ARLINGTON, Texas – It seemed like an eternity.
The race seemed like an eternity. The excursion. The trot. Call it what you want. A roar.
It also seemed like an eternity. Jack Sawyer’s 260 pounds of racing: Is that the right word? – by the band.
In the stands, his family watched.
Run, Jack. Run. Ruuuun.
The 20s, the 30s, the 40s…
“I think I said 70 times in a row: ‘There’s no way! There is no way! This isn’t real!’” said Jack’s sister Kyla, “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 handed us one of the worst unforced, game-clinching turnovers in college football history (Penn State quarterback Drew Allar’s pick on the last seconds).
On Friday night, the Cotton Bowl semifinal conjured up one of its own, this time a turnover forced by the big, meaty paws of Ohio State’s star defensive end: a swatted fumble and then a stirring snap-and-end game. 83 yard score.
Run, Jack. Run.
The 50s, the 40s…
“I felt like I was in quicksand because I was trying to get to the end zone so fast,” Jack said afterward.
He finally crossed the goal line, marched into that end zone, into the record books, sending the Buckeyes to the national championship game with a 28-14 victory over the Texas Longhorns.
In a surprising turn of events, Sawyer’s scoop and score ended what turned out to be a terrible series of plays for the Longhorns.
Texas, trailing 21-14 with 3 minutes, 56 seconds remaining, faced a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Steve Sarkisian’s team fell back: a run for no gain; an unexplained throwing play for a 7-yard loss; an incomplete pass; and then, on fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line, Longhorns quarterback Ewers cocked his arm to point toward the end zone, a pass that could have tied the game.
He never fired. Sawyer beat right tackle Cameron Williams around the edge, hit Ewers’ cocked arm, released the ball, cradled it in his arms as it bounced off the grass and began his long, grueling journey into history.
It came down the sideline similar to how a heavy object falls from a too-small slingshot.
Run, Jack. Run.
The 30s, the 20s…
“Eighty-three yards,” his mother said, “is a long way for a big boy!”
As he ran down the Ohio State sideline, players and coaches ran with him. The crowd roared. And, down the field behind Sawyer, linebacker Sonny Style made a key block on Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner.
It’s a good thing, too: Wisner would have caught old Jack.
“I looked back and hoped I had a blocker because the receivers were out there,” he said, “and I don’t have wheels like that.”
Then, he jumped into coach Ryan Day’s arm. A long hug. Tears. Smiles. The emotions of the last days, months and years in view.
Sawyer was Day’s first commitment after he was promoted to head coach. He’s an Ohio kid from the Columbus suburb of Pickerington, a city of about 23,000 people where he grew up with a scarlet and gray painted room covered in Buckeyes decals.
He is a two-year starter, 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 stopped Michigan players from planting the flag at midfield at Ohio Stadium.
He took away the ‘Block-M’ flag in a wild on-field brawl that followed Ohio State’s latest loss. Maybe the Wolverines sparked something in this team. The Buckeyes are playing like we all thought they would: the most talented roster in the game and the favorites for the preseason national championship.
They have outscored their three playoff opponents (Tennessee, Oregon and Texas) 111-52. And while the offense stumbled through dry spells Friday, the defense roared to life. It’s not like we haven’t seen this before.
In fact, that goal-line stand at the end of the game was the third of its kind this year. They also did it against Penn State, Indiana and Nebraska. Known for their explosive offensive players, the Buckeyes are laying the wood under defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
They sacked Ewers four times and held the Horns to less than 60 rushing yards. Ewers had 16 incompletions.
It was an unpleasant effort, led by Sawyer, who happened to be Ewers’ roommate at Ohio State when he was a freshman.
In fact, after the game, Ewers jokingly yelled at Sawyer, “Fuck you!”
In the postgame press conference, Day pointed out to Sawyer: “I love guys who go through tough times, stay strong, stand up for the people they love and get through it. This guy 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 also had his moments. How about your 75-yard touchdown on a screen pass in the last seconds of the first half?
But this was Jack Sawyer’s day.
Then, across the confetti-covered AT&T Stadium field, Sawyer carried the enormous Cotton Bowl MVP trophy. He signed autographs. He took photographs. He did interviews. He stayed on the field as long as any player, enjoying it.
“I love this state. I love Columbus, Ohio. “I love this damn team so much,” Sawyer said. “I would go to war with these guys over and over again and with the man in charge who means so much to me, my family and the rest of the guys on the team.
“We’re playing for a national championship like we’ve always dreamed of here.”
Kyla, his two-and-a-half-year-old older sister, backed her brother up: “This is truly his lifelong dream,” she said through tears. “To see all the hard work pay off, it’s amazing.”
Before stepping onto a raised platform for the trophy presentation, Sawyer grabbed the ball and threw it 83 yards. But he couldn’t accept the MVP trophy with a ball in his hands.
He turned around to find veteran Ohio State sports information director and good guy Jerry Emig. Sawyer handed the ball to a smiling Emig.
“Don’t reveal it!” Sawyer told him.
While Sawyer bounced around to postgame interviews and the like, Emig held the ball up high for the thousands of Ohio State fans who traveled to a cold, snow-covered Dallas.
“This is the ball!” Emig announced. “This is the ball he scored with!”
Marked, right? He finally made it to that end zone. It took forever.
Run, Jack. Run.
The 10, the 5…
As he approached the goal line, Jack cast glances toward the Ohio State sideline. In the stands, his father, Lyle, yelled at his son: “Stop talking to your teammates and get in the end zone, you big fool!”
Run, Jack. Run.