Watch: Ohio State linebacker Jack Sawyer destroys a camera after hugging Ryan Day following his fumble returned for a touchdown.

Ohio State is off to the College Football Playoff National Championship game to face Notre Dame. But it wasn’t easy. Clinging to a seven-point lead, the defense was asked again to make yet another stop. Texas drove down the field fairly quickly and then two pass interference calls put the Longhorns on the one-yard line with a first and goal.

Sawyer undoubtedly had the biggest play of the game when he sealed Ohio State's 28-14 victory over the Texas Longhorns. After stripping the ball away from Texas QB Quinn Ewers during a 4th-and-goal situation with less than three minutes remaining, the star defensive end proceeded to complete the play with an 83-yard fumble return.

SportsLine's model simulated Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2025 CFP National Championship game 10,000 times

Ohio State's last win over Michigan was in 2019 when Sawyer was in high school. However, this season's loss to the rival may have hurt the most for the senior defender, as it was on the Buckeyes' senior day. Plus, the game ended in a brawl between both teams after a Michigan flag was planted in the middle of Ohio State's field.

Quarterback Riley Leonard and the Notre Dame offense have faced a fierce gauntlet of defenses in their path to the College Football Playoff title game.

The Buckeyes defense stopped Texas near the goal line with less than three minutes to go as Jack Sawyer’s fumble return with 2:13 remaining gave the Buckeyes a 28-14 win over the Longhorns in Friday night’s Cotton Bowl. Sawyer stripped Quinn Ewers on fourth down and recovered the ball himself before officially running it 83 yards for the score.

The national championship game is nearly here. Ohio State is going for its first national title since the end of the 2014 season. The Buckeyes beat Alabama and Oregon with third-string QB Cardale Jones to win the first four-team College Football Playoff. A win on Monday night would make Ohio State the first 12-team CFP champion.

Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer once lived with Quinn Ewers. On Friday, he earned a rent-free spot in the Texas quarterback’s head after he made the play of the season to send his former roommate and the Texas Longhorns crashing out of the College Football Playoff in spectacular fashion.

The first 12-team College Football Playoff is down to the final two contenders: Notre Dame and Ohio State.

The inaugural 12-team playoff is now down to the final two combatants. Ohio State and Notre Dame will battle it out for all the marbles on Monday, January 20th in Atlanta.