Ohio State punches ticket for 2025 National Championship with 28-14 Cotton Bowl win over Texas
IOwen Hillman – Starting Line Sports
The Ohio State Buckeyes are on the doorstep to college football glory after their 28-14 win in the Cotton Bowl over the Texas Longhorns.
The game was intense and chippy throughout, with a few big plays swinging the momentum, but the biggest play came on Texas’ second-to-last drive. Down 21-14, the Longhorns were miraculously on the one-yard line with a first down. However, Steve Sarkisian’s offense could not break the plane in three tries, and on fourth down, Texas QB Quinn Ewers was strip-sacked by his former roommate Jack Sawyer for a 92-yard touchdown to give a chance for the Buckeyes to win their 6th AP national championship in history.
Sawyer described it as an out-of-body experience.
“I saw the ball pop out right to me after I tackled him, I was just thinking, I’ve got to stay on my feet, because I almost blacked out when I scooped it and saw a bunch of green grass ahead of me,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer and Quinn Ewers were college roommates at Ohio State before Ewers transferred to Texas after his freshman year. Ewers piloted one of the best seasons in Longhorn’s history. In the Longhorns first year in the SEC, he took them further than any other SEC team in 2024, and his tenure included two runs to the CFB semifinal. Still, he couldn’t send the Longhorns over the hump, and they’re still looking for their first national championship in 20 years.
“I felt him. I started drifting away, thought I was going to be able to get the ball off before he got there,” Ewers said. “I saw Jack running with the ball down the sideline. ... Jack’s a good player made a great play.”
Ewers is facing a crucial decision on whether to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft or ride out his eligibility. Even if he declares now, there’s evidence he could walk back that commitment too.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is looking for his first national championship appearance as a head coach, but not even the best stretch of his head coaching career has gotten him to that point. A lot of people questioned his play calling at the end of the game, and here was his response on that last drive in the red zone and the play that caused a scoop-and-score:
“(On second down) We had a plan to try to get the edge. They went to big people…that’s one of those plays where if you block it all right, you get into the end zone, and we didn’t…at that point, your kind of stuck behind the eight-ball…but I was ok even if we didn’t score, thinking we’d get one more possession with good field position. The last thing you expect is the sack fumble that bounces right to the guy for the touchdown.”
Sarkisian may have to start rebuilding the program again with Quinn Ewers potentially leaving, along with stalwart left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and Jahdae Barron declaring for the NFL draft. The Longhorns will coincidentally start 2025 against Ohio State on Aug. 30.
Meanwhile, Ohio State coach Ryan Day has a chance to finally get over the hump as a coach. Ever since taking over as the interim head coach in 2018, Day has a 69-10 record, but he has yet to win his first national championship either, with the best chance coming in 2020 vs. Clemson.
Now, Day and Ohio State has another chance to win one against Notre Dame in Atlanta. It’s an honor for our team to be representing Ohio State in the National Championship game this year. We’re excited to be going back down to Atlanta,” Day said. “They have a great venue there and certainly a great opponent in Notre Dame. Our players are excited about preparation, and just like we’ve said, this will be our fourth time now doing this in the college football playoffs.”
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was huge contributors towards the win. He transferred from Kansas State the year prior, and he earned his first win vs. Texas in his fourth game against the Longhorns. Howard threw for 289 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in 33 attempts, but the biggest play was when he converted a fourth-and-2 at the Texas 34 on Ohio State’s last drive with an 18-yard run that would’ve been a touchdown if not for him tripping over himself.
“ That fourth down was huge. ... I fell on purpose. I'm joking,” Howard said. “A statement drive. We needed that.”
There were a lot of questions on Ohio State’s toughness after their loss to Michigan in “The Game” but ever since then, the Buckeyes have seemed to show maximum resilience and toughness. After defeating Tennessee 42-17 and No. 1 Oregon 41-21, they look like the team to beat, but Notre Dame stands in the Buckeyes way of winning their first national championship in a decade.
