Jack Sawyer’s strip/sack/fumble return touchdown joins the list of some of the most incredible defensive plays by Buckeyes since 2000.
Ohio State advanced to the College Football Playoff Championship Game to take on Notre Dame next Monday after beating Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl. The Buckeyes were leading 21-14 with less than four minutes to go in the game, but the Longhorns looked like they were about to tie the score when they were just a yard away from the end zone following a pass interference penalty on Jermaine Mathews Jr. in the end zone.
After Texas was stuffed on first down, running back Quintrevion Wisner ran towards the boundary and was swarmed by the Buckeye defense, losing seven yards on the play. On third down, Jack Sawyer rushed Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, forcing him to throw an incompletion to set up fourth down.
Then came a play that will go down as one of the best defensive plays in Ohio State history. Not only did Jack Sawyer apply pressure to Ewers that made a touchdown nearly impossible, the senior defensive end had a strip-sack and picked up the football to scoot 83 yards to the end zone, extending Ohio State’s lead to 28-14.
While the whole defense deserves credit for keeping Texas from tying the score late in the fourth quarter, Sawyer etched his place in Buckeye lore with the scoop and score. The Pickerington native bleeds scarlet and gray and deserves all the praise for how he is closing out his Ohio State career.
A little more than a month ago Sawyer was distraught after the loss to Michigan since it meant he wouldn’t beat the Wolverines during his college career. Instead of wallowing, Sawyer and the other Buckeye seniors turned their focus to the national title, since they knew it was their last chance to have something to show for their time on the field at Ohio State.
While there will be plenty of debate on if Sawyer’s strip/sack/score is the best defensive play in Buckeye history, I’m not going to rank those plays today. Instead, I’ll go over some of the most memorable defensive plays to me. All these defensive efforts are special in their own way. A number were critical to Ohio State winning a national title, and others were just incredible defensive efforts. Let’s bask in what we saw from Sawyer, as well as past efforts from some
Buckeyes over the weekend, then come Monday we can turn our attention to Notre Dame.
Maurice Clarett’s strip of Sean Taylor
With Ohio State leading Miami 14-7 in the third quarter, the Buckeyes looked like they were about to double their lead after a Chris Gamble 57-yard catch put them at Miami’s 6-yard line. Craig Krenzel and the offense couldn’t cash in a touchdown, as the Buckeye quarterback threw an interception to Sean Taylor, who returned it 28 yards before running back Maurice Clarett came out of nowhere to rip the football out of Taylor’s hands.
Ohio State would receive a fresh set of downs after the turnovers and would eventually tack on a field goal to push their lead to 17-7.
Despite not being able to score a touchdown on the drive, the Buckeyes didn’t hang their head during the interception. What made the play even more incredible is Clarett dispossessed one of the best safeties in college football history. Had Clarett not been able to strip Taylor of the football, maybe Miami goes down to tie the game, giving them the momentum they needed to stave off Ohio State’s upset attempt.
Instead, the Buckeyes were able to find a way to make it a two-score game with the field goal.
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I know a case can be made for Cie Grant’s hit on Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey to be on this list since it was the final play of Ohio State’s national title season, but had it not been for Clarett’s effort, then Grant and the Buckeyes likely wouldn’t have been in position to upset the Hurricanes since the Krenzel interception would have flipped the momentum in the game.
Steve Miller’s interception return for a touchdown against Alabama
Heading into the 2015 Sugar Bowl, there wasn’t a ton of optimism for Ohio State’s chances against Alabama. The Buckeyes had already lost quarterback Braxton Miller to a shoulder injury before the season, and J.T. Barrett in the Michigan game to a broken ankle, leaving Cardale Jones to make his second career start against the Crimson Tide.
Even though Jones was very impressive in Ohio State’s 59-0 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game, taming Nick Saban and Alabama was going to be a whole different animal.
I remember watching the game at Dub Pub since I lived around Bethel & Sawmill at the time. The Sugar Bowl is always a brutal watch since it starts so late. It didn’t help that Alabama jumped out to a 21-6 lead in the second quarter.
For a while it was looking like Ohio State’s season would end in New Orleans. Then the Buckeyes woke up and went on a 21-0 run spanning halftime to take a 27-21 lead early in the third quarter.
Chuck Cook-Imagn Images
Then with just over three minutes left in the third quarter, defensive lineman Steve Miller intercepted a Blake Sims pass and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown, extending Ohio State’s lead to 34-21. Not only was the play memorable since we saw a very large defensive tackle rumble for a touchdown, it was also the first pick-six a Alabama quarterback threw since 2007.
I can’t even remember all the Steve Miller Band puns I made after the touchdown. The Crimson Tide would close to within a touchdown on two other occasions in the game, but weren’t able to tie the game up, allowing the Buckeyes to make the first title game of the four-team playoff.
Chris Gamble’s pick-six against Penn State in 2002
In late October, Ohio State welcomed Penn State, who was ranked 17th at the time, to Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes were coming off a 19-14 win over Wisconsin in Madison to keep their undefeated season intact. Chris Gamble started on both offense and defense in the game, becoming the first Buckeye to accomplish that feat since 1963. Gamble would go on to play 89 plays in the game.
Penn State went into halftime with a 7-3 lead. Gamble already had a massive play in the game when he caught a Penn State defender from behind following a Craig Krenzel fumble. Instead of the Nittany Lions being able to score points on the drive, a couple plays later A.J. Hawk intercepted a pass to keep Penn State off the scoreboard.
Then just a couple minutes after halftime, Gamble picked off a Zack Mills pass and returned it 40 yards to give Ohio State a 10-7 lead. The Buckeyes would add a field goal later in the third quarter to extend the lead to 13-7, which would end up being the final score of the game.
In a season that saw five of Ohio State’s Big Ten games decided by a touchdown or less, this might have been the biggest defensive play of the regular season by a Buckeye. Penn State looked like they had Ohio State’s number after going into halftime with a lead. Gamble’s interception energized the crowd and many Buckeye fans that were there say they have never heard Ohio Stadium louder.
Joey Bosa’s walk-off sack against Penn State in 2014
Ohio State’s backs were against the wall early in the 2014 season after losing to Virginia Tech in Columbus in September. The rest of the country had written off the Buckeyes following the loss since the team was without quarterback Braxton Miller. Heading into State College in late October, Ohio State had reeled off four straight wins, scoring at least 50 points in each of those contests.
The Buckeye offense found the sledding a little tougher under the lights at Beaver Stadium, scoring just 17 points in regulation. Luckily for Ohio State, the Nittany Lions were also only able to score 17 points, sending the game to overtime. Penn State opened up overtime with a touchdown before the Buckeyes matched the score. In the second overtime, Ohio State got the ball first and only needed three plays to score to go up 31-24.
Following the touchdown in the second overtime, Ohio State’s defense bowed up. First they stuffed running back Akeel Lynch, followed by allowing just a short completion on second down to setup 3rd & 5. Christian Hackenberg missed on his third down throw, allowing the Buckeye defense to pin their ears back.
Joey Bosa came through in the clutch, bowling Penn State’s running back into Hackenberg to end the game. The walk-off sack kept Ohio State’s hopes alive not only in the Big Ten, but as the season moved on their playoff hopes would continue to grow.
Davison Igbinosun’s interception in the end zone against Penn State
This play is fresh in our memory because it happened just a few months ago. We all know how ugly the start to the game at Penn State was with Will Howard throwing a pick-six early in the tilt with the Nittany Lions. Howard would regroup to put the Buckeyes back on top in the second quarter.
It looked like Ohio State was going to build on their lead with about 10 minutes left before halftime but Howard had the football punched out of his arm and out of bounds in the end zone to give the football back to Penn State.
The teams would trade punts and the Nittany Lions would get the football back with under two minutes left in the half. Drew Allar would drive his team down the field and it looked like Penn State would at worst close the score to 14-13, and possibly take the lead heading into the halftime break.
With 11 seconds left in the half and Penn State at Ohio State’s three-yard-line, Davison Igbinosun pinned the football against the Nittany Lion receiver and gained possession with one hand before stepping out of bounds in the end zone.
Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images
The interception was massive because the second half featured just three field goals, with two of them from the Buckeyes. Ohio State was already behind the eight ball since they lost earlier in the month at Oregon. Had the Buckeyes lost two games by early November, they would have a tough time making the playoff.
The interception looks even more critical now since Ohio State inexplicably lost the Michigan game. Igbinosun has received a lot of criticism for a number of pass interference penalties this season, but his interception before halftime pretty much kept the Buckeyes in the playoff hunt.