You will get the casual smile first. Then the omniscient, perfectly timed gaze rises up to the cameras.
It was all Ohio State running Trey Sermon could do – get it ready for television while officials assessed whether he scored a long-term touchdown against Clemson in the semifinals of last week’s College Football Playoff. He knew – we all knew – he clearly didn’t know.
Maybe the joke was on the rest of us. Sure, it instantly became a meme. And no, that smile and look didn’t sell officials on a touchdown that never happened. But Sermon ‘s deliberate pursed-lipped look, a three-second window into his Ezekiel Elliott-esque transformation into an unstoppable post-season force, delivered a message:
Hey world, I’ve been here all the time.
– ESPN (@espn) January 2, 2021
The world is only just seeing it now, after a two-game trajectory in which Sermon ran 524 yards, scored three touchdowns, and became the biggest revelation of an Ohio state offense that had no real identity, until he entered Northwestern in the Big Ten defeated championship game. His rise was years in the making, first as an esteemed high school recruit, then as an Oklahoma back slowly falling off the top of the depth chart, and now as a Terminator-esque force ready to bulldoze through and storm over defenders. his latest quest to prove himself.
Sermon is about to surpass what Elliott did the last time Ohio State won a national title in the 2014 season. Elliott put together the most dominant three-game trajectory in school history, with 696 yards and eight touchdowns in the Big Ten. championship game and the CFP’s semifinal and championship games to carry the Buckeyes – and that says something on a program known for its elite, next-level backs.
The comparison is not lost on anyone as the No. 3 Buckeyes get ready to play No. 1 Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T on Monday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida (8:00 PM ET, ESPN and the ESPN app). Sermon, in fact, outshines Elliott in rushing through two post-season games.
“A lot of great running backs have come by here – and Zeke is one of the best running backs – just to be in that conversation, it’s an honor,” Sermon said this week. “I just feel pretty good about what I’ve been able to achieve with the help of my offensive line so far.”
Sermon has done it with a resilience that has become one of its hallmarks. And to understand why he kept pushing when so much seemed uncertain – between the current season itself and his role on the team – you have to understand his mother.
Natoshia Mitchell survived abuse and domestic violence, as well as the death of her 2-year-old son in 1993, six years before Trey was born. Her then-boyfriend was convicted of the toddler’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. Mitchell testified against him at trial. Mitchell endured that pain and immeasurable loss and turned to her grandmother and aunt for support. She began to think about her life. What did she want to get out of it? Would the fear define her or would she be able to move on and use her own experiences to help others?
Mitchell decided that she wanted to be someone others looked to as an example. She started to change her life after divorcing Trey’s father when her children were in elementary school. She moved to Tampa, Florida, across the bay of the same name with Trey and his older sister, Oneisha, got a new job and started over.
“I decided that I was going to be the best mom I can be to my children, and I decided that I would have a good relationship with them,” she said in a recent telephone interview from Georgia, where she now lives.
Mitchell stopped dating and focused on them, went back to school and kept an eye on who was around her kids at all times. She enrolled Trey to play soccer when she was five, while Oneisha started cheerleading. Trey started the defense, and Mitchell fondly recalls that every time he tackled someone, the PA announcer would say, “The Terminator strikes again!”
They eventually moved to Marietta, Georgia, and Trey played running at Sprayberry High School. He was all set for a breakout junior season, but after getting a touchdown pass in the season opener, he ended up on top of a helmet and hurt his back. Doctors initially thought it was some kind, so he played the following week. His coach at the time, Billy Shackelford, recalled Sermon in a 200 yards rush.
“The man could barely bend over and touch his toes,” Shackelford said in a telephone interview.
Sermon saw the doctor again because he was in so much pain. He had a broken bone in his back.
“It was a genuine mistake, but he literally ran 200 yards with a broken back,” said Shackelford. “That’s the perfect example of his toughness, tenacity, his love of the game and overcoming. He usually takes an obstacle and tries to take gold out of the situation. That’s a real asset to him, the way he was raised and ultimately the warrior who is inside him. “
Mitchell said her insurance does not cover all of Trey’s required rehab and treatment, so she sold her car and moved with her children from their apartment to a hotel for 11 months. She used the money she had saved to get Trey first-class care.
“I wanted to make sure he was getting the best treatment, and I wanted to pay for an extra treatment,” she said. “I was determined he would get better, and he did.”
By his senior year, scholarship offers started rolling in. The sermon ultimately chose Oklahoma. In 2017, Sermon was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, second on the team with 744 yards rushing and five touchdowns. His first career score came at Ohio Stadium – a 10-yard catch from Baker Mayfield – in the Sooners ’31-16 win, in which Mayfield planted the Oklahoma flag in midfield.
Although he rushed to 947 yards as a starter for the Sooners the following season, Preek appeared to be falling out of favor in 2019. His season ended after he ruptured the lateral collateral ligament in his knee in November. In March he announced that he would switch. Sermon has maintained he just wanted a fresh start, but Mayfield suggested in a tweet that former Oklahoma running coach Jay Boulware (who left for Texas after last season) had something to answer:
@CoachJ_Boulware How is the UT? https://t.co/m8Gs3aC42m
– Baker Mayfield (@bakermayfield) January 2, 2021
Sermon eventually chose Ohio State because he had developed a good relationship with running coach Tony Alford during his high school recruitment period. But the pandemic presented a new set of challenges. The sermon was supposed to continue to recover from his knee injury, while in-person training was not allowed in Columbus. He ended up splitting his time with trainers in Houston and Georgia. When he eventually got to work with teammates, his long-term relationship with Buckeyes quarterback Justin Fields (they are both from Georgia) helped ease the transition. Even then, Sermon missed a whole off-season conditioning program and an opportunity to develop the natural chemistry and rhythm that a pullback needs to find success.
His plans for a fresh start had almost evaporated when the Big Ten decided to delay the start of the fall season in early August. To make matters worse, the Big 12 chose to play. The sermon had to sit and watch his old teammates start their season, while he had no idea if he was going to get the chance he so desperately wanted.
“He was devastated,” Mitchell said. ‘He thought in his mind,’ I can’t prove who I really am. And that was the most important thing to him: “Nobody gets to see who I am or what I can do. They’ve seen a little bit of it, but they haven’t seen the real me yet.” I kept trying to encourage him. He came back later and said, “Mom, I think we’re getting a season.” I said, ‘You have to keep pushing; you have to keep believing. ‘ ”
When the Buckeyes took off in late October, Sermon had a hard time finding a role as Master Teague III ran the runway. In the first four games, Sermon had 45 carries for 232 yards and no touchdowns. But Ohio State coach Ryan Day said he noticed a change in the Michigan State game on December 5, as the sermon began to get a better feel for the offense, registering 10 carries for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
Still, Day could never have predicted what would come next. Ohio State and Fields was unable to get anything going in the Big Ten championship game against Northwestern. Then Teague was injured. Day put all his faith in Sermon, who responded with a school record of 331 yards and two touchdowns, almost as much as his hasty total of his first five games combined (344).
“You see the best version of Trey,” said Day. “The best thing is, when everything was going on, he never came into my office, never complained, never said, ‘I need more baby carriers,’ nothing like that. He just kept going to work every day.”
While Fields rebounded with a stellar performance of six touchdowns in the CFP semi-final against Clemson, it’s hard to forget how Sermon dominated as well, finishing with 193 yards of rush and a score, in addition to his immediate meme. (One look, by the way, his mom says he gives her and his sister all the time.)
Mitchell was in New Orleans for the semifinals, and she said she plans to be in Miami Monday night with her 9-year-old granddaughter, A’mia, who will remain close to Uncle Trey.
Mitchell has kept the promises she made to help others and wrote a book about her experiences entitled “When My Soul Cried: Healing, Forgiveness and Releasing.” She is on track to earn a PhD in psychology from the University of Arizona in April. And she founded Arise by Faith Inc. op, a nonprofit domestic violence and grief counseling organization dedicated to providing resources and assistance to those in need.
The resilience Mitchell has shown has set examples for both of her children for a lifetime.
“I’ve just seen all the things she’s been through, how she could just endure, still work hard for our family, and I feel like that has helped me throughout my career because I have a ton of challenges, a lot of setbacks, “Sermon said.” But I know there’s light again at the end of the tunnel, so I just have to keep working hard and I know everything is paying off. “
Like he’s been here all the time.