Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Recap

Friday, January 10, 2025 | 7:30 p.m. ET No. 8 Ohio State 28, No. 5 Texas 14 AT&T Stadium | Arlington, Texas

SCORE BY QUARTERS	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	FINAL
OSU #8 Ohio State (13-2)	7	7	0	14	28
TEX #5 Texas (13-3)	0	7	7	0	14

GAME BOOK

VIDEO RECAP

2024-25 CFP BRACKET

Attendance:
74,527

Kickoff Time:
6:45 p.m CT

End of Game:
10:09 p.m CT

Game Duration:
3:23

ARLINGTON, Texas - Quinshon Judkins ran for two touchdowns before Jack Sawyer forced a fumble by his former roommate that he returned 83 yards for a score with 2:13 left as Ohio State beat Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night to advance to a shot for their sixth national title.

The Buckeyes (13-2) got the semifinal victory in the same stadium where 10 years ago they were champions in the debut of the College Football Playoff as a four-team format. Now they have the opportunity to be the winner again in the debut of the expanded 12-team field.

Ohio State plays Orange Bowl champion Notre Dame in Atlanta on Jan. 20

Sawyer got to Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers on a fourth-and-goal from the 8, knocking the ball loose and scooping it up before lumbering all the way to the other end. It was the longest fumble return in CFP history.

Ewers and Sawyer were roommates in Columbus for the one semester the quarterback was there before transferring home to Texas, and helping lead the Longhorns (13-3) to consecutive CFP semifinals. But next season will be their 20th since winning their last national title with Vince Young in 2005.

Texas had gotten to the 1, helped by two pass-interference penalties in the end zone before Quintrevion Wisner was stopped for a 7-yard loss.

Judkins had a 1-yard touchdown for a 21-14 lead with 7:02 left. That score came four plays after quarterback Will Howard converted fourth-and-2 from the Texas 34 with a stumbling 18-yard run that was almost a score.

Howard was 24-of-33 passing for 289 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Ewers finished 23 of 39 for 283 yards with two TD passes to Jaydon Blue and an interception after getting the ball back one final time.

SCORING SUMMARY

QTR	TIME	SCORE (V-H)	TEAM	SCORING PLAY	DRIVE
1st	07:24	7-0	Ohio State	Quinshon Judkins 9 yd rush (Jayden Fielding kick)	10-64 (04:18)
2nd	00:29	7-7	Texas	Jaydon Blue 18 yd pass from Quinn Ewers (Will Stone kick)	7-59 (01:22)
2nd	00:13	14-7	Ohio State	TreVeyon Henderson 75 yd pass from Will Howard (Jayden Fielding kick)	1-75 (00:16)
3rd	03:12	14-14	Texas	Jaydon Blue 26 yd pass from Quinn Ewers (Will Stone kick)	12-67 (05:18)
4th	07:02	21-14	Ohio State	Quinshon Judkins 1 yd rush (Jayden Fielding kick)	13-88 (07:45)
4th	02:13	28-14	Ohio State	Jack Sawyer 83 yd fumble return (Jayden Fielding kick)	04:49

OHIO STATE STARTERS

POS.	NO.	OFFENSE
RB	1	Quinshon Judkins
WR	17	Carnell Tate
QB	18	Will Howard
WR	2	Emeka Egbuka
WR	4	Jeremiah Smith
OL	51	Luke Montgomery
OL	70	Josh Fryar
OL	74	Donovan Jackson
OL	75	Carson Hinzman
OL	77	Tegra Tshabola
TE	89	Will Kacmarek

POS.	NO.	DEFENSE
LB	0	Cody Simon
CB	1	Davison Igbinosun
DB	10	Denzel Burke
DB	2	Caleb Downs
DE	33	Jack Sawyer
DL	44	JT Tuimoloau
DL	58	Ty Hamilton
LB	6	Sonny Styles
CB	7	Jordan Hancock
S	8	Lathan Ransom
DL	91	Tyleik Williams

OHIO STATE RESERVES

11 - Brandon Inniss, 17 - Mitchell Melton, 20 - Arvell Reese, 24 - Jermaine Matthews Jr., 3 - Lorenzo Styles Jr., 32 - TreVeyon Henderson, 38 - Jayden Fielding, 42 - Joe McGuire, 43 - John Ferlmann, 67 - Austin Siereveld, 68 - George Fitzpatrick, 82 - David Adolph, 85 - Bennett Christian, 88 - Gee Scott Jr., 9 - Malik Hartford, 92 - Caden Curry, 93 - Hero Kanu, 97 - Kenyatta Jackson Jr., 98 - Kayden McDonald.

TEXAS STARTERS

POS.	NO.	OFFENSE
WR	0	DeAndre Moore Jr.
WR	2	Matthew Golden
RB	26	Quintrevion Wisner
QB	3	Quinn Ewers
OL	52	DJ Campbell
OL	56	Cameron Williams
OL	65	Jake Majors
OL	76	Hayden Conner
OL	78	Kelvin Banks Jr.
TE	81	Juan Davis
TE	85	Gunnar Helm

POS.	NO.	DEFENSE
LB	0	Anthony Hill Jr.
DB	16	Michael Taaffe
LB	18	Liona Lefau
DB	3	Jaylon Guilbeau
DB	4	Andrew Mukuba
DL	45	Vernon Broughton
DB	5	Malik Muhammad
DB	7	Jahdae Barron
DL	8	Trey Moore
DL	88	Barryn Sorrell
DL	95	Alfred Collins

TEXAS RESERVES

11 - Colin Simmons, 11 - Silas Bolden, 15 - Will Stone, 15 - Bill Norton, 16 - Arch Manning, 21 - Ryan Niblett, 21 - Xavier Filsaime, 23 - Jordon Johnson-Rubell, 23 - Jaydon Blue, 24 - Warren Roberson, 25 - Jelani McDonald, 26 - Ty'Anthony Smith, 33 - David Gbenda, 37 - Morice Blackwell Jr., 39 - Michael Kern, 4 - CJ Baxter, 49 - Ian Ratliff, 5 - Ryan Wingo, 54 - Cole Hutson, 58 - Lance St. Louis, 6 - Kobe Black, 67 - Malik Agbo, 7 - Isaiah Bond, 72 - Neto Umeozulu, 73 - Brandon Baker, 74 - Trevor Goosby, 83 - Spencer Shannon, 9 - Gavin Holmes, 9 - Jerrick Gibson, 91 - Ethan Burke, 92 - Colton Vasek, 97 - Alex January, 98 - Tiaoalii Savea, 99 - Jermayne Lole.

OFFENSIVE
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Will Howard
Sr., QB, Ohio State

DEFENSIVE
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jack Sawyer
Sr., DE, Ohio State

TEAM STATISTICS	OSU	UT
First downs	18	20
Rushing	5	7
Passing	12	10
Penalty	1	3
Rushes-Yards	24-81	29-58
Passing Yards	289	283
Passes Comp-Att-Int	24-33-1	23-39-1
Total Offense (Plays-Yards)	57-370	68-341
Punt Returns-Yards	1--1	2-16
Kickoff Returns-Yards	0-0	0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)	6-42.0	6-43.8
Fumbles-Lost	1-0	3-1
Sacks By (Number-Yards)	4-27	2-17
Penalties-Yards	9-75	5-54
3rd Down Conversions	3-of-10	5-of-15
4th Down Conversions	1-of-1	1-of-3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing:	Ohio State - TreVeyon Henderson 6-42; Quinshon Judkins 9-36, 2 TD; Will Howard 7-4; Emeka Egbuka 1-0. Texas - Quintrevion Wisner 17-46; Jaydon Blue 4-16; Arch Manning 1-8; Ryan Wingo 1-6; Jerrick Gibson 1-0; Quinn Ewers 5--18.
Passing:	Ohio State - Will Howard, 24-33-1, 289, 1 TD. Texas - Quinn Ewers, 23-39-1, 283, 2 TD.
Receiving:	Ohio State - Carnell Tate 7-87; Emeka Egbuka 5-51; Gee Scott Jr. 5-30; Quinshon Judkins 3-22; Will Kacmarek 2-21; TreVeyon Henderson 1-75, 1 TD; Jeremiah Smith 1-3. Texas - Quintrevion Wisner 6-42; Jaydon Blue 5-59, 2 TD; DeAndre Moore Jr. 4-31; Matthew Golden 2-51; Gunnar Helm 2-42; Silas Bolden 1-24; Ryan Wingo 1-22; Isaiah Bond 1-8; Juan Davis 1-4.
Punting:	Ohio State - Joe McGuire, 6-252, 42.0. Texas - Michael Kern, 6-263, 43.8.
Returns:	Ohio State - Punt: Emeka Egbuka 1--1; Kickoff: None; Intercept: Caleb Downs 1-7. Texas - Punt: Silas Bolden 2-16; Kickoff: None; Intercept: David Gbenda 1--3.
Field Goals:	Ohio State - None. Texas - None.
Tackles: (Solo-Assist-Total, Sacks-Yds, TFL-Yds)	Ohio State - Sonny Styles (6-3-9, 1.0-10, 3.0-13); Cody Simon (4-3-7, 0, 0); JT Tuimoloau (3-4-7, 1.5-6, 2.5-8); Jordan Hancock (5-1-6, 0, 0); Davison Igbinosun (4-1-5, 0, 0); Caleb Downs (4-1-5, 0, 1.0-2); Lathan Ransom (4-0-4, 0, 1.0-7); Tyleik Williams (1-3-4, 0, 0); Ty Hamilton (0-4-4, 0.5-2, 0.5-2); Jack Sawyer (1-2-3, 1.0-9, 1.0-9); Denzel Burke (2-0-2, 0, 0); Arvell Reese (0-2-2, 0, 0); Caden Curry (1-0-1, 0, 0); Jeremiah Smith (1-0-1, 0, 0); Lorenzo Styles Jr. (1-0-1, 0, 0); Jermaine Matthews Jr. (1-0-1, 0, 0); Kayden McDonald (0-1-1, 0, 0); Hero Kanu (0-1-1, 0, 0); Kenyatta Jackson Jr. (0-0-0, 0, 0); Malik Hartford (0-0-0, 0, 0). Texas - Jahdae Barron (4-2-6, 0, 0); Anthony Hill Jr. (4-2-6, 0.5-4, 0.5-4); Andrew Mukuba (3-3-6, 0, 0); Michael Taaffe (2-3-5, 0, 0); Liona Lefau (2-2-4, 0, 0); Colin Simmons (2-2-4, 0, 0); Gavin Holmes (2-1-3, 0, 0); Malik Muhammad (2-0-2, 0, 0); Morice Blackwell Jr. (1-1-2, 0, 0); Alfred Collins (0-2-2, 0, 0); Jermayne Lole (0-2-2, 0, 0); Trey Moore (1-0-1, 0, 0); Ethan Burke (1-0-1, 0, 1.0-2); David Gbenda (1-0-1, 0, 0); Vernon Broughton (1-0-1, 1.0-10 1.0-10); Jaylon Guilbeau (1-0-1, 0, 1.0-2); Tiaoalii Savea (0-1-1, 0, 0); Warren Roberson (0-1-1, 0, 0); Xavier Filsaime (0-1-1, 0, 0); Bill Norton (0-1-1, 0, 0); Colton Vasek (0-1-1, 0, 0); Barryn Sorrell (0-1-1, 0.5-3, 0.5-3).