Ohio State has done it. With a win in Friday’s Cotton Bowl, the Buckeyes are past Texas and into the first-ever national championship game of the 12-team College Football Playoff era.

The win in Texas would not come easy. The Longhorns were pesky and feisty under head coach Steve Sarkisian and did a great job at trying to take away the strengths of the Buckeyes.

Still, it was not enough with the defense of Ohio State stepping up when the game was on the line. Will Howard also produced the plays that were needed and showed exactly why he was the player Ryan Day wanted to lead his offense this season.

Ohio State is now 4-1 this season against top-5 teams and 5-1 against top-10 teams on the AP Poll. They’ll need 1 more top-5 win to grab their first national title since 2014 when the Buckeyes face Notre Dame on Jan. 20.

For now, here are the key takeaways from Ohio State’s 28-14 win over Texas:

Jack Sawyer ices game with legendary moment

Jack Sawyer came to Ohio State with all the expectations of a 5-star prospect and Ohio State’s top in-state recruit in the 2021 recruiting class. After falling short throughout his career, he was 1 of just many Buckeyes who opted to bypass the NFL and return for one reason this fall.

To win a national title.

Sawyer’s play along the defensive front all season (and all postseason) has been exemplary, but he saved the biggest play of his Buckeye career for the Cotton Bowl, and it’s one that will live in Ohio State football history for a long time coming.

After Will Howard and the offense pushed the Buckeyes into a 21-14 lead in the 4th quarter, Texas came back down the field in a flash with Steve Sarkisian dialing up a brilliant drive. It led to a 1st-and-goal from Ohio State’s 1-yard line, but the Buckeyes were ready.

A 1st-down carry for no gain by Jerrick Gibson led to a 2nd-down carry by Quintrevion Wisner that lost 7 yards. The final 2 plays were all about Sawyer.

He hurried Ewers, his former roommate in Columbus during Ewers’ freshman season with the Buckeyes, and batted the pass off the mark on 3rd down. That set the stage for a moment few saw coming.

With 4th-and-goal and a need to score to keep their hopes alive, Ewers dropped back to pass but could not avoid Sawyer. The veteran defensive end stripped Ewers but didn’t stop there. He scooped up the ball and rumbled all the way back for a game-clinching scoop-and-score of 83 yards.

Sawyer ends the game with 3 tackles, his strip sack and 2 pass breakups, but it is the singular individual effort on his game-sealing play that will go down in epic history.

The Jeremiah Smith impact

After dominating the Playoff through the first 2 rounds, the Longhorns made it clear that they were not going to let the freshman phenom beat them regularly. A mix of coverages and pressure on the quarterback kept Smith in check all game long.

Entering the 4th quarter, Smith had just 1 catch for 3 yards, and that is not a typo. The overall number of targets even lagged behind in this game with Texas consistently doubling Smith over the top and disguising various coverages throughout.

The good news is Ohio State’s plethora of weapons did just enough to avoid the loss. Carnell Tate came up big when needed with 7 catches for 87 yards while Emeka Egbuka had 51 yards on 5 catches. The electric 75-yard touchdown for TreVeyon Henderson on a screen pass also looms large.

To be clear, Ohio State needs a bigger game from Smith in the national championship, but the low output against Texas was not all on Smith. At some point, the Buckeyes still have to force feed the beast, no matter what the defense is showing.

Self-inflicted wounds loom large

Ohio State knew this one would be a battle, but it’s possible things could have been put away much sooner had the Buckeyes simply not shot themselves in the foot. It began early and continued throughout the game.

Ohio State’s 2nd drive of the game was derailed by a rare and uncharacteristic unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by TreVeyon Henderson. It came at the end of a 1st down play after the Buckeyes had reached the 38-yard line of Texas and completely sucked the life out of that drive.

The 3rd drive of the game was also derailed by a penalty, this time coming on a holding call on Emeka Egbuka. And the 4th drive was derailed in a similar way with offensive lineman Josh Fryar flagged for holding.

Those stalled drives allowed Texas to eventually the game up before Ohio State came right back for the lead ahead of halftime. But the 2nd half did not feature cleaner moments from the offense.

On the opening drive of the 3rd quarter, Will Howard threw a brutal interception on 1st down with the offense crossing midfield. It was a play that simply didn’t need to be made with Howard forcing a throw.

The stagnant drives and empty trips took their toll and forced this game to be one that came down to the wire.