CNN
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Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer once lived with Quinn Ewers. On Friday, he secured a rent-free seat in the Texas quarterback’s head by stripping the ball from his former roommate and sending it 83 yards for a touchdown that clinched the Buckeyes’ berth in the college football national championship game.

The standout senior’s effort against Ewers and the subsequent success that gave the Buckeyes a 28-14 lead late in the fourth quarter of the College Football Playoff semifinals in the Cotton Bowl will live long in the history of Ohio State Capstone to an epic goal line stand sent the Buckeyes to the national championship game.

Ohio State took a 21-14 lead with about seven minutes left after Quinshon Judkins made another tough run, but Ewers and Texas seemed to have another answer in a brutal, physical game where momentum swung back and forth . The Longhorns reached Ohio State’s one-yard line and had four downs to score the game-winning touchdown.

Ohio State’s defense, the top-ranked unit in the country, was more than up to the challenge.

On first down, running back Jerrick Gibson was stuffed for no gain. On second down, Quintrevion Wisner lost seven yards when he went wide, and the scarlet and gray fans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, began to feel as if something magical was about to happen. On third down, Ewers lined up with the shotgun and attempted to pass for the equalizer, but the ball deflected at the line and fell harmlessly incomplete.

And on fourth down, Sawyer broke free of his blocker and tracked down his former roommate while Ewers shuffled left and looked into the end zone for an open receiver. Instead, the senior defensive end knocked the ball out of his former roommate’s hand, pushed him to the ground, picked up the bouncing ball and had nothing but open field in front of him.

As his teammates went crazy next to him on the sideline, Sawyer stormed into the end zone and scored the game-winning score.

“I was just put in a good position by the coaches, I saw the ball pop right out to me when I tackled it. I just thought, ‘I have to stay on my feet,'” Sawyer told ESPN after the game. “I almost passed out when I picked it up and saw nothing but green grass in front of me.”

After the game, Ewers summed up the feeling: “It sucks, man.”

“It is difficult. “All the work we’ve put in, being in the last four years in a row and taking two years off, it’s tough,” Ewers added.

It was a legendary play that sparked a remarkable turnaround for the Buckeyes in these playoffs. After a demoralizing loss to arch-rival Michigan on November 30, the fourth straight loss to the Wolverines, Ohio State’s fan base entered a crisis of confidence. There were calls for head coach Ryan Day to be fired and fears that home-field advantage could be lost in the opening round of the playoffs when Tennessee fans stormed Ohio Stadium before the Volunteers’ game against the Buckeyes.

Ohio State defeated Tennessee and easily beat top-ranked Oregon in the quarterfinals of the Rose Bowl. The Cotton Bowl against Texas promised a much tougher challenge and for most of the contest it felt like the game came down to who had the ball last. Now all that stands between them and a national championship is Notre Dame on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Ohio State’s opening offense seemed to set the tone right from the start, as Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard simply picked apart the Longhorns’ secondary. In the end, it was a strong run up the middle by Judkins that sparked the scoring, giving Ohio State a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

Behind their star-studded defense, the Buckeyes refused to let Texas get into a rhythm early, and it seemed like Ohio State might take control of the game early when Howard brought the offense down the field again on their second possession. Texas had no answer for Ohio State’s offense, but then running back Treveyon Henderson helped them out with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct foul. The penalty put the Buckeyes out of field goal range and they ended up having to punt.

From there the game found its rhythm for the next quarter of the game. Texas continued to try to establish its running game — which overwhelmed Clemson in the opening round of the playoffs — but couldn’t break through. Meanwhile, Ohio State started moving the ball and ended up with a self-inflicted drive-stopper penalty that took away their momentum. Howard also had to play through an apparent injury to his non-throwing hand, as ESPN’s cameras showed a golf ball-sized knot forming after an apparent collision with a Texas defender.

Texas finally got some momentum at the end of the first half with a touchdown drive that tied the game. Arch Manning, Ewers’ high-profile backup, came into the game to make an important call in the fourth period. On the next play, Ewers passed to Silas Bolden, who broke a tackle for a 24-yard gain to the OSU 18-yard line. Two plays later, Ewers hit running back Jaydon Blue with a looping pass that was perfect for the game-winning touchdown.

It looked like the Longhorns would head into the locker room with the wind at their back, but just before halftime the Buckeyes stole the momentum. Henderson took a short pass and weaved his way through the second level of defense, patiently following his offensive line. Suddenly he has nothing but an open field in front of him. He ran 75 yards untouched to put the Buckeyes back on top at halftime.

However, they couldn’t maintain that momentum after halftime – Howard threw an interception on the first possession of the second half and the teams traded punts again for much of the third quarter before Ewers Blue hit again for a long-time touchdown of 26 yards.

It was a carbon copy of the first Texas touchdown, as Blue ran a wheel route out of the backfield and found himself wide open in the Ohio State secondary. Blue missed a man and marched into the end zone to tie the game at 14 with 3:12 left in the third quarter. It was a perfect response to Ohio State’s blitz attack, as the Texas coaching staff and Ewers adjusted to the pressure the Buckeyes had applied in the first half that so hampered the Texas offense.

Ohio State searched for an answer but couldn’t stop shooting itself in its own feet. Howard started the next drive with a 15-yard completion that was immediately wiped out by a personal foul penalty for a late hit by offensive lineman Austin Siereveld. The penalty proved to be another drive-killer and Ohio State stumbled after failing to get anything going against an increasingly confident Texas defense.

The solution to the Buckeyes’ offensive weakness early in the fourth quarter was to simply let Howard go. Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly fired several deep shots when the Buckeyes got the ball early in the final frame, with varying degrees of success. A pass-filled drive set up the game’s decisive play – on fourth-and-3 from the Texas 34, Howard dropped back to pass, then tucked the ball in and ran 18 yards for a crucial first down. that could have been the go-ahead touchdown if Howard hadn’t stumbled.

Four plays later, it was Judkins who stormed into the end zone, giving Ohio State a 21-14 lead with just over seven minutes to play.

It looked like Texas had the answer as Ewers drove his team down the field and advanced to the Ohio State one-yard line. But then the Buckeyes resisted and Sawyer stabbed the Longhorns.

“It was a really nice offensive effort to get all the way down the stretch. And first and a goal and we don’t score? Honestly, you probably didn’t deserve to win that way,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said later.

For Ohio State, it was a moment to celebrate a new school legend.

“I can’t say enough about Jack Sawyer,” Day told ESPN after the game. “He’s a guy that loves being a Buckeye. He loves his teammates. He did everything that was asked of him. He’s a captain. He is everything we could want in a captain. Making a piece like this in this moment…do you want to leave a legacy? You will become a legend. He just became a legend at Ohio State.”