Last week, we continued our look back at all 19 of Ohio State’s touchdowns from the Buckeyes’ 2024 College Football Playoff national championship. The countdown began two weeks ago with No. 19 through 11 — largely supersized due to four nearly identical 1-yard runs by Quinshon Judkins. Then, last week, we started our journey through the Top 10, with a look at No. 10 through 6.
This week, we complete our review of Ohio State’s historic four-game run through the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff with a look at touchdowns No. 5 through No. 1 in the countdown. This is, admittedly, completely subjective, but I did consider some criteria to make my decisions.
Among those was the degree of difficulty of each scoring play, the magnitude of the moment (i.e., how clutch they were), and the “wow” factor. Was I consistent in applying these criteria? I don’t know. As always, I’m just a guy with a keyboard who loves college football.
5. Will Howard to Jeremiah Smith from 45 yards vs. Oregon
This week’s first entry is a great effort by Jeremiah Smith early in the Rose Bowl against Oregon. The rematch against the Ducks was always going to be a critical step on the path to the national championship. Ohio State narrowly ran out of time to beat the Ducks in Eugene during the regular season. The Buckeyes left no room for doubt in Pasadena, and it all started less than a minute into the game.
Smith caught a Howard swing pass behind the line of scrimmage on a misdirection play that fooled most of the Oregon defense. The freshman then showed two of the aspects that made him so special throughout the season. He used his speed to blaze down the field behind a Gee Scott, Jr. block, then broke a tackle as the only two Ducks with a shot at him tried to shut the door.
Once he shrugged off that final obstacle, he breezed down the field and into the end zone to set the tone for Ohio State’s eventual destruction of Oregon.
4. Howard to Emeka Egbuka from 42 yards vs. Oregon
Staying in the Rose Bowl for a moment, the Buckeyes started to make their statement midway through the first quarter. The teams traded punts after Smith’s catch and run in the first minute of the game, and the OSU defense got another stop on the second Ducks possession. Ohio State took over in good field position at its own 47-yard line and quickly picked up a first down in Oregon territory on just two plays.
On the third play of the drive, Ryan Day and Chip Kelly decided to take a shot downfield, and it paid off. Howard dropped back and sent a dart to Egbuka at the goal line. The coverage was good from Brandon Johnson. Howard’s pass hit the defender’s arm, but Egbuka maintained his concentration, snatching it off the defender and securing it to make it 14-0, stunning Oregon and igniting the Buckeye offense as it jumped to an eventual 34-0 lead.
3. Howard to Smith from 8 yards vs. Notre Dame
This one reaches the lofty No. 3 position just for the “coolness factor.” I’m probably not the only one who remembers Alabama’s DeVonta Smith destroying Ohio State with a similar play in a College Football Playoff final and thinking, ‘Man, that would be a cool play to have in our playbook.’ Day and Kelly debuted it at the perfect time.
Ohio State trailed Notre Dame 7-0 in the national title game after a long opening drive by the Irish. The Buckeyes spent the final five minutes of the first quarter and the first minute of the second quarter driving down the field from their own 25-yard line. Ohio State lined up on second-and-5 from the Notre Dame 8 and pulled out what amounted to a trick play, with plenty of eye candy.
Smith had single coverage on the right and his defensive back knew something was up, but perhaps not exactly what was coming. Smith circled back into the backfield as if he were going to run an end around. Instead, he broke quickly back toward the boundary, took a short swing pass from Howard behind the line of scrimmage, and ran untouched into the end zone to tie the game.
Using ghosts of losses past to beat the opponent in front of you is a cool idea, and it worked like a charm against the Irish.
2. Howard to TreVeyon Henderson from 75 yards vs. Texas
The Longhorns had just put a drive together and tied the Cotton Bowl 7-7 with 29 seconds remaining in the first half. Momentum was firmly on the Texas sideline with a long way to go in this College Football Playoff semifinal matchup in the Longhorns’ back yard. It didn’t last long.
Ohio State answered in just 16 seconds. After a touchback gave the Buckeyes the ball on their own 25-yard line, Howard dropped back and did well to avoid an onrushing defensive lineman, tossing a screen pass to Henderson behind the line of scrimmage. The running back started right, then set up two blocks, moving defenders with his eyes and sudden body shifts. Setting up those blocks gave him a clean path to a big play, and his speed negated a defender’s angle to give him a wide-open run down the sideline to the end zone.
The touchdown with just 13 ticks left on the clock in the second quarter re-established Ohio State’s momentum and sucked the air out of the Texas balloon. It was an important touchdown for the Buckeyes, as Texas pulled even again late in the third quarter before Ohio State took over in the fourth.
1. Jack Sawyer’s 83-yard fumble recovery vs. Texas
There could hardly be another choice for Ohio State’s top touchdown of the national championship run. The game was in the balance late with Ohio State clinging to a 21-14 lead as Texas took over at its own 25-yard line.
A stop would almost guarantee a trip to the CFP title game, but former Buckeye Quinn Ewers started making plays and had the Longhorns inside the OSU 10 in six plays. A Lathan Ransom pass interference penalty gave Texas a first down and moved the ball to the OSU 2 with 4:04 remaining in the game.
Ohio State’s vaunted goal-line defense got a big stop on first down, stuffing Jarrick Gibson for no gain. That stop, coupled with the reputation of the Buckeyes at their goal line, created uncertainty in the Texas play calling. The Longhorns might be expected to slam it up in there again or bring in Arch Manning with a run/pass option call, but instead, the Longhorns got too cute and it backfired.
Quintrevion Wismer took a toss to the left on second down and was thrown for a huge loss by the aggressive Buckeye secondary. Caleb Downs blew it up and Ransom and Davison Igbinosun cleaned it up back at the OSU 8-yard line. Jack Sawyer was held on third down but still got enough pressure on Ewers to make him throw it early, and it fell incomplete, setting up fourth and goal from the 8 with two and a half minutes remaining. ‘
A failure to score wasn’t the end for Texas, as the Longhorns had two timeouts remaining. Still, they had to go for it.
And that’s when a Buckeye legend’s legacy was sealed forever.
On fourth down, the OSU defensive line went after Ewers, with Sawyer attacking from the field side and flushing the right-hander to his left. Ewers tried to get the ball out as Sawyer arrived, but the Buckeye defensive end knocked the ball free on the quarterback’s backswing. The ball bounced up perfectly for Sawyer, who scooped it up and began racing down the sideline.
He had a lot of friends with him, and his escort stayed disciplined, walling off any would-be tacklers as Sawyer took the ball the distance for the Cotton Bowl-sealing touchdown, booking the Buckeyes’ spot in the title game.
Downs intercepted Ewers on the third play of the ensuing drive and the Buckeyes kneeled out the remaining time, earning a spot in the final against Notre Dame.
That’s it. We’ve counted them all. Ohio State scored a lot of touchdowns in just four games, and many of them were unforgettable. The ones above will no doubt live in the minds of Buckeye fans for the rest of their days.
Let me know in the comments where you agree/disagree with my rankings, or just enjoy them for what they were — a glorious look back at an incredible four-game run by Ohio State.
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