan Day celebrated a 28-14 win against Texas next to them.

It was a shared stage, but make no mistake: This was Sawyer’s moment. And nobody deserved it more.

He was just 20 minutes removed from the 83-yard strip-sack touchdown that sealed Ohio State’s College Football Playoff semifinal victory, sending the Buckeyes to the national championship game Jan. 20 against Notre Dame. It’s a play that will go down as one of the biggest in Ohio State’s storied football history.

And it had to be Sawyer, because he is Ohio State football.

The senior defensive end is from Pickerington, just a half hour from Ohio Stadium. He grew up an Ohio State fan, was the first player to commit in the highly regarded 2021 recruiting class and became first of many in this senior class to publicly announce he was coming back for one more year to try to beat Michigan for the first time and win the national title.

The Buckeyes failed in their attempt to end their rivalry angst, but the Playoff has offered a shot at redemption. Now a championship is within reach. Sawyer’s passion for the program is unmatched, and it’s no coincidence that when Ohio State needed a play the most, he was the one to make it.

“He’s the heart and soul of what we are,” defensive line coach Larry Johnson said. “He puts everything into it. He wants this in the worst way.”

Sawyer said he blacked out when he ran down the sideline after sacking Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and picking up the fumble. All he remembers was feeling like he was running in quicksand and trying to get into the end zone as fast as possible.

The play before that shouldn’t be overlooked, either. With Texas facing third-and-goal from the 8 after failing to score on two plays from the 1-yard line, coach Steve Sarkisian put the ball in Ewers’ hands. Ewers dropped back and appeared to have an open receiver breaking open in the left corner of the end zone, but Sawyer, who was lined up outside, got pressure up the middle and forced the throw early and off-target.

Then on fourth down, he turned into a superhero.

Ohio State had been picking on Texas’ right tackle Cameron Williams for much of the game. Williams returned on Friday after missing the last game with a right knee sprain, and he faced a tall task against a peaking Ohio State defensive line.

The Buckeyes had success when they got one-on-one matchups against him. That’s what happened on fourth down.

“They left one of the best edge rushers one-on-one and you see what happens,” defensive end JT Tuimoloau said.

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Sawyer dipped under Williams’ arm and had a free shot at Ewers. He sacked the quarterback, the ball bounced right to his arms and he was off to the races. He gave Ohio State the decisive 14-point lead with just over two minutes to play.

The reactions of his teammates tell the story.

Tuimoloau, who played through a second-quarter ankle injury, raced down the field to meet him in the end zone. Day jumped into Sawyer’s arms with a big hug once he got on the sideline. They are close, and Sawyer has often come to Day’s defense publicly. Day hasn’t said it to the media, but it’s clear it has meant a lot to him.

“I can’t say enough about Jack Sawyer,” Day said in his postgame interview on ESPN. “He’s a guy who loves being a Buckeye, loves his teammates. … We talked before the game about wanting to leave a legacy behind and becoming a legend. He just became a legend at Ohio State.”

When Sawyer finally got a chance to sit down and catch his breath, Howard came over and punched him in the chest and yelled at him in celebration.

Howard is a leader of Ohio State’s team as the quarterback. He isn’t afraid to show his emotions and pushes his teammates on and off the field. Some of that he got from Sawyer.

When Howard arrived a transfer from Kansas State last winter, he was a newcomer trying to win a quarterback battle and lead a team that he was also trying to learn more about. One of the first people to gravitate to him was Sawyer.

“He was so good to me and made me feel like I belonged,” Howard said. “I owe a lot to that guy. I love him.

“I was on the verge of tears.”

That’s a common theme when those around the program talk about Sawyer.

“I follow his leadership,” star freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith said. “He’s one of the best players I’ve ever been around. We follow in his footsteps. He’ll lead us in the right direction.”

When Sawyer talks, people listen, because he earned the respect of everybody in the locker room. Sure, he was a five-star recruit, the No. 6 player in the 2021 class, but his career didn’t go as he expected right away.

He struggled in his sophomore year as new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles tried to use him as a hybrid edge rusher and outside linebacker called the “jack” position. It didn’t work. They moved him back to a traditional defensive end role as a junior. Now he’s thrived as a senior with nine sacks.

“In our system, it’s that third year and fourth year when you can see a guy take off,” Johnson said. “You saw that early in the season. You knew it was all there. The move he made was a fundamental move. We do it every day.”

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Ohio State’s season has felt much like Sawyer’s career. It had setbacks on its road to a national championship game bid, but it never gave up belief — in part because Sawyer was there to help lead the Buckeyes.

When Texas and Ohio State were tied at 14 going into the fourth quarter, it was Sawyer who was walking up to the defense giving them words of encouragement.

“He’s running around telling everybody we have 15 minutes left,” linebacker Sonny Styles said. “He’s a great leader. He rubs off on everyone.”

Ryan Day and Jack Sawyer will get a title shot vs. Notre Dame. (Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)

It is the same guy who made headlines after the loss to Michigan when he wanted to stop the Wolverines from planting a flag on Ohio State’s field after their fourth consecutive win over the Buckeyes. It escalated a brawl that marred the ending of the rivalry game and led to criticism of Sawyer for his role in the fight.

Though Ohio State fans may have appreciated his passion for the program, many people outside of Ohio saw it as a moment that left an ugly mark at the end of the college football regular season.

Sawyer didn’t bat an eye. Neither did anybody inside the program. Sawyer’s passion leads to plays like what he did on Friday.

That loss to Michigan and postgame brawl could have been the lasting memory the rest of the country had of him, but he had other plans. Now, Ohio State is going to face Notre Dame in the national championship, its first trip to the title game since it lost to Alabama in the 2020 season. Sawyer was a senior in high school then.

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Watching great Ohio State teams growing up, he dreamed of moments like what happened in the Cotton Bowl.

“It means everything that we’re playing for the national championship like we’ve always dreamed of here,” he said. “It’s so special.”

In time, he’ll look back and realize how much his big play in the semifinals means to the program. But when ESPN’s Holly Rowe told him he was a Buckeyes legend now, his response was, “I just want to win a national championship.”

After stepping down from the Cotton Bowl stage, Sawyer spoke to a scrum of local reporters and had to stop himself mid-answer and said, “Sorry, I just keep thinking about the national championship.”

But this Playoff run isn’t just about wins or losses for Sawyer. It’s about what Ohio State means to him.

“I love this state, I love Columbus, Ohio, I love this f—ing team so much,” Sawyer said. “I would go to war for this team over and over and over again.”

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(Top photo: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)