The Buckeyes took down Tennessee at home with ease then faced the top-ranked and undefeated Oregon, and also throttled the Ducks in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State was favored in that battle, but it wasn’t expected to come out on top by 20 points. Their next test, and arguably their biggest battle, came against Texas, and a Jack Sawyer scoop-and-score touchdown sealed the deal in the fourth quarter of a tightly contested game, one in which the Longhorns were able to keep freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith at bay.

That moment is when Ohio State football’s head coach Ryan Day knew this team had what it would take to win the national championship. It went on to defeat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the final game of the College Football Playoff. Day appeared with Urban Meyer and got into what he saw from his team during the run.

The Buckeyes had numerous things go their way, and that bounce up to Sawyer was one of them. Couple that with several big-time performances from Will Howard and Smith, and the Buckeyes found themselves claiming victory over the entire college football landscape for the first time since 2014.