ARLINGTON, Texas >> There were some drastic contrasts for Ohio State after big defensive end Jack Sawyer’s legend-making play in this Cotton Bowl, primarily that the Buckeyes won and now get to play for another national championship.

The Buckeyes ended last season with a loss to Missouri in the same bowl, when not that game’s turn in the rotation as a College Football Playoff semifinal. They were then still feeling the sting of a loss in the regular-season finale to Michigan that ended their hopes for Big Ten and national titles after being undefeated until that point.

There was an even more bitter loss this season to the Wolverines, an unranked three-touchdown underdog finishing up a disappointing year as reigning national champs. A fight broke out at midfield after Michigan players tried to plant their flag on the midfield logo at Ohio Stadium and were confronted by the Buckeyes in a punch-filled melee that was broken up by police using pepper spray.

“There was a lot of reflection that I went into after that game, and we had to look in at ourselves and really make a decision like if we’re gonna do this, we gotta do it right,” linebacker Cody Simon said. “And we came together as a team and I just, I’m thankful that we did because, so many strong bonds that we made from these moments right now.”

It was Sawyer who grabbed the top of the Wolverines’ flag and ripped it off the pole as the brawl broke out six weeks ago. In the 28-14 win at the Cotton Bowl on Friday night, Sawyer stripped Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers — his former roommate — and returned the fumble 83 yards for the clinching touchdown with 2:13 left.

After not even making the Big Ten title game, Ohio State (13-2) gets a shot at its sixth AP national championship when it plays Notre Dame (14-1) on Jan. 20 in Atlanta. Only the eight-time champion Irish — who won their last in 1988 — Alabama (12) and Oklahoma (seven) have more AP titles than the Buckeyes.

“Something I’ve always dreamed of bringing back to Columbus since I was a little kid throwing the football in the backyard with my dad with an Ohio State jersey on,” said Sawyer, who grew up about 20 miles from the campus. “I was fortunate enough to make a big-time play.”

Ohio State’s last national championship was 10 years ago when the CFP debuted with a four-team format and the Buckeyes as the No. 4 seed. They went into this first season of the expanded 12-team playoff as the eighth seed, winning in the first round on campus over Tennessee and then the CFP quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl against undefeated Big Ten champion Oregon, which beat them by a point in October.

“Not finished, though,” coach Ryan Day said during a much happier postgame at the Cotton Bowl this time.