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.

This is a story about love. About loyalty. About the things that once defined a sport before money and NIL and the transfer portal swarmed its

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.

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.

Two of college football’s most recognizable schools will face off with everything on the line, as Ohio State and Notre Dame meet in the College Football Playoff

Ohio State and (7) Notre Dame will face off for the sport's most illustrious prize. This will be Notre Dame's first shot at a national championship since 2012, while the Buckeyes are back in the national title game for the second time under coach Ryan Day.

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.

It all came spilling out in a players-only meeting on the Tuesday after Ohio State's devastating loss to Michigan in the final weekend of the regular season. The Buckeyes, a 21-point home favorite over the Wolverines, imploded in a loss that gave critics even more ammunition to aim at embattled head coach Ryan Day.

ATLANTA – It was a game unlike any other this season for Ohio State freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith when Texas held him to one catch in OSU’s 28-14 win in a College Football Playoff semifinal by double-teaming him and at times triple-teaming him.

Jack Sawyer cemented his status as an Ohio State legend last week when he had an 83-yard fumble return touchdown against Texas in the Cotton Bowl. While it's a moment fans will never forget, he quickly moved on from it.