They did it. They won the whole fucking thing.
This Ohio State championship team is/was different from past teams for many reasons: NIL, returning draftable players, multiple losses including Michigan, significant injuries, and so on and so forth.
But this team was filled with men who would become legends that carved themselves into immortality...as long as the finish line was crossed. We talk fondly of many players from teams like the 2014 team (Bosa, Devin Smith, Cardale, Zeke) but there is something intangible about this particular team and it's members that feels even more special.
It's recency bias, assuredly, and a chemical dump in the brain of myself and every Ohio State fan on Earth right now, but this team is filled with legends in a way I don't think we've seen. It may also be the how they did it and the most difficult, greatest gauntlet college football has ever seen with the expanded playoffs.
But I just wanted to get this feeling on paper somehow and mention the guys that we'll be talking about forever. They all deserve it but there are some who will always be mentioned with a certain oomph to their name. Guys who deserve the metaphorical statues. And it starts with the Hometown Kid.
Jack Sawyer: Without him this season and this magic never happens. He was both the ultimate Glue Guy and the superstar. Ridiculed by many for not living up to his hype for most of his career, the corner was turned late in 2023. He became something else and nobody was going to stop him. He rallied the troops, leveled up his play, and became a legend in more ways than one. He has arguably the greatest defensive play in school history (I'll die on that hill, personally), and became a living nightmare for opposing offenses while playing against the best teams the sport could offer up as sacrifice. He will forever be immortal as one of the truest, purest Buckeyes to ever wear the jersey.
Will Howard: They say "once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye". There is no minimum time commitment required. And it's not just about donning the Scarlet and Gray. There is a personality and honor requirement to that phrase that is undefinable and yet still clear for most of us fans. Will Howard may have only been with us for a season but he was exactly what we needed. There is nobody in college football that could have led this team as our quarterback better than Howard this year. He played with the guts and chutzpah of Krenzel, but the intermediate part of the field was a hunting ground in which he rarely missed. He is the most accurate QB in school history while also being one of the steadiest. No mistake was too big and no moment was too much. Whatever we needed, he provided.
Donovan Jackson: He has as strong of an argument for MVP as anyone on this team. That's not a light statement to make about an offensive lineman. There may also not have been anyone who drove their draft pick higher over the course of the season more than DJ. When we were at the verge of letting it all fall apart with a line that was literally and figuratively broken and searching for answers, he kicked out to LT and became a monster. We had a bedrock, a foundation, that could not be moved. Our offensive line somehow became a strength after multiple seasons of extreme doubt, criticism, and fury from the fanbase. Bring the best defensive fronts against us and we hammered them down four straight fucking times. And Jackson was the anchor.
Emeka Egbuka: The most under-appreciated superstar wide receiver I've ever seen. Talked about plenty and everyone knows who he is but was overshadowed by "greatest to ever do it"-types his entire career. And just happens to have been the most prolific pass catcher in school history. Egbuka has somehow quietly put together one of the greatest WR careers OSU has fielded and he won't approach Mt. Rushmore status for a vast majority of the fanbase. He deserves his recognition and then a little bit more.
I chose these four and only four because I could have picked almost any of our starting 22. That would have been too many words. Guys like JJ Smith and Downs have time to continue writing their legendary careers. Guys like JT, Cody Simon, and Tre hurt like hell to not include here but I'll let you Buckeye faithful write accolades for them in the comments because they deserve it as well.
This team had a heart that I don't believe I've ever witnessed at OSU before. The Brotherhood has been spoken about for years but this was the greatest display of what it truly means.
Go Bucks.
