Ryan Day raves about Jack Sawyer's impact in Cotton Bowl win: 'He just became a legend at Ohio State'

With 2:24 to play in Friday’s Cotton Bowl, Texas was knocking on the door of a game-tying touchdown. The Longhorns were at the 8-yard line with a 4th-and-8, and Ohio State needed a stand to all but seal a College Football Playoff national championship appearance.

Enter, Jack Sawyer. The lifelong Buckeyes fan continued to wreak havoc on the Texas offensive line, stripping Ewers and taking the fumble 83 yards for a touchdown to secure the 28-14 victory.

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Sawyer was part of Ryan Day’s first recruiting class at Ohio State. He’s a captain on this year’s team, wearing his Buckeye pride on his sleeve. Friday night, he rose to the occasion and is now part of program lore – and Day said it goes with the message for his players before kickoff.

“I can’t say enough about Jack Sawyer,” Day told ESPN’s Laura Rutledge after the game. “He’s a guy who loves being a Buckeye. He loves his teammates. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s a captain. He’s everything that we could possibly ask for in a captain.

“To make a play like that in that moment – and we talked about it before the game, do you want to leave a legacy behind and become a legend? He just became a legend at Ohio State.”

Sawyer finished the game with three tackles and two pass breakups, but the strip-sack proved to be the play of the game. To set up that play, though, the Buckeyes had to break a 14-14 tie. They did so on the previous possession, thanks in large part to an 18-yard run from Will Howard. Appropriately, that was also on a fourth down, and Day said it showed the type of player he is.

“He’s tough,” Day said. “The whole team, really, showed toughness in this game. We knew it was gonna be a battle, we knew it wasn’t gonna be easy. But we knew it was gonna come down to the fourth quarter. We wanted to get to the fourth quarter and win in the fourth quarter. Fourth and 2, big call there to call the quarterback power. He hit it – he actually slipped. He probably could’ve scored.

“Just really proud of our team. Proud of our coaches. I know there’s a lot of people back in Columbus that are gonna enjoy this tonight, but only for one night because we’ve got one left.”

Now, for the first time since 2020, Ryan Day and Ohio State are heading to the national championship. It’s a far cry from where things were just over a month ago when the Buckeyes fell in their rivalry game against Michigan, leading to plenty of noise about Day’s future and the state of the program. The coach is keeping everything in perspective, though.

“It’s what life’s all about,” Day said. “You’re gonna go through adversity along the way. How you handle adversity is pretty much how you’re defined in life. These guys are learning life lessons right now.”