Two Ohio State stars suffered injuries in the first half of the Cotton Bowl but played through them in the Buckeyes’ 28-14 win over Texas.
Ohio State’s most significant injury scare in Friday’s College Football Playoff semifinal came when Eddrick Houston fell on JT Tuimoloau’s ankle in the second quarter, forcing the senior defensive end to take a trip into the medical tent after limping off the field. Tuimoloau’s ankle was heavily taped when he exited the tent, but he was cleared to return to the game after testing out the injury with some sprints on the sideline and pass-rush reps against backup Ohio State offensive lineman Joshua Padilla.
Tuimoloau didn’t play for the remainder of the first half but returned to the game for Ohio State’s first defensive play of the second half and continued to be his usual impactful self for the rest of the game, finishing the night with seven total tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, including 1.5 sacks that he recorded in the first quarter before suffering his injury.
After the game, Tuimoloau said he wasn’t going to let the injury keep him off the field and that he expects to be fine for the national championship game against Notre Dame on Jan. 20.
“Even in that tent, I decided I'm going back in,” Tuimoloau said. “Nothing's gonna keep me out. Playing for my brothers, that's the one thing I love. And just the freedom out there just to be able to play with them and play for the Lord, I mean, you couldn’t ask for better than that.”
Tuimoloau wasn’t the only key Buckeye to get noticeably banged up in the first half. Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was seen playing with a large welt on his left (non-throwing) hand, which he appeared to suffer when his hand hit a Texas pass rusher’s helmet.
Will Howard's hand pic.twitter.com/cxiUZLmJtV
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 11, 2025
Howard said after the game that he didn’t remember how exactly the injury happened but said it did not affect his play, as evidenced by the Ohio State quarterback completing 24 of 33 passing attempts for 289 yards and a touchdown while also running 18 yards for a key 4th-and-2 conversion on Ohio State’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive.
“All good, just a little bruise,” Howard said. “I don't really remember (how it happened) to be honest with you, I just came off and I looked at it and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s kind of big.’”
With Ohio State playing in its 15th game of the season on Friday, Howard and Tuimoloau were far from the only Buckeyes playing through injuries in the Cotton Bowl. Middle linebacker Cody Simon was slow to get up after taking a shot to his knee in the third quarter, but returned for the Buckeyes’ next defensive series and said after the game that he was “good.” Offensive tackles Donovan Jackson and Josh Fryar both said after the game that they’ve also been dealing with injuries – a leg injury for Jackson and an upper-body injury for Fryar – but both of them played every offensive snap against the Longhorns and said that playing through pain is just something they have to do at this point in the year.
“People don't know, sometimes we're playing through injuries and stuff like that, and these guys just tough it out,” Fryar said. “It's just part of the game, I guess, with this season and how long it's gonna be … like Donnie said, we just drop our nuts and we just gotta go.”
Mathews replaces Burke in second half
One Buckeye starter who didn’t play a full game against Texas was Denzel Burke, who spent the second half watching from the sideline with Jermaine Mathews Jr. taking his place in the lineup at cornerback opposite Davison Igbinosun.
It was unclear whether Burke, who remained on the sideline with his helmet on in the second half, was dealing with an injury or was benched for performance reasons. But Burke, who declined an interview request in the locker room after the game, didn’t return to the game after missing a tackle on a 24-yard catch-and-run by Silas Bolden that set up a game-tying touchdown for the Longhorns late in the first half.
Denzel Burke was substituted out after allowing a 24-yard reception (the only catch and target against him in the game) with 49 seconds left in the second quarter and did not play the rest of the game.
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) January 11, 2025
Jermaine Matthews Jr. (47 snaps) played more than Burke (28) against Texas. pic.twitter.com/hIy2BPKtQM
Either way, the Buckeyes trusted Mathews with playing the most important snaps of his Ohio State career to date with the game on the line. The sophomore cornerback was penalized for a pass interference penalty in the red zone that put Texas at the 1-yard line before the Buckeyes’ game-winning goal-line stand that culminated with Jack Sawyer’s 83-yard scoop-and-score touchdown, but he otherwise held strong, allowing just two catches for seven yards in 30 coverage snaps while also recording one solo tackle.
Mathews had no doubts about his ability to get the job done when he was called upon to play a major role.
“I'm built for this, man,” Mathews said. “It ain't no surprise to me. It's probably a surprise to everybody else, but it's no surprise to me. I'm built for it, and I'm gonna be ready whenever my number’s called.”
Montgomery plays full game at LG, Jackson shines again
Ohio State’s strategy at offensive guard in the CFP semifinals deviated from its plan in the first two rounds, leaning more heavily on Luke Montgomery.
Against both Tennessee and Oregon, the Buckeyes started Austin Siereveld at left guard and Tegra Tshabola at right guard, then rolled Montgomery in at left guard as Siereveld also rotated with Tshabola.
Against Texas, Montgomery started and played every single snap at left guard while Siereveld and Tshabola rotated on the right side. It was an up-and-down day overall for Ohio State’s offensive line, which surrendered its first two sacks of the CFP as the Buckeyes rushed for just 3.4 yards per carry against the Longhorns’ vaunted defensive front, but the unit paved the way for a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 13-play, 88-yard drive.
Montgomery, Tshabola and center Carson Hinzman got the job done as a youthful interior that possession.
“Toughness, grit, anything you can name with toughness and grit, those guys are it,” senior right tackle Josh Fryar said of that group and Siereveld.
“Toughness, grit, anything you can name with toughness and grit, those guys are it.”– Josh Fryar on Ohio State's interior offensive linemen
One can’t talk about the offensive line’s performance against Texas without reflecting on the performance of Jackson. Since sliding out from left guard to take the place of an All-American caliber player in Josh Simmons, Jackson’s taken on some of the nation’s most elite edge rushers and stonewalled them time after time. Per Pro Football Focus, he didn’t allow a single pressure against Texas, who entered the game ranked fourth nationally in sacks with 44.
“That’s big boy football. That’s Big Ten football. It just means more,” Jackson said of Ohio State’s go-ahead fourth drive. “I’m proud of everyone on the O-line, proud of Will (Howard), proud of everybody who handled the rock today. But we’ve got more work to do.”
Another dominant defensive line day
Texas averaged a season-low five yards per play against Ohio State. As with any great defensive outing, it started with great defensive line play for the Buckeyes.
All the acclaim will rightly go to Jack Sawyer for his 83-yard strip-sack scoop-and-score that will live in the annuls of Buckeye lore for decades to come, and the star defensive end added two pass breakups with three tackles to that jaunt to earn Cotton Bowl Defensive Player of the Game. Tuimoloau played a beast of a game in his own right.
If there was any criticism lofted previously at the two five-star prospects from the recruiting class of 2021 for a lack of production, it’s beyond an afterthought now. In three playoff games, the duo has combined for 28 tackles, 10 sacks, nine pass breakups and two forced fumbles with Sawyer’s fumble recovery for a touchdown.
But don’t let that overshadow the play of defensive tackles Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams either. The Longhorns managed a meager 58 rushing yards on 29 carries – that’s 2 yards per attempt – despite an offensive line that was a Joe Moore Award finalist. The defensive line, with linebackers Cody Simon and Sonny Styles, has propelled the Buckeyes to the No. 2 yard-per-carry run defense in college football at just 2.7 yards per attempt.
“We’ve got great players and we keep fighting no matter what happens,” Williams told Eleven Warriors of Ohio State’s success defending the run. “If you gain nine yards, you better hope you get the next one because we’re gonna be fighting that next play.”
Styles picked up a game-high nine tackles with three tackles for loss and a sack against the Longhorns. Simon recorded seven tackles.
