The casual smile comes first. Then comes the omniscient and perfectly synchronized look for the cameras.
It was all Trey Sermon was able to do – cheer up the television while authorities analyzed whether he scored a touchdown in a long run against Clemson in last week’s College Football Playoff semifinal. He knew – we all knew – clearly not.
Maybe the joke was on us. Of course, it became an instant meme. And no, that smile and look didn’t sell off the officers in a touchdown that never happened. But Sermon’s deliberate gaze with pursed lips, a three-second window into his Ezekiel Elliott-like transformation into an unstoppable post-season force, delivered a message:
Hey, world, I’ve been here the whole time.
– ESPN (@espn) January 2, 2021
The world is just seeing it now, after a two game streak in which Sermon ran 524 yards, scored three touchdowns and became the biggest revelation of an Ohio state attack that had no real identity until it smashed Northwestern in the Big Ten championship game. His emergence took years in formation, first as an award-winning high school recruit, then as an Oklahoma who slowly fell from the top of the depth chart and now as a Terminator-like force ready to take down and surpass defenders on their final mission to prove the yourself.
Sermon is on the verge of overcoming what Elliott did the last time Ohio State won a national title in the 2014 season. Elliott put together the most dominant stretch of three games in school history, with 696 yards and eight touchdowns in the game. Big Ten championship and the semifinal and CFP championship games to take the Buckeyes – and this is something in a program known to its elite, defenders of the next level.
The comparison has not been lost by anyone now that the No. 3 Buckeyes are preparing to play No. 1 Alabama in the National College Football Playoff Championship presented by AT&T on Monday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida (8 pm ET , ESPN, and the ESPN app). Sermon, in fact, is overtaking Elliott in the race for two postseason games.
“Many of the best running backs have come through here – and Zeke is one of the best running backs – just being in this conversation is an honor,” said Sermon this week. “I feel really good about what I have accomplished so far with help from my offensive line. “
Sermon did this with a resilience that has become one of his hallmarks. And to understand why he kept pushing when it seemed so uncertain – between the current season and his role on the team – you have to understand your mom.
Natoshia Mitchell survived abuse and domestic violence, as well as the death of her 2-year-old son in 1993, six years before Trey’s birth. Her boyfriend at the time was convicted of the child’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. Mitchell testified against him at the trial. Experiencing that immeasurable pain and loss, Mitchell asked his grandmother and aunt for support. She started to think about her life. What did she want with that? Would anguish 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 that others would look to as an example. She began to change her life after she divorced 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 her older sister, Oneisha, got a new job and started again.
“I decided that I would be the best mother I could be for my children and 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 the kids all the time. She enrolled Trey to play football at age 5, while Oneisha started to be a cheerleader. Trey started on defense, and Mitchell fondly remembers that every time he approached someone, the announcer PA said, “The Terminator strikes again!”
They finally moved to Marietta, Georgia, and Trey played running back at Sprayberry High School. He was ready to have a great junior season, but after receiving a touchdown pass at the opening of the season, he fell on top of a helmet and injured his back. The doctors initially thought it was difficult, so he played the following week. His coach at the time, Billy Shackelford, recalled that Sermon had 200 yards running.
“The guy could barely bend over and touch his toes,” Shackelford said in a telephone interview.
Sermon saw the doctor again because he was in a lot of pain. He had a chipped bone on his back.
“It was an honest mistake, but he literally ran 200 yards with a broken back,” said Shackelford. “This is the perfect example of his endurance, tenacity, love of the game and overcoming. He usually takes an obstacle and tries to find gold in the situation. This is a real asset for him, the way he was created and, finally, the warrior who is inside it. “
Mitchell said his insurance did not cover all of the treatments and rehabilitation required by Trey, so she sold her car and moved her children from the apartment to a hotel for 11 months. She used the money she saved to get Trey’s best care.
“I just wanted to make sure he got the best treatment and I wanted to pay for extra treatment,” she said. “I was determined that he would get better, and he did.”
In its final year, scholarship offers began to roll. Sermon finally decided on Oklahoma. In 2017, Sermon was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, the team’s second with 744 running yards and five touchdowns. His first career score came at Ohio Stadium – a 10-yard reception from Baker Mayfield – in the Sooners’ victory by 31-16, during which Mayfield planted the famous Oklahoma flag in midfield.
Although he ran for 947 yards as a Sooners starter the following season, Sermon seemed to fall out of favor in the rotation in 2019. His season ended after he broke the lateral collateral ligament in his knee in November. In March, he announced that he would be transferred. Sermon said he simply wanted a fresh start, but Mayfield suggested in a tweet that former Oklahoma running backs coach Jay Boulware (who left for Texas after last season) had something to answer:
@CoachJ_Boulware How is UT? https://t.co/m8Gs3aC42m
– Baker Mayfield (@bakermayfield) January 2, 2021
Sermon ended up choosing the state of Ohio because he had developed a good relationship with running back coach Tony Alford during his high school recruiting period. But the pandemic presented a new set of challenges. Sermon had to continue recovering his knee injury, while personal training in Columbus was not allowed. He ended up dividing his time working with coaches in Houston and Georgia. When he finally managed to start working with teammates, his longtime relationship with Buckeyes quarterback Justin Fields (both are from Georgia) helped ease the transition. Still, Sermon missed an entire off-season conditioning program and a chance to develop the natural chemistry and pace that a running back needs to succeed.
His plans for a fresh start almost evaporated when the Big Ten decided in early August to postpone the start of the fall season. To make matters worse, the big 12 chose to play. Sermon had to sit back and watch his former teammates start the season, while he had no idea if he would have the opportunity he so wanted.
“He was devastated,” said Mitchell. “He thought in his mind, ‘I can’t prove who I really am.’ And that was the most important thing for him, thinking, ‘Nobody can see who I am or what I can do. They saw some of it, but they still haven’t seen the real me. ‘ I kept trying to encourage him. He came back later and said, ‘Mom, I think we’re going to have a season.’ I said, ‘You have to keep pushing; you have to keep believing. ‘ “
As soon as the Buckeyes started in late October, Sermon struggled to find a role, as Master Teague III was the titleholder. 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, when Sermon started to feel the attack better, registering 10 runs for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
Still, Day could never have predicted what would come next. Ohio State and Fields achieved nothing in the Big Ten championship game against Northwestern. So Teague got hurt. Day put all his faith in Sermon, who responded with a school record of 331 yards and two touchdowns, almost equaling his run total from his first five combined games (344).
“You are seeing the best version of Trey,” said Day. “The best part is that when all this was going on, he never came to my office, never complained, never said, ‘I need more chargers’, none of that . He kept going to work every day. “
Although Fields recovered with a stellar performance of six touchdowns in the CFP semifinal against Clemson, it is difficult to forget how Sermon also dominated, ending with 193 running yards and a score, in addition to his instant meme. (A look, by the way, his mother says he gives it to her and his sister all the time.)
Mitchell was in New Orleans for the semifinal and said he plans to be in Miami on Monday night with his 9-year-old granddaughter, A’mia, who is still close to Uncle Trey.
Mitchell kept his promises to help others by writing a book about his experiences entitled “When My Soul Cried: Healing, Forgiveness and Releasing”. She is about to get a PhD in psychology from the University of Arizona in April. And she founded Arise by Faith Inc., a nonprofit organization for domestic violence and family grief that aims to provide resources and assistance to those who need help.
The resilience Mitchell demonstrated served as a lifelong example for his two children.
“I just saw all the things she went through, how she was able to persevere, still continue to work hard for our family, and I feel it helped me throughout my career, because I faced a ton of challenges, a lot of adversity, “said Sermon. “But I know that, again, there is light at the end of the tunnel, so I just have to keep working hard and I know that everything will be fine.”
As if he was here all the time.