Former Buckeye Jack Sawyer admits fair losses to Michigan, questions 2022 due to scandal

We're starting to see some progress from the Buckeyes when it comes to acknowledging Michigan's recent dominance—but there's still plenty of work to do. A promising sign came recently when former Buckeye Jack Sawyer admitted that Michigan beat Ohio State straight up in both 2023 and 2024. That's progress.

But like many of his teammates — and plenty of fans in Buckeye nation — Sawyer is still struggling to come to terms with the 2022 and 2021 losses. During a recent podcast appearance, he conceded that the two most recent defeats were legitimate, but claimed something felt off about the 2022 game. His evidence? Michigan's defense read and blew up a poorly executed screen pass.

"I'll tell you this, I think they beat us straight up last year, obviously, and the year before. But my sophomore year, we left the field... we were like, 'this feels weird.' Sawyer said. "We lost by double-digits, and it felt like we had beat the sh** out of them all game. You know, we ran a screen pass that we had never put in—not the formation, not the look, anything. And like, you see them on the sideline, they're doing it, and we change it. We audible to it or whatever, and when we run it, all the D linemen—as soon as the ball is snapped—the linebackers, everybody, they sniffed it out."