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ARLINGTON, Texas – Jim Knowles was on the phone right before one of the most game-changing plays in Ohio State history hammered itself into Buckeyes lore.
And the OSU defensive coordinator didn’t like what he was hearing.
Texas had quickly moved into striking distance, first-and-goal from the Ohio State 1-yard line with 3:56 left in Friday’s Cotton Bowl, and someone on OSU’s staff – Knowles did not divulge the coach’s identity – assumed the Longhorns would score to tie things at 21-all.
But Knowles, as stubborn and feisty as the Philadelphia neighborhood he grew up in, disagreed that a Texas touchdown was a foregone conclusion.
“Here’s what goes through my head,” Knowles said of the seemingly dire situation he was witnessing from the press box coaching booth. “Somebody said on the (sideline) phone, ‘Boy, they scored fast there.’ And I said, ‘They ain’t scored yet.’ ”
They ain’t scored yet.
Damn right.
And they didn’t. Game. Set. March to Atlanta.
Decades from now, Ohio State fans will rightfully remember Jack Sawyer’s 83-yard rumble with the fumble and the way the Buckeyes’ senior defensive end huffed and puffed through the heart of the Lone Star State with 2:24 remaining after orchestrating a scoop-and score off a strip-sack of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, sealing the 28-14 win. It was a beefy defensive player’s version of Zeke Elliott’s 85-yard run through the heart of the South in the 2015 Sugar Bowl. Except it took about 10 seconds longer. Maybe 12.
“He was running in slow motion, for sure,” OSU freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith said, laughing.
If you didn’t jump from your seat when Sawyer first hit his former OSU roommate from behind – the two lived together before Ewers transferred to Texas after his freshman season – and then took off for the opposite goal…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-state-football-defense-dunks-124036223.html
Author : The Columbus Dispatch
Publish date : 2025-01-11 12:40:00
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