He was supposed to win Ohio State a national title. Now, he’s trying to stop it from happening.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers looks to pass against Arizona State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 1.

In the summer of 2021, the nation’s top-ranked high school football recruit, Quinn Ewers, arrived on Ohio State’s campus in what represented a recruiting coup.

Less than a year earlier, the teenage quarterback from the Dallas suburbs had backed away from his commitment to play for the Texas Longhorns and reopened his recruitment. Now, he was seemingly next in line to help the powerhouse Buckeyes win college football’s national championship.

More than three years later, Ohio State’s two dominant victories to open the College Football Playoff have landed it in Friday’s semifinal in Arlington, Texas. For Ewers, a national title is just two wins away.

Except now, he plays for Texas.

The reunion carrying national-title stakes would be remarkable as a football story alone. Jack Sawyer, a star Buckeyes defensive end who will spend Friday trying to sack Ewers, was once his roommate.

Both schools are trying to break title droughts. Texas last won a national title in the 2005 season and Ohio State in 2014. The winner will advance to the Jan. 20 national championship in Atlanta to face the winner of the other semifinal, between Penn State and Notre Dame.

“I don’t regret any decision I’ve made on going or anything like that,” Ewers told reporters ahead of Friday’s Cotton Bowl, the site of one semifinal. He said his relationships with many at Ohio State still “feel like if I’d see them walking down the side of the road, it would be like I was hanging out with them yesterday.”

Ewers’ story has also become one of the prime illustrations of the changes reshaping the NCAA.

More Sports from NBC News

Beginning in June 2021, players were at last legally able to be compensated…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/supposed-win-ohio-state-national-120900676.html

Author : NBC News

Publish date : 2025-01-09 12:09:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.