Three Key Stats: Ohio State Forces Its First Turnover of the College Football Playoff, Three OSU Receivers Catch At Least Five Passes Each and Buckeyes' Defense Records 24th Pass Breakup of CFP Run

By George Eisner on January 11, 2025 at 12:05 pm
Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (left) and Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer (right)
Quinn Ewers (left) and Jack Sawyer (right)
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Three down, one to go.

After dispatching Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State now finds itself just a single remaining winning effort away from claiming a National Championship. The Buckeyes took the lead early in what became a close contest throughout with the Longhorns and never allowed their opponent to overtake them in the most competitive game of their College Football Playoff run so far.

As we bask in the triumph of victory today, let's explore three key stats from the latest win for OSU and one of the most emotionally-satisfying endings fans of the team have ever witnessed.

Ohio State Forces Its First Turnover of the College Football Playoff

Three months ago when Ohio State played Oregon for the first time this season and narrowly came up short, one of the most important factors I highlighted in wake of that game was the lack of sacks or turnovers produced by the Buckeye defense. At the time, it was the 15th instance in 32 games under Jim Knowles that saw the Silver Bullets fail to force a turnover. Something had to change.

Down the stretch of the season, the OSU defense became much more proactive in forcing takeaways, and the resurgence of the pass rush played a massive role in that. In all six of their remaining regular season games, Ohio State created at least one turnover for the opposing side — including what was up until yesterday the signature highlight of Jack Sawyer's career as a Buckeye.

As remarkable as Ohio State's defense played during the first two games of the CFP — which included a whopping 12 sacks — none of that generated pressure had manifested into any takeaways. The Silver Bullets ultimately added another four takedowns of the quarterback last night, but with less than two and a half minutes remaining and Texas on the doorstep of tying the game, the Buckeyes found themselves dangerously close to losing the turnover margin.

Then, in the most critical moment of the game, Jack Sawyer cemented his status as a legend in Columbus.

The timing for Ohio State's first takeaway of the CFP could not have played out in any more brilliant or poetic fashion. On the next possession, Caleb Downs followed Sawyer's scoop-and-score with the Buckeyes' second turnover of the Playoff by intercepting Quinn Ewers to effectively end the game.

The 14 points ended as the lowest total the Longhorns scored in any game this season. Ohio State fans have to feel encouraged that the Silver Bullets find themselves playing their sharpest ball in the most vital moment of the campaign.

Three Buckeye Receivers Each Record Five Receptions

Many argued going into the Cotton Bowl that Texas boasted the toughest test yet defensively for OSU this season. After the Buckeyes recorded a whopping 55 points in the first halves of their first two CFP performances, that analysis seemed to hold up over the course of the evening. The Longhorns saw how Jeremiah Smith eviscerated Tennessee and Oregon, then responded by dedicating as much attention to him as possible to take him out of Ohio State's gameplan.

While Smith's only catch for three yards still yielded a more productive evening than what Penn State got out of its entire wideout corps against Notre Dame, Will Howard's only turnover of the night occurred when he tried forcing the ball to Smith in coverage. The Buckeyes needed the rest of their pass catches to step up across the board to avoid a grounding of their aerial assault, and they answered the call in a way not seen for a couple years.

Carnell Tate, Emeka Egbuka and Gee Scott Jr. all finished the night with at least five receptions each. Tate's seven catches and Scott Jr.'s five served as career highs for both players, respectively. It was the first time since Ohio State's CFP semifinal game against Georgia in which the offense saw three pass catchers bring in five passes from a Buckeye quarterback.

Under Ryan Day, three offensive players have caught at least five passes each 13 times across 76 games after last night. C.J. Stroud threw the ball for 11 of those performances — eight times in 2021, three times in 2022 — while Justin Fields only made it happen once in his career in a losing effort against Clemson in the 2019 CFP semifinal. Kyle McCord did not help the team reach that threshold once last season, and Will Howard had not done it himself while in Columbus prior to yesterday.

Ohio State now holds an 8-5 record in games meeting that standard, but had an 0-2 record in the CFP under such circumstances before the Cotton Bowl victory. The offense proving it can continue to yield production through the air without needing to lean on Jeremiah Smith will go a long way towards keeping Notre Dame's defense honest in the National Championship.

Silver Bullets Generate Six Pass Breakups

Some folks will tell you breaking up is hard to do, especially around this time of year. Perhaps not for the Buckeye defense.

Last night against Texas was the fifth time over the last seven games and all season that Ohio State's anti-air personnel managed to record at least six pass breakups. The Buckeyes posted a whopping nine of them against both Tennessee and Oregon each while both schools aggressively tried to throw themselves back into blowouts. Such context makes last night's performance throughout a closely-contested game against Texas and Ewers and arguably even more impressive.

The 24 PBUs by the Silver Bullets in the CFP matches the total OSU posted across their last seven regular season games since the first meeting with Oregon in October of last year. While Ohio State's pass rush has certainly elevated its game for the postseason, the same seems to remain true of the back seven in coverage at the moment.

Pairing that with the Buckeye defense conceding just 58 yards on the ground to the Longhorns, fans have to feel great about Ohio State's potential to mitigate any opponent at every area of the field right now. Riley Leonard and Notre Dame serve as the final challenge for Jim Knowles and company standing in the way of a ninth national title returning to Columbus.

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Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer
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