Ryan Day knew Ohio State would win national championship after Jack Sawyer touchdown vs. Texas

Ohio State‘s national championship victory is setting in for Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day.

Having had some time to soak it in, Day joined The Triple Option Podcast to discuss the victory with fellow Ohio State national championship-winning head coach Urban Meyer, alongside former Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and Fox Sports host Rob Stone.

Meyer asked Day to reveal the exact moment he knew he was going to win the national championship. Surprisingly, it was Jack Sawyer‘s fumble recovery touchdown against Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

“That ball hadn’t bounced that way in previous games in those moments for us,” Day told Meyer, along with the rest of the crew. “And when it bounced right up into him and he started running, it wasn’t then. It was when I looked back to make sure there were no flags on the ground, and I said, ‘You know what? I think we’re gonna win the national championship.'”

While the touchdown play by Sawyer helped give Day assurance that his team would win it all — that was in the national semifinal. Once the Buckeyes went on to jump out to a 31-7 lead over Notre Dame in the national championship game, Day had another one of these moments because at this point all his team needed to do was get first downs and run out the clock.

“We called a reverse to Emeka [Egbuka] — and I mean, Emeka is one of my favorite players of all time,” Day said. “And I just said that no matter what, you come back with that ball and you hand the ball to the official. Somehow, the ball got punched out. And I said to myself, ‘Oh my gosh. Now this thing’s in the balance.’ And then now, it’s panic mode.

“We call the shot to Jeremiah [Smith]. He catches it. But it wasn’t then. It wasn’t even after we kicked the field goal. It was when they ran that first down play, and the clock kept running. I finally just took the headset off.”

In the end, it marks the first national championship as a head coach for Ryan Day, who has been the subject of criticism this season for losing arguably its two biggest games of the regular season. Ultimately, they were left out of the Big Ten Championship game but were able to turn their fortunes around in the playoffs. Now, they’re national champions.

As the offseason gets into full swing, the Buckeyes can rest assured knowing that they now sit atop the college football mountaintop for the ninth time in program history and Ohio State’s first since the College Football Playoffs’ inception in 2014.