Jack Sawyer Punches Ohio State's Title-Game Ticket With Strip Sack of Former Roommate

The Buckeyes all but polished off their Cotton Bowl win in style.

Jack Sawyer during No. 6 Ohio State's 28–14 win over No. 4 Texas in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10, 2025. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In 2021, two Ohio State football players were assigned to room together—a quarterback named Quinn Ewers and a defensive end named Jack Sawyer.

Three years later, their paths crossed in one of those twists of fate only sports can provide.

With 2:28 to go and Texas facing fourth-and-goal down 21–14 in the Cotton Bowl, Ewers—now the Longhorns' quarterback—dropped back to pass. Sawyer laid a ferocious hit on Ewers, picked up the football, and raced 83 yards for a touchdown in one of the most memorable plays in the Buckeyes' long history.

The play—which sealed the 28–14 win for Ohio State and Sawyer said led Ewers to tell him "Screw you!" as the quarterback walked off the field—capped an unbelievable three-game run for Sawyer, and all but sent the Buckeyes to the national championship against Notre Dame on Jan. 20.

JACK SAWYER SCOOP-AND-SCORE 😱

Ohio State is one step closer to advancing to the national championship! pic.twitter.com/BPoV5FBRGZ

— ESPN (@espn) January 11, 2025

Sawyer, a Columbus native, was a second team All-Big Ten selection each of the past two seasons.

The Buckeyes allowed Texas to hang around for much of the evening, but it ultimately didn't matter as they moved within a win of their first title since 2014.

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