COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 6 Ohio State (13-2) had a back-and-forth duel with No. 3 Texas for three quarters before outscoring the Longhorns in the fourth quarter 14-0 in its 28-14 victory Friday in the 2024 College Football Playoffs Semifinal at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. Ohio State will face No. 5 Notre Dame (14-1) in the 2024 CFP National Championship Jan. 20 (7:30 p.m.) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Fighting Irish defeated No. 4 Penn State in the Capital One Orange Bowl 27-24 off of a last second field goal on Thursday to advance.

Quarterback Will Howard completed 24-of-26 passes for 289 yards and one touchdown. Wide Receiver Carnell Tate led the team in receiving with seven catches for 87 yards. Running Backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins had a combined 15 rushing attempts for 78 yards and four catches for 97 yards. Henderson’s lone catch was right before halftime on a screen pass that went for 75 yards. Linebacker Sonny Styles finished with team leading nine total tackles and three tackle-for-losses. Jack Sawyer finished the night with three tackles, one sack, two pass break-ups and one forced fumble. He recovered that fumble and returned it for an 83-yard touchdown. The defense as a whole tallied 63 total tackles, four sacks, nine tackles-for-loss, three forced fumbles and seven pass break-ups. Safety Caleb Downs sealed the game with his fourth career interception.