ARLINGTON, Texas — It felt like forever.
The run felt like forever. The jaunt. The trot. Call it what you want. A rumble.
It looked like forever, too. All 260 pounds of Jack Sawyer racing — is that the right word? — down the sideline.
In the stands, his family watched.
Run, Jack. Run. Ruuuun.
The 20, the 30, the 40…
“I think I said 70 times in a row, ‘There’s no way! There’s no way! This isn’t real!’” Jack’s sister, Kyla said, “and then I started crying and I don’t remember the rest of the game.”
On Thursday night, the Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal delivered to us one of the worst unforced, game-securing turnovers in college football history (Penn State quarterback Drew Allar’s pick in the final seconds).
On Friday night, the Cotton Bowl semifinal conjured up one of its own, this time a forced turnover by the big, meaty paws of Ohio State’s star defensive end: a swatting sack-fumble and then a rousing, game-ending scoop-and-score of 83 yards.
Run, Jack. Run.
The 50, the 40…
“I felt like I was in quicksand because I was trying to get into the end zone so fast,” Jack said afterward.
He eventually crossed the goal line, striding into that end zone, into the record books, sending the Buckeyes to the national championship game with a 28-14 win over the Texas Longhorns.
In a stunning turn of events, Sawyer’s scoop-and-score ended what turned out to be a dreadful series of plays for the Longhorns.
Texas, down 21-14 with 3 minutes, 56 seconds left, faced a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Steve Sarkisian’s team went backward: a run for no gain; an inexplicable toss play for a 7-yard loss; an incomplete pass; and then, on fourth-and-goal from the 8, Longhorns QB Ewers cocked his arm in an aim toward the end zone, a pass that may have tied the game.
He never fired. Sawyer beat right tackle Cameron Williams around the edge, swatted at Ewers’ cocked arm, popped the ball free, cradled it into his arms as it bounced off the turf and began his long, exhausting journey into history.
He took off down the sideline not unlike how a heavily weighted object tumbles from too small of a slingshot.
Run, Jack. Run.
The 30, the 20…
“Eighty-three yards,” his mother said, “is a long way for a big boy!”
As he raced down the Ohio State sideline, players and coaches ran with him. The crowd roared. And, on the field, trailing Sawyer, linebacker Sonny Style made a key block of Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner.
It’s a good thing, too: Wisner would have caught ol’ Jack.
“I looked back and hoped I had a blocker because receivers were out there,” he said, “and I don’t have wheels like that.”
Afterward, he leaped into coach Ryan Day’s arm. A long embrace. Tears. Smiles. The emotions of the last several days, months and years on display.
Sawyer was Day’s first ever commitment after he was elevated to head coach. He’s an Ohio kid from the Columbus suburb of Pickerington, a town of about 23,000 where he grew up with a Scarlet and Gray-painted room covered in Buckeyes decals.
He’s a two-year starter, a three-year letterman and was the highest-rated recruit in Ohio State’s 2021 signing class. More recently, you may know him as the guy who prevented Michigan players from planting the flag at midfield of Ohio Stadium.
He wrestled away the ‘Block-M’ flag in a wild on-field fracas that followed Ohio State’s last loss. Perhaps, the Wolverines sparked something in this team. The Buckeyes are playing like we all thought they would — the most talented roster in the sport and the preseason national championship favorites.
They have outscored their three playoff opponents (Tennessee, Oregon and Texas) 111-52. And though the offense stumbled into dry spells on Friday, the defense roared to life. It’s not like we haven’t seen this before.
In fact, that late-game goal line stand was the third such this year. They did it against Penn State, Indiana and Nebraska, too. Known for their explosive offensive players, the Buckeyes are bringing the wood under defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
They sacked Ewers four times and held the Horns to less than 60 yards rushing. Ewers had 16 incompletions.
It was a nasty effort, led by Sawyer, who, as it turns out, was Ewers’ roommate at Ohio State as a freshman.
In fact, after the game, Ewers playfully barked toward Sawyer, “Screw you!”
In the postgame news conference, Day gestured toward Sawyer, “I love guys who go through difficult times, stay strong, defend who they love and come out the back end. This guy right here.”
Sure, quarterback Will Howard produced some highlights. He threw for 289 yards and ran for some key first downs, including a fourth-down conversion on a touchdown drive. TreVeyon Henderson had his moments, too. How about his 75-yard touchdown on a screen pass in the waning seconds of the first half?
But this was Jack Sawyer’s day.
Afterward, across a confetti-covered AT&T Stadium field, Sawyer toted the massive Cotton Bowl MVP trophy. He signed autographs. He took pictures. He did interviews. He lingered on the field as long as any single player, basking in this.
“I love this state. I love Columbus, Ohio. I love this f***ing … this damn team so much,” Sawyer said. “I’d go to war with these guys over and over again and the man in charge, who means so much to me, my family and the rest of the guys on the team.
“We are playing for a national championship like we’ve always dreamed of here.”
Kyla, his older sister by 2.5 years, backed up her brother: “This is really what his dream was his entire life,” she said through tears. “To see all the hard work paying off, it’s incredible.”
Before he stepped on a raised platform for the trophy presentation, Sawyer gripped the football that he chugged those 83 yards. But he couldn’t accept the MVP trophy with a ball in his hands.
He wheeled around to find long-time Ohio State sports information director and all-around-good-guy Jerry Emig. Sawyer handed the ball to a smiling Emig.
“Don’t give it away!” Sawyer told him.
As Sawyer bounced around to post-game interviews and such, Emig held the ball high to the thousands of Ohio State fans who traveled to a cold and snow-covered Dallas.
“This is the ball!” Emig announced. “This is the ball he scored with!”
He did score, didn’t he? He finally did make it to that end zone. It took forever.
Run, Jack. Run.
The 10, the 5…
As he approached the goal line, Jack shot glances toward the Ohio State sideline. Up in the stands, his dad, Lyle, screamed toward his son: “Quit talking to your teammates and get in the end zone, you big dummy!’”
Run, Jack. Run.
