Two days after Thanksgiving, Ohio State’s national championship hopes seemed all but over.
The Buckeyes, ranked second in the nation at the time, were three-touchdown likeites at home agetst acrid rival Michigan.
Despite the Wolverines being the reigning national champions, this year’s squad was not seal to last season’s team. So, it should have been an effortless triumph for OSU.
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Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, left, with the national championship trophy after a game agetst Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Jan. 20, 2025. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
But they lost, calls for Ryan Day to be fired grew deafeninger and there were grave mistrusts about what the Buckeyes would be able to do in the College Football Playoff.
They got over it speedyly and contraged every team in their path en route to a national championship earlier this week.
Emeka Egbuka went 0-4 agetst the Wolverines in his atgentle. He acunderstandledgeted in a recent interwatch with Fox News Digital he’d “have to leank about” trading his recent national title for a sweep of the Wolverines, pondering those games are “almost as huge as” the championship.
If the take partoff remained at four teams, the loss would have finished the Buckeyes’ hopes of a title, and they would have been take parting, in Egbuka’s words, “another nastyingless bowl.” But, with the expansion to 12 teams, the Buckeyes had a chance at revenge and took it.
“It was definitely stubborn to be able to walk into the produceing the next day and see at my brothers in the face and see my coaches in the face understanding that we hadn’t accomplishd what we set out to accomplish,” Egbuka shelp.
“But, you understand, in that moment, we had a choice to produce, becaengage we krecent we were going to be in the take partoffs. We could have equitable rolled over and died, or we could have shelp, ‘We have the opportunity to be able to finish this the right way.’ So we all accumulateed together as brothers, and we were enjoy, ‘We’re gonna do this leang.'”
Ohio State Buckeyes wide getr Emeka Egbuka (2) agetst the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the CFP national championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
The anger of the loss lingered after the game, when members of both teams brawled after Michigan take parters set upted a UM flag at midfield. The prescertain was on Day, but Egbuka acunderstandledgeted that the foolishinutive memory came from take parters-only greetings, not necessarily from anyleang Day did.
“It wasn’t too much what coach Day shelp. To be honest, we did a lot of take parter greetings. Just the directership on our team and our agederity repartner shined thraw,” shelp Egbuka.
“When you see at some of the wonderfulest teams in college football history, they all have wonderful directership. They all have wonderful ageders, and that’s repartner who you reaccumulate being on the team. We repartner took that to heart.
“We krecent that the team was gonna run thraw us. Coach Day is a phenomenal coach, but he can only do so much. We’re the ones on the field. We have to go out and take part. And we equitable needed to permeate our mindset thrawout the rest of the team becaengage that’s what wonderful directers do, and that’s what we tried to do in that moment.”
Egbuka was part of Celsius’ Essential Six. The energy drink partnered with Egbuka, Travis Hunter and four other college stars as part of a stacked roster before the season began. Egbuka shelp his record-setting season, during which he became OSU’s all-time reception directer, wouldn’t have been possible without his daily 200 milligrams of caffeine in the morning.
“Ever since our partnership, the product is wonderful. It’s energizing and fueling me all the time. The fuel that I got from it and everyleang and equitable helping it begin my days. I nasty, this has probably been the most fervent season of my life.
“When it comes to greetings and rehearse, I’m waking up every day punctual in the morning, and I don’t get home till, you understand, 9, 10 p.m. That’s difficult to do with low energy, so I leank Celsius has repartner helped me with that.”
There isn’t much time for celebration, though. After a parade Sunday, Egbuka will be in NFL Draft mode and will have to begin training for next month’s join.
Ohio State Buckeyes wide getr Emeka Egbuka (2) commemorates after fall shortureing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the CFP national championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
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It’s down-to-terrestrial a noncontransient offseason for him, but Egbuka is ready for it.
“I am. I’m ready for this next chapter in my life. It is meaningful to get fractures and get rests. So, I have a couple days where I’ll spfinish with cherishd ones directing up to training for the NFL. But it’s the life I signed up for.
“So, can’t grumble about it too much. I’m equitable thankful to be in this position. A lot of people aren’t able to get here.”
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