Ohio State puts Texas away late and punches a ticket to the national championship game

Friday night’s College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl between Ohio State And Texas It was always going to be a question of which team did THE play.

With 2:13 left in the fourth quarter and a seven-point lead, it was the Buckeyes, specifically Jack Sawyer, who made THE play to send Ohio State into the national championship with a date against Notre Dame.

The Buckeyes embarked on a 13-play, 88-yard drive on the previous possession, which included a fourth-down conversion on quarterback power by Will Howard, and ended with a 1-yard touchdown run run by star running back Quinshon Judkins to give Ohio State a 21-14 lead with 7:02 left.

But the Longhorns wasted no time getting back on the field to try to tie the game. After a 27-yard pass from Quinn Ewers to Matthew Golden, as well as a few pass interference penalties called by the Ohio State secondary, the Longhorns were on the doorstep with a chance to tie the game.

However, Ohio State’s defense, as it has all year, proved that scoring against them was no easy task, especially in the red zone. The Buckeyes entered the Cotton Bowl ranked No. 2 nationally in red zone defense. Texas? Ninety-fifth nationally in red zone offense.

After several failed attempts to score inside the 10-yard line, the Longhorns faced a 4th-and-goal from the Ohio State eight-yard line with 2:13 remaining. After Ewers took the shotgun hit, he was chased out of the pocket by his former Ohio State roommate – star defensive end Sawyer – who sacked and stripped Ewers, collected the fumble and l ‘returned 83 yards to ice the game.

The Buckeyes led 28-14, forced another Ewers turnover – a desperation interception – to seal the game and set up a date with the Fighting Irish in Atlanta for the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 20.