Sawyer grew up in the shadow of Ohio State’s campus in the Columbus suburb of Pickerington. He always wanted to be a Buckeye, and despite national competition for his services, he was the first player to commit to OSU in the 2021 recruiting class.

That’s why the losses to the Wolverines the past three years have hurt him so much. Almost saying he would come back to Ohio State for his senior year ahead of the 2023 Cotton Bowl, he officially announced his return on January 5 and throughout the Buckeyes’ offseason, the main reason he gave for his decision to remain at Ohio State during his senior season meant defeating The Team Up North.

“When I committed to Ohio State, we had just played in a national championship,” Sawyer said at Big Ten Media Days in July. “After three or four Big Ten championship wins, I haven’t lost to ‘The Team Up North’ in eight, nine years. And when my class gets there, it’s kind of the other way around. And I think, of course, being the type of guy that I am, I felt like we were letting down, not just Ryan Day, but the city.

“So for me it’s all about coming back. And many of us, we all feel the same way, which is that we can’t, we wouldn’t leave here without having another chance to do this the right way and leave here better than we came here to be. .”

Sawyer is the textbook example of the collective return of many of the top players from his recruiting class. He played as big a role as anyone in getting them back and he may be the best among them at articulating why, probably because of his Central Ohio background. NIL helped pave the way and the Buckeyes have bigger ambitions, but the team’s bevy of fourth- and fifth-year seniors who had NFL draft stock in 2023 are back to take on Michigan. And this Saturday they get their chance.

“Everything,” Sawyer said Tuesday about what a win in The Game would mean. “This is why we come to Ohio State. Growing up in Columbus, I think I’ve said it a thousand times, but this is what you do it for. These games and it would mean the world to this program and Coach Day and all the guys who have been here the last four years.”

For Sawyer, an appreciation for rivalry is deeply ingrained, but even players who aren’t from The Buckeye State have come to understand the full importance of The Game, especially since they’ve lost the past three renditions.

Senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is from Washington, but he too has dreamed of a pair of gold pants to set things right. He and Sawyer passed on NFL draft potential to get a set alongside JT Tuimoloau, Jordan Hancock, TreVeyon Henderson, Donovan Jackson, Cody Simon, Denzel Burke, Tyleik Williams, Ty Hamilton and Lathan Ransom.

“It would mean a lot,” Egbuka said. “It would definitely end my career at Ohio State on the right note. Not that there’s nothing left to do after we win this game, but you come to Ohio State to beat the team up north and win gold pants .Gold Pants to my mother is a memory I am really looking forward to.”

The return of the seniors has been accompanied by the addition of a number of key transfers who have yet to experience the rivalry first-hand. Sawyer said the Ohioans on the team and the Ohio State coaching staff were sure to teach them the importance of The Game from their first days on campus. That’s true when you hear Will Howard talk about the rivalry.

“Just feeling how much this rivalry means and how deep it goes and how deep it cuts,” Howard said. “I mean, you look around the building and see the countdown clocks. From the moment I got here, it was just different. It was like, you don’t wear blue in the building, you don’t say the M word, just like all these things, I thought, ‘Okay, this is different.’ It’s not really a rivalry, it’s more of a way of life.”

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With the pain of the past and the usual intensity in The Game, there will be a lot of emotion at play when the Buckeyes take the field this Saturday in the Shoe. Channeling those feelings properly is as much of a challenge as the players rooting for Ohio State.

“It’s probably one of the hardest things just because of the history and tradition surrounding this game,” Simon said. “One thing I’ve tried to get to the younger guys is to still play freely. Don’t let this stuff get you down, like it’s still football when it counts. So we’re just getting out there to go out and play our game and not be afraid to make plays.”

Ryan Day said the key to tempering those feelings is to prepare well.

“If you focus on the process and you focus on your team and you’re with your guys in the Woody, it can definitely eliminate distractions this week,” Day said. “I think that’s what we have to do. To say that this team and those leaders and these seniors want to win this game would be one of the greatest understatements of all time. So they don’t need any extra motivation. ”

Day is another source of motivation that all four Sawyer, Simon, Egbuka and Howard cited as fuel to their fire this weekend. The Buckeyes’ head coach opened up this week about the hardships the rivalry loss has caused him and his family, calling it — outside of his father’s suicide when Day was a child — one of the worst things that ever happened to him. He added: “This must never happen again.”

“I think coming back for Coach Day is a big part for me,” Sawyer said. “I don’t think anyone deserves this win more than him. And seeing what he and his family have gone through and fallen short over the past three years made my decision to come back even clearer. And he’s a The man who gave me the opportunity to play here, I thought I owed it to him to come back and get this win for him.

“It would mean the world to this program and to Coach Day and to all the guys that have been here the last four years.”– Jack Sawyer on what a win in The Game would mean

It’s no secret that Michigan isn’t the same caliber it was the past three seasons, much less a national title-winning team in 2023. The Wolverines are coming off five losses in 2024, thanks in large part to one of the most anemic offenses in the Big Ten.

But none of that matters to Ohio State’s seniors, who have suffered three straight losses to them.

“Every year it doesn’t matter what the record is, our record or their record,” Sawyer said. “It will be war anyway.”

It’s been said this week, but a win against Michigan would be a catharsis for the entire Buckeyes program and fan base. But other than Day, that applies more to the seniors who returned for another chance at the Wolverines than anyone else.

“It would just be everything,” Simon said. “You can’t really describe it with anything tangible, but just fulfillment on many levels and joy for the team and all the seniors that came back as well. … I walk to my conference room and that countdown (clock) is always right next to my conference room. So it’s every day.”