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.
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.
