Ohio State ousts Texas at the Cotton Bowl, advances to national championship game

With Texas facing fourth down, Quinn Ewers fumbled, and Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer returned it for a touchdown. With 2:13 to go, Ohio State is leading 28-14.

Quinshon Judkins caps off an eventful drive for the Buckeyes with a one-yard touchdown run. The drive took 13 plays, 88 yards and 7:45 but Ohio State is on top 21-14 with 7:02 to go.

Another penalty and another sack as the Buckeyes can’t get anything going. Longhorns have a chance to take the lead as they begin their drive from their own 39 yard line.

A long 12-play, 67 yard drive that lasted 5:18 resulted in a Quinn Ewers touchdown, finding Jaydon Blue for the 26 yard touchdown.

We’re tied at 14 with 3:12 left in the third.

This was not the way Ohio State wanted to come out of the locker room. Will Howard aiming for Jeremiah Smith is intercepted by David Gbenda and the Longhorns now have a chance to tie the game.

It’s Howard’s first interception of the night.

Everyone’s talking about the mysterious golf ball sized lump on Will Howard’s hand. No one seems to be sure how it came about but per the broadcast, the team thinks it happened when he bumped up against somebody’s facemask.

Thankfully it doesn’t seem to bother him and it helps that it’s on his non-throwing arm.

Ohio State holds a 14-7 lead at the break. The last time the Buckeyes faced this score line was against Indiana earlier this season, a game that ended with OSU winning 38-15.

Much of the offense has been through the air with 200 of Ohio State’s 236 yards thrown by Will Howard. In contrast, Texas has 177 total yards, 133 of them from the arm of former Buckeye Quinn Ewers.

The Ohio State defense has been able to limit Ewers, sacking him three times for a loss of 18 yards. But the Buckeyes have been plagued by penalties, seeing the yellow flag five times and costing them 50 yards.

TreVeyon Henderson with quite the answer to that game-tying touchdown. He finds space and goes 75 yards to the house to give Ohio State back the lead.

A one-play touchdown drive from Will Howard and the momentum has shifted right before halftime. Still 13 seconds to go before the break.

Texas is on the board after Quinn Ewers finds Jaydon Blue for the 18-yard touchdown. We’re tied 7-7 with 29 seconds left before halftime.

Texas forces a three and out as the Ohio State quarterback is sacked for the first time tonight.

Howard still looking for his first career win against the Longhorns, having gone 0-3 against them as Kansas State’s quarterback.

A holding penalty and a false start slows down the Ohio State offense, eventually forcing the Buckeyes to punt the ball away. So far, OSU has been penalized four times (three in the second quarter alone) costing the Bucks 50 yards.

Tuimoloau is testing out his left ankle by taking some sprints on the sidelines and trying to move around. His left ankle is heavily taped up.

So far points have been hard to find tonight for both teams with Quinshon Judkins’ first quarter touchdown the only score we’ve seen tonight. Ewers’ pass to Ryan Wingo goes incomplete, forcing Texas to punt the ball away.

Trainers are looking at the defensive end’s ankle after the last play. He did get up and walk on his own and went into the tent on the sideline.

The star Texas wide receiver reportedly suffered a foot injury before getting the 15-yard facemask call.

After a face mask penalty on Texas, Quinn Ewers was sacked for a loss of nine yards by Sonny Styles. Texas punts this one away and Ohio State will start their third drive of the night from its own 35 yard line.

That’s Ohio State’s third sack of the night on Ewers.

The second drive for the Buckeyes looked hopeful until TreVeyon Henderson committed an unsportsmanlike conduct that cost OSU 15 yards.

It appears OSU will be starting the second quarter punting the football. Ohio State leads 7-0 heading into Q2.

The Texas quarterback goes down for the second time tonight, this time on third down, forcing the Longhorns to punt.

Ohio State will try to extend its lead, starting this second drive from its own eight yard line.

Ohio State is on the board first after Quinshon Judkins runs in for a nine-yard touchdown, making up for an incomplete pass in the endzone intended for Carnell Tate.

Ten plays, 64 yards, 4:18 on that opening drive for OSU.

Buckeyes lead 7-0 with 7:24 to go in the opening quarter.

After allowing a first down conversion, the Ohio State defense shuts down the Longhorns on a fourth down and three attempt.

Buckeyes will get the ball and start from their own 36-yard line.

He spent one season as a Buckeye before transferring to Texas. Quinn Ewers says he’s been looking forward to this moment of reuniting with some familiar faces.

“I felt like I belonged there. It’s going to be fun to get to see those guys,” Ewers said. “The reason that I came back to Texas was, one, to be closer to where I’m from and just closer to the resources that I have and the relationships that I’ve built over time just being from Texas.”

Ohio State has won the toss and will defer to the second half. Texas will receive the ball to begin the game.

And we’re about to get underway.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian thinks his team is an underdog. But Ryan Day isn’t buying into it. Here’s a look at how both head coaches are approaching the big game.

From a look at how the Buckeyes are ready for the moment to how the defense looks to keep rolling after impressive performances in back-to-back games, here’s what to know about tonight’s CFP semifinal.

From seeking redemption after last year’s Cotton Bowl defeat to getting a step closer to the ultimate goal of winning a national title, there’s plenty of reasons for the Buckeyes to be take the field at AT&T Stadium motivated.

“It’s an SEC team, so it’s the SEC in the way, and they’ve got a lot of great players up front and they’re kind of banking on you guys losing your one-on-ones and stuff like that,” sophomore offensive lineman Luke Montgomery said. “So I think it’s an amazing opportunity to go and show how confident we are and go out and play our ball.”

Here’s a look at what the Buckeyes are playing for tonight.

Tonight marks the second straight appearance for the Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl. Last year, OSU lost to Missouri in an otherwise meaningless bowl game.

Here’s a look at the other times Ohio State has played in the same bowl game in back-to-back seasons.

Warmups for the Buckeyes

NBC4 Sports Director Joe Nugent in Arlington, Texas