Ohio State's veteran core returned to complete unfinished business
Ohio State's recruiting class of 2021 was among the best in the country, ranked No. 2 nationally with seven five-star prospects, and by the end of the 2023 season had largely delivered on its promise, compiling a 32-4 record over three regular seasons.
But for many members of that class, there was still unfinished business -- namely beating Michigan and winning a national championship -- that became the focus of discussions about coming back to Columbus.
At least eight players who were projected to be picked in the NFL draft, some of them in the early rounds, elected to stay in school with the goal of adding some bling to their gaudy win-loss record. While the first part of their goals got away -- the Buckeyes lost their fourth straight rivalry game to the Wolverines -- they are still in position to deliver the ultimate prize, facing Texas on Friday night in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl (7:30 ET, ESPN).
"When you look back, you want to be able to tell your kids, your family, the people that you love that you won something," senior receiver Emeka Egbuka said. "We hadn't really won anything, and that's the reason we came back.
"Then you lose that last game again [against Michigan], and it hurts. It will always hurt, but just like we did before this season, we locked arms and said we still have a chance to win the big prize, the national championship.
"Let's go do it."
Even without a win over Michigan, the 2021 class has a chance to leave an enduring legacy at Ohio State. The group, which included 17 ESPN 300 recruits, is not fully intact. Quarterback Kyle McCord transferred to Syracuse following the 2023 season and receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who left as a junior last year, was the No. 4 selection in the NFL draft. Then there's the quarterback Ohio State will be facing in the Cotton Bowl, Texas' Quinn Ewers, who spent a semester in Columbus in 2021, played one game against Michigan State, then transferred to Texas.
But those who remain have a strong bond.
"This group, the '21 group, has been through a lot," senior running back TreVeyon Henderson said. "This is a special moment for all of us to be in this position, to be there for each other, to stay committed to each other the way we have.
"This season hasn't been perfect. We aren't perfect, but we've leaned on each other to keep going, to stay focused, and we're still here fighting to play with each other until there are no other games to be played."
Senior defensive end Jack Sawyer grew up in Pickerington, Ohio, about 17 miles from Columbus, and committed to the Buckeyes when he was a sophomore in high school. He was one of the ringleaders this offseason in getting so many of his teammates to come back.
Granted, Ohio State's willingness to broker lucrative NIL deals, putting together a $20 million roster, was a big part of the retention. But there was also a sense of emptiness in that 2021 class stemming from having not done what all players come to Ohio State to do -- beat Michigan, win Big Ten championships and win national championships.
"Jack was passionate about it this offseason and what Ohio State meant to him and what we could do to leave the kind of imprint we wanted to on the program, especially guys who grew up in the state," said defensive tackle Ty Hamilton, a fifth-year senior also from Pickerington.
Sawyer and fellow defensive end JT Tuimoloau came in together in 2021, and it wasn't lost on either of them the magnitude of this second chance to finally get the job done.
"It makes it more special," said Sawyer, part of an Ohio State defense that collected eight sacks in the 41-21 Rose Bowl quarterfinal victory over Oregon, which beat Ohio State 32-31 in Eugene earlier this season. "I mean, we were just talking about it. You look back at where we were in our freshman year, and we're so much different as people and as players. So we're really excited that we get another chance."
The Buckeyes certainly have made the most of it. They've yet to trail in their first two playoff games, building a 21-0 first-quarter lead against Tennessee and a 34-0 second-quarter lead against Oregon. In those two games, they racked up 12 quarterback sacks, allowed none and are giving up an average of 3.8 yards per play on defense.
But the hurt of a fourth straight loss to their hated rival, when Ohio State was a three-touchdown favorite on its home turf, still stings.
"It sucks what happened at the end [of the regular season]," senior offensive tackle Donovan Jackson said. "Nobody hates it more than we do. I hope people know that. But we know what it takes to go out there in the playoff and win, and that's playing to our ability.
"That's all we're focusing on right now and not what anybody has said about us and or anything else that has happened in the past. The way we look at it, everybody on this team, is that our best game is still out there."
Senior defensive tackle Tyleik Williams added: "That game didn't go the way we wanted, and as soon as we got into the playoff, we came together and said, 'We've got one shot at this. That's it -- one.'"
Sawyer was furious following the Michigan game when some of the Wolverines' players planted a "Block M" flag at midfield of the Horseshoe, similar to what happened at the end of the 2022 game, and a brawl ensued that had to be broken up by staff members and police.
Sawyer ripped the Michigan flag off its pole and threw it to the ground. As he was being held back by a staffer, a video captured him screaming, "They're not f---ing planting the flag again on our field, bro!"
That passion has permeated throughout the entire team during the postseason, and the Buckeyes have used it as fuel, especially some of the younger players and portal additions who have seen how agonizing it was for the veterans to come up short against Michigan again and then have to listen to the fallout for nearly a month before the first playoff game.
"It's an angry team, and we've played that way," said quarterback Will Howard, who transferred in this season from Kansas State. "You see guys like Jack and JT and Donovan, all those guys who came back, and how much they've put into this program, and you just follow their lead."
One of the keys, according to offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, was finding the right mix with veteran portal acquisitions and veteran holdovers. It's rare in this day and age of college football that a program of Ohio State's caliber has so many fourth- and fifth-year seniors.
"Their leadership has been tremendous, especially with the guys we added that had experience and had played at a high level," said Kelly, who has been a head coach in both the NFL and collegiate ranks. "They've been steady, haven't let anything on the outside get to them. Everybody faces ups and downs. You're not going to win every week, and then it becomes, 'How do you react to it?' We have a senior group that has responded the right way.
"They came back for a reason, and they still get a chance to do that. They know what's at stake."
Tuimoloau, Ohio State's leader with 17 tackles for loss and 10 sacks, admits the foundation of the program was rocked a bit after the Michigan loss. But he reminded himself and everybody around him that a single loss, even one as agonizing as the one to Michigan, wasn't going to destroy the season.
"One thing I'll say about this team is that we've built our foundation on something that's bigger than just what you see out on the football field," Tuimoloau said. "Just to go through those trials, man, I can't be more thankful for it. It's brought us closer together. It's allowed us to really look at everything from a different perspective and just continue to make the choice if you want to splinter and scatter or stay close and continue to just work toward the goal."
While the veterans have been the steadying force for Ohio State in this postseason revival, dynamic freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith has provided the voltage with four touchdown catches and 290 receiving yards in the two playoff games.
Smith said he has had many mentors on this team, but he didn't need to be told anything after the Michigan loss.
"Those guys weren't going to let it end like that," Smith said. "They'd been through too much, and their leadership just sort of picked up the rest of the team.
"It wasn't going to happen again."
College Football Playoff: Jack Sawyer's fumble return TD cements Ohio State's Cotton Bowl win over Texas
Ohio State will meet Notre Dame for the national title.
The Buckeyes defense stopped Texas near the goal line with less than three minutes to go as Jack Sawyer’s fumble return with 2:13 remaining gave the Buckeyes a 28-14 win over the Longhorns in Friday night’s Cotton Bowl.
Sawyer stripped Quinn Ewers on fourth down and recovered the ball himself before officially running it 83 yards for the score.
“I saw the ball pop out right to me after I tackled him and I was thinking I just gotta stay on my feet because like I said, I almost blacked out when I saw all that green grass in front of me,” Sawyer said in a postgame interview on ESPN.
Trailing by seven, Texas had first and goal from the Ohio State 1 yard-line after back-to-back pass interference penalties in the end zone. Jerrick Gibson got stopped for no gain on first down on a run up the middle. That led Texas to pitch it to the outside to Quintrevion Wisner on second down.
That worked out poorly. Ohio State’s defense read the pitch perfectly and stopped Wisner for a seven-yard loss. Ewers’ third-down pass to Ryan Wingo got tipped at the line of scrimmage and then Sawyer came off the edge on fourth down to clinch the game.
Ewers started his college career at Ohio State before transferring to Texas after his first and only season with the Buckeyes. Sawyer was his roommate at Ohio State.
Ohio State took a 21-14 lead with 7:02 to go when Quinshon Judkins scored his second TD of the night. That TD was the 13th play in an 88-yard drive that took nearly eight minutes. It also came after Will Howard converted a key fourth down on a QB run up the middle after Ohio State had put all of its receivers on the right side of the formation to spread the Texas defense out.
Any hope Texas had of mounting a miracle comeback disappeared just after the two-minute warning when Caleb Downs intercepted Ewers with 1:44 to go.
The Buckeyes will take on the Fighting Irish on Jan. 20 in Atlanta after Notre Dame beat Penn State 27-24 in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night. It's the third meeting in four seasons between the teams and all have come in Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman's time as the Irish's head coach. Freeman is a former Ohio State linebacker and his alma mater has won each of the previous two meetings.
Overall, Notre Dame and Ohio State have played six times. The Buckeyes are 6-0 dating back to the first matchup in 1995.
If you would have told Texas fans before the game that Ohio State freshman star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith would have one catch for three yards, they’d have thought Texas would be the team facing Notre Dame for the national title.
The Longhorns did a phenomenal job keeping Smith in check on three targets. Texas’ pass defense has been one of the best in the country and they blanketed Smith after he had scored four touchdowns over the first two games of the College Football Playoff.
But as Texas had Smith covered, other players stepped up for Ohio State. Carnell Tate, the team’s No. 3 wide receiver, led the Buckeyes with seven grabs for 87 yards. And running back TreVeyon Henderson gave Ohio State the lead before halftime on a 75-yard TD on a screen pass.
Texas tied the game at 7-7 with less than a minute to go before the half. With the Texas defense playing back to prevent a big play, Ohio State ran a screen for Henderson, and he broke through his wall of blockers to head to the end zone.
It was Henderson’s only catch of the game as he rushed six times for 42 yards.
The Longhorns' best offensive weapon was running back Jaydon Blue. And not on the ground. Blue had five catches for 59 yards and caught both of Texas' touchdowns. The Longhorns had the most offensive success stretching Ohio State's defense horizontally near the line of scrimmage. Especially with wide receiver Matthew Golden limited by an ankle injury. Blue and Wisner combined to catch 11 of Ewers' 23 completions.
The Buckeyes had been the most impressive team in the playoff through the first two rounds and looked destined for another rout in the first quarter after stopping Texas on fourth down on the Longhorns’ opening drive and then capping their own first drive with a Judkins TD.
But Texas hung around for much of the game as Ohio State’s offense wasn’t able to consistently get rolling against one of the best defenses in the country. Ohio State punted four times between touchdowns in the first half as eight consecutive drives ended in punts after Judkins’ first score.
And in the second half, Ohio State opened the third quarter with an interception and punted twice before the 13-play drive to take the lead.
Those midgame lulls were a big reason why Ohio State had looked less than impressive at times in 2024 despite boasting a roster that could be the best in college football. But that talent is also not a surprise why the Buckeyes will play for the national title despite having two regular-season losses.
He was supposed to win Ohio State a national title. Now, he's trying to stop it from happening.
In the summer of 2021, the nation’s top-ranked high school football recruit, Quinn Ewers, arrived on Ohio State's campus in what represented a recruiting coup.
Less than a year earlier, the teenage quarterback from the Dallas suburbs had backed away from his commitment to play for the Texas Longhorns and reopened his recruitment. Now, he was seemingly next in line to help the powerhouse Buckeyes win college football’s national championship.
More than three years later, Ohio State’s two dominant victories to open the College Football Playoff have landed it in Friday’s semifinal in Arlington, Texas. For Ewers, a national title is just two wins away.
Except now, he plays for Texas.
The reunion carrying national-title stakes would be remarkable as a football story alone. Jack Sawyer, a star Buckeyes defensive end who will spend Friday trying to sack Ewers, was once his roommate.
Both schools are trying to break title droughts. Texas last won a national title in the 2005 season and Ohio State in 2014. The winner will advance to the Jan. 20 national championship in Atlanta to face the winner of the other semifinal, between Penn State and Notre Dame.
“I don’t regret any decision I’ve made on going or anything like that,” Ewers told reporters ahead of Friday’s Cotton Bowl, the site of one semifinal. He said his relationships with many at Ohio State still “feel like if I’d see them walking down the side of the road, it would be like I was hanging out with them yesterday.”
Ewers’ story has also become one of the prime illustrations of the changes reshaping the NCAA.
Beginning in June 2021, players were at last legally able to be compensated for the use of their names, images and likenesses (and, in the future, players also will be able to earn shares of the revenue their schools generate). At the same time, relaxed rules have made it easier than ever to transfer between schools without penalty.
Initially on track to graduate from high school in the spring of 2022, Ewers instead skipped his senior year of high school and reclassified to the class of 2021 to sign with Ohio State.
Part of his motivation was his relationships with coaches such as Ryan Day, who offered Ewers a scholarship when he was in the eighth grade. (“He was a boy at the time, really, who just had a tremendous release,” Day said.) But a significant factor in his decision to speed up his path to college, Ewers said Monday, was the opportunity to cash in on NIL payments as a collegiate athlete that he wouldn’t have been permitted to earn had he remained a high school student in Texas.
“One of the main things was that there was that, I don’t know if you guys remember or not, but the Texas Legislature wasn’t going to allow high school football players to be paid,” Ewers said. “And me and my family had a pretty big opportunity in front of us that we felt that it was a good decision for me to go on and forgo my senior year and enroll early at Ohio State and I have the opportunity to have some good money in our pockets as a family.”
Days before he stepped on campus at Ohio State in August 2021, Ewers announced his first endorsement — with a kombucha company. Soon, ESPN reported, Ewers had signed an NIL deal with a sports marketing company worth $1.4 million over three years.
After less than three months and one semester at Ohio State, Ewers transferred to Texas to play for the Longhorns’ new coach, Steve Sarkisian.
“The reason that I came back to Texas was, one, to be closer to where I’m from and just closer to the resources that I have and the relationships that I’ve built over time just being from Texas,” Ewers said.
As the Longhorns’ starting quarterback for the past three seasons, Ewers has tapped into those resources as lucratively as anyone in college sports. He has signed as many as 25 NIL deals, according to one tally by On3, with companies that make a variety of products, like tea, video games and jerky, as well as a streaming network.
Ewers might have one more twist in his career path still to come. In late December, On3 reported that Ewers, who could turn pro and declare for the NFL draft this month, has been offered $6 million by an unnamed school to enter the NCAA’s transfer portal and sign to play another season of college there. From strictly a financial perspective, Ewers is already one of the biggest winners of college sports’ new era of permissiveness. Now, he’s trying to be the big winner of the College Football Playoff’s ultimate prize.
Standing in his way, however, is his former team.
