Entering Ohio State’s game with Northwestern for the Big Ten Championship, Master Teague was the leading rusher for the Buckeyes with 426 yards on 87 carries, ans six touchdowns.

Trey Sermon didn’t care.

Despite coming into the title game with just 55 carries for 344 yards and one touchdown, Sermon would prove to be the key to the Buckeyes win over the Wildcats. Sermon ran for 331 yards on 29 carries, surpassing Ohio State legend Eddie George for the most yards in a single game in OSU history.

George shared his reaction to the record being broken on Twitter shortly after the game, but then joined Mike Greenberg’s ESPN Radio show, “#Greeny,” on Thursday and told the story of how he watched his record fall.

“I kept getting these text messages while I was in line to go on the plane, about, ‘Oh, this guy’s about to break your record.’ I’m like, ‘Well, last time I checked, he wasn’t anywhere near it. Let me see what’s going on,’” George recalled. “I looked and I’m like, ‘Okay, he’s got 303, something like that, going into the last drive,’ and Northwestern was driving the football. I’m like, ‘Okay, all they need is to get a couple first downs. I’m pretty sure if they get the first down, they’ll kneel on the ball.’ Ryan Day, there’s no need to run up the score.”

While at Oklahoma, before his transfer to Columbus, Sermon was limited to 10 games last season, and only carried the ball 54 times, compared to his 164 carries in 2018 when he ran for 947 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also caught 12 passes for 181 receiving yards.

Despite having his record fall, George said he was happy for Sermon.

“Honestly, I’m really happy for him,” George said. “Records are made to be broken and I get it. The fact he was able to rush for 331 yards, really find his game — he struggled for most of the season, coming off of an injury, transferred from Oklahoma. Really trying to find his rhythm and he’s really become a focal point and a key factor in the offense now. It means a lot to me.”