Friday night's College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl between Ohio State and Texas was always going to be about which team made the play.

With 2:13 remaining in the fourth quarter and a seven-point lead in hand, 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 had 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 concluded with a one-yard touchdown run by star running back Quinshon Judkins to give Ohio State a 21–14 lead with 7:02 remaining.

But the Longhorns wasted no time marching up the field in an attempt to tie the game. After a 27-yard Quinn Ewers pass to banged up star wideout Matthew Golden—along with a couple ensuing pass interference penalties by the Ohio State secondary—the Longhorns were on the doorstep with a chance to tie the game.

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

After multiple unsuccessful 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 to play. After Ewers took the shotgun snap, he was chased from the pocket from his former Ohio State roommate—star linebacker Jack Sawyer—who sacked and stripped Ewers, picked up the fumble, and ran it back 83 yards to ice the game.

The Buckeyes led 28-14, forced one more Ewers turnover—a desperation interception—to seal the ball game and set up a date with the Fighting Irish in Atlanta for the College Football Playoff national championship on Jan. 20.

More of the Latest Around College Football


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ohio State Puts Texas Away Late, Punches Ticket to National Championship Game.