"It's pretty special" - Ohio State alum highlights Ryan Day's big hug with Jack Sawyer after pivotal Texas moment 

Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer made perhaps the play of the College Football Playoffs when he sacked Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers. He recovered the ball and scored an 83-yard touchdown.

The win sealed a 28-14 win over the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl and confirmed the Buckeyes' place in the national championship game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

During Friday's segment of "The Saturday Down South" podcast, former Ohio State star Bobby Carpenter spoke about the intense moment when Jack Sawyer scored the touchdown (1:03:00).

"Texas had three time-outs, the game wasn't over. And then the ball comes out and then it pops right into his (Jack Sawyer's) hand and I'm like, 'My goodness,'" Carpenter said. "It was unbelievable watching all the coaches jump out and then grab each other and then like, guys trying to pull each other back because you don't wanna hit the ref.

"You know, the 15-yarder would have pulled things back, it would have been atrocious, so they had to temper that optimism. But for a guy who's so highly recruited, played well last season and played pretty well this season."

He continued:

"But he's really been on fire the last six, seven weeks, to see him do that and the relationship he has with Ryan is pretty special, like that big hug, the embrace that everyone saw. It was something. I think it's the best part of college football."

Jack Sawyer mounts passionate defense of Ryan Day

In a Player's Tribune article published on Thursday ahead of the national championship game, Ohio State's Jack Sawyer mounted a passionate defense of Ryan Day.

“The amount of s**t that Coach has taken on our behalf is insane,” Jack Sawyer wrote. “I remember he was telling us about how, after one of our losses to The Team Up North, he had to take his son and his daughters out of school — because not only were kids saying stuff about them and their dad and how they need to leave town and they’re not welcome here, but actual teachers were as well. Hearing that made us so angry.

“But I also think a reason that stuff has been able to happen, it’s because of how high Coach’s character is. He refuses to hang his players out to dry. In the good times, he wants the spotlight on us. In the bad times, he wants the spotlight on himself. And it’s definitely unacceptable, the amount of toxic bulls**t he’s had to deal with over the years."

The sensational college football playoff run by the Buckeyes has vindicated the decision to stick with coach Ryan Day. Also, the national championship run has been led from the front by the charismatic Jack Sawyer.