Jack Sawyer’s been the leader of this year’s senior class for over five years.
The first player to commit in Ohio State’s 2021 recruiting class in February 2019, the five-star prospect at defensive end hosted teammates at his home for barbecues and served as a top peer recruiter for the Buckeyes.
Five years later, with him and his teammates reeling off back-to-back losses to close their season for a second straight campaign, Sawyer once again emerged in a leadership role. This time the directive wasn’t to guide future teammates toward Columbus, however, it was to get them to stay there for one more go-round.
“It’s unique. It’s a really unique position,” Sawyer said on Thursday. “We’ve got a great group of guys coming back, man. It’s just so exciting for me, and the same thing for those guys, how much they care about this program and care about the team and Coach Day and the guys you want to do it for and the city.”
Only two players with major draft stock from that rising senior class – defensive tackle Mike Hall and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. – ultimately went pro. Sawyer is back alongside JT Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams, Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock on the defensive end with Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson and Donovan Jackson on the offensive side. Ty Hamilton, Cody Simon and Lathan Ransom also return for a fifth year as Buckeye defenders.
Each of those players had their own decisions to make, no doubt, but part of the attraction of coming back was to right the wrongs of another loss to Michigan and another lost shot at a Big Ten title as a collective. And the man to thank for spearheading that collective is Sawyer.
“He was very passionate about getting us back,” Hamilton said. “He has it in his heart, being a kid from Ohio just like me, having a passion for wanting to win. You're playing for The Ohio State University. You want to win. You don’t want to have to settle for anything less.”
For Sawyer, his own decision to come back didn’t feel like a decision at all. As someone born and raised in the greater Columbus area – hailing from Pickerington, Ohio – he simply couldn’t leave knowing he never obtained a pair of Gold Pants.
“I think I knew all along in my heart that I wanted to come back,” Sawyer said. “I think I wouldn’t have felt right leaving, losing to them three times. With the team that we’ve got coming back, with the guys that decided to come back, I wanted to take charge and say, ‘Look, if we all come back, look at what we could do.’ Once I thought about that and I got some other guys on board, it was kind of a no-brainer.”
"I wanted to take charge and say, ‘Look, if we all come back, look at what we could do.’ Once I thought about that and I got some other guys on board, it was kind of a no-brainer."– Jack Sawyer on his decision to return to Ohio State for his senior year
That was the message spread to everyone weighing the decision of whether to stay or leave this year. The unfinished business with the Wolverines and the failure to so much as make a Big Ten title game the past three seasons were things that needed to be settled.
“If you talk to all of us that decided to come back, I think there’s the personal chance to come back too, improve your draft stock,” Sawyer said. “But really, I think a lot of us, it was definitely a team thing. All coming back, unfinished business, wouldn’t feel right leaving here like that without giving it one more shot that we had.”
There’s no question those ambitions were a driving force for Sawyer’s running mate at defensive end.
“Me and Jack talked a lot. A lot is probably an understatement,” Tuimoloau said. “We had so many goals coming in our freshman year and I feel like me and him decided to come back, and that spoke volumes. Understanding that the goals we’ve had set upon us and set for our defense, individual goals and as a unit, for the D-line, our goals were right there. They’re all reachable. And once we thought about that, we became even more motivated to come back.”
On the field, Sawyer experienced a major surge in the second half of last season.
It started with a six-tackle day against Wisconsin in Week 9 and ballooned from there. He enjoyed a breakout performance against Minnesota, gobbling up six tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss and a strip-sack. Then, he followed that up with a six-tackle, one-sack outing against Michigan in a losing effort.
What truly put Buckeye fans on notice was his three-sack evening against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, however, and he pressured Tiger quarterback Brady Cook many more times than that.
In each of Ohio State’s final three games of the season, Sawyer was arguably its best defensive player. He totaled 16 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and a forced fumble in those three contests.
“He started thinking less and just going. He just played,” Hamilton said. “And his play showed out for him.”
Sawyer finished 2023 with 48 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and two forced fumbles, pacing the Buckeyes in the latter two categories.
“I felt like I was in a groove the whole second half of the season,” Sawyer said. “I felt like myself again, and I was just out there playing and having fun with my teammates. I think that when you come here and expect to hit the field and it to be a certain way, it’s hard to get over that for a little bit. I think you can look at all of us on the D-line, as a front we’ve all had our own journey to where we’re playing right now.”
Sawyer didn’t go so far as to join multiple teammates in stating it’s “natty or bust” for Ohio State this season, but he’s aware of not only the opportunity but the stakes in front of him and his teammates.
His senior class is the first that won’t get the benefit of an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19 waivers. All the true seniors from the group – including himself, Tuimoloau, Burke, Henderson, Egbuka, Jackson, Tuimoloau, Williams and Hancock – are done at Ohio State after this season, barring some unforeseen circumstances that see one or more of them redshirt.
"We know we’ve got one more year. There’s no going back," Sawyer said. "There’s not one more year we can come back, so we’re just really blessed. We’re taking every day and not letting one day go by where we don’t give all we’ve got."
"We know we’ve got one more year, there’s no going back."– Jack Sawyer on the stakes of 2024
For Sawyer, he feels that with the roster Ohio State’s assembled, it can achieve anything it wants this year if enough work is put in.
“There’s no talent issues on this team,” Sawyer said. “That’s God-given though. What we can work on is our discipline, our skill, our technique. I think if we become the most disciplined and sound team technique-wise, there’s not gonna be a team in the country that can stop us. But it’s gonna be a long process to get to that point.”
That’s exactly why he, in part, was able to entice his teammates to come back, however. To put in the work, run it back once more and capture the things they’ve fallen short of in their first three seasons.
“We all knew that we had great opportunities to go to the NFL, but we also have a great opportunity to put another one of those (national championship) banners up here and get some revenge on the guys up north,” Sawyer said. “When you put it in a nutshell, that was a really simple decision for a lot of us. ... I don’t think any of us have regretted it.”
