ARLINGTON, Texas – Quinn Ewers dropped back to pass with his collegiate career hanging in the balance.
Facing fourth-and-goal from the 8-yard line late in the fourth quarter, the Texas quarterback was looking to even the game at 21 with essentially a must-have touchdown with 2:13 remaining. But Jack Sawyer erupted on the edge and strip-sacked the former Ohio State quarterback, returning the fumble for an 83-yard touchdown to seal the game.
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For Ewers, Sawyer represents the start and end of his career.
Ewers, who told ESPN ahead of the Cotton Bowl he expects to enter the 2025 NFL draft this offseason, was roommates with Sawyer as a freshman at Ohio State. He likely never thought his college career would end with the 6-foot-5 defensive end ultimately finishing his season, should he opt to forgo his fifth year.
No. 8 Ohio State’s late defensive touchdown was the difference in its 28-14 victory over the No. 5 Longhorns on Friday night at the Cotton Bowl, punching its ticket to the national championship against Notre Dame in Atlanta.
The fumble was somewhat of a full-circle moment for Ewers, albeit in a negative fashion.
“As (Ewers) was walking off he said, ‘Screw you’ and started laughing,” Sawyer told ESPN after the game. “That’s my boy, we were roommates when we were here.”
Ewers wasn’t nearly as excited about the play as Sawyer, of course, although the two shared an embrace after the game anyway.
“I felt him, I started drifting away,” Ewers said of the play. “Thought I was going to be able to get the ball out before he got there. It’s not like I tried to give him the game. I saw Jack running with the ball down the sideline. It sucks, man. He’s a great player, great individual, great person.
“We were roommates when I was up at Ohio State. So, it just sucks. It sucks. But Jack’s a great player and he made a great play.”
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Ewers finished the game 23-of-39 passing for 283 yards with two touchdowns to two turnovers – an interception to Caleb Downs with the game out of reach and the fumble.
The projected NFL draft pick came a long way in his three seasons with the Longhorns, although it wasn’t enough to reach the national championship. He went from completing 58.1% of his passes as a redshirt freshman to leading Texas to back-to-back CFP semifinal appearances, which both ended in crunch-time losses.
“It’s tough,” Ewers said. “Coach (Steve Sarkisian) hit it. It’s the life of a competitor and it sucks being on this side of things for sure. Back-to-back years pretty much, game decided in one play. And it’s hard. It’s hard.”
Earlier in the week, Ewers reflected on his high-profile transfer from Ohio State, where he didn’t attempt a pass as a should-be high school senior that reclassified up a year to capitalize on name, image and likeness opportunities with being the No. 1-ranked recruit of his cycle.
It was, ultimately, playing in and winning games like the Cotton Bowl that led him to Columbus in the first place.
“I don’t regret any decision I’ve made on going,” Ewers said ahead of the game. “The main reason I went (to Ohio State) was I felt like I had a great relationship with the coaching staff, they were winning a lot of games and I wanted to be part of something like that.
“The reason I came back to Texas was one, to be closer to where I’m from, and just closer to the resources that I have and the relationships that I’ve built over time just being from Texas.”
While the former Buckeye was agonizingly close to bringing his in-state school back to the national championship, Ohio State fans obviously aren’t saddened by its former backup quarterback coming up short.
However, they can maybe sympathize with the journey the Buckeyes played in Ewers’ saga, which started and ended with Sawyer in almost storybook fashion.
“I just said, ‘Great season,’ ” Sawyer said he said to Ewers after the game. “He’s a good guy, he’s a great dude and he was my roommate here. He’s had a lot of success and he’s a great person. I just told him, ‘Keep your head up. You played a great game and you have a great future ahead of you.’
“Stay in touch sometime soon.”
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