As the final minutes ticked off the clock at AT&T Stadium in Dallas last week, Andy Gurd was experiencing a wave of emotions. His heart was pounding out of his shirt as Texas moved in for the go-ahead score against his beloved Ohio State Buckeyes in a college football playoff semifinal game. The anxiety turned to euphoria when Jack Sawyer’s strip sack and score made it a 14-point game to send Ohio State to the championship game. “Whew!!” Things didn’t seem this gut-wrenching when HE was playing for the Buckeyes, Gurd thought to himself. But the scenario and emotions are a lot different when it’s your own flesh and blood out there on the field with a trip to the national championship game on the line. A 1987 graduate of Kenston, Gurd is quite familiar with what it’s like to play in high-level football games for the Buckeyes. He was a linebacker at Ohio State from 1987-1991. Now it’s his son, Patrick, who is donning the scarlet and gray as a tight end/fullback for the Buckeyes. Ohio State senior Patrick Gurd is shown with his family – father Andy, mother Kim and sisters Carolyn and Catherine – after an Ohio State win. Gurd’s father, Andy, was an All-Ohioan at Kenston who went on to play football at Ohio State from 1987-91. (Courtesy of Andy Gurd) “Different. Very different,” Gurd said in a phone conversation with The News-Herald. “When you’re playing, you get to work the butterflies off. You say a lot more prayers when you’re a parent. “I didn’t get to play in a Rose Bowl; didn’t get to play in a Cotton Bowl. Didn’t have a playoff game or get to play in a national championship game. My son has gotten to do that all (in one year nonetheless). It’s been incredible and quite an experience as a parent.” Patrick Gurd, the second of three children born to Andy and Kim Gurd, is a 6-foot-4, 249-pound former walk-on that is best known not for his statistics, but rather as the fullback who blows open holes in goal-line situations for Treveyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. He doesn’t have any rushing or receiving yards this season, but he is invaluable to the Ohio State offense as the guy who plows the road clear for Henderson, Judkins and even quarterback Will Howard to get to the end zone once Ohio State gets inside the 10 or 5-yard line. He’s also a mainstay on special teams. Patrick Gurd, a graduate of Columbus suburb New Albany, has worked his way from a walk-on to being a full-scholarship player for Ohio State. Additionally, he is a four-time OSU scholar-athlete and a three-time Academic All-Big-Ten honoree with a degree in health sciences. Andy Gurd, a 1987 graduate of Kenston, and his wife Kim are shown with their son, Patrick, during a practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Patrick Gurd is a starting fullback in goal-line situations for the Ohio State football team. (Courtesy of Andy Gurd) “He’s worked very hard and earned the full-ride,” the proud father said. “Now he’s a graduate student and in his third year of lettering and being Academic All-Big-Ten. We are very proud of him.” Gurd is ecstatic his son is on this current journey, which will come to a head when Ohio State faces Notre Dame in the CFP national championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20. Four shoulder surgeries cut short his career at Ohio State, so seeing his son excel on this biggest of college football stages is gratifying. “We’re just trying to enjoy every moment,” Gurd said. “This really is a special group of kids, parents and families that care about each other. These boys are really playing for each other, playing for the coaching staff and Coach (Ryan) Day.” Day and his staff came under scrutiny after Ohio State lost to Michigan in the regular-season finale. But since then, the Buckeyes have dominated Tennessee, Oregon and Texas in consecutive playoff games. “That was a terrible loss,” Gurd said, “but it cauterized this team. This team is playing angry and with a chip on its shoulder. That loss brought this team together like nothing else.” Back in his playing days, Gurd was part of a legendary Ohio State-Michigan game, as well. It was his freshman year when Ohio State went into Ann Arbor and upset Michigan in what was the final game of Earle Bruce’s coaching career in Columbus. “Man, I’ll never forget Coach Bruce speaking to us that Monday of Michigan Week and telling us he was done after the game,” Gurd said. “What that did was bring us together to fight for him. We wore the ‘Earle’ headbands, the teams came out at midfield for the coin toss, we beat them up there and to have our fans storm THEIR field and carry Coach Bruce off…. wow.” Now 55 years old and working as a Senior Vice President of Investor Relations for an economic development agency in Columbus called “One Columbus,” Gurd considers himself a blessed man. He and his wife of 30 years, Kim, have daughters Carolyn (26) and Catherine (21), along with their son Patrick. Catherine is a captain for Xavier’s women’s lacrosse team. The family has been on a whirlwind tour of college football bowls of late, with trips to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl and Dallas for the Cotton Bowl already in the books, with a trip to Atlanta coming up this weekend. Family members from Ireland even flew in for Patrick’s game in Dallas last week. Ohio State senior Patrick Gurd (right) wears the same No. 49 that his father Andy Gurd (left) wore when he played for the Buckeyes from 1987-91. (Courtesy of Andy Gurd) And to top it all off, his son is playing for a national championship Jan. 20, wearing the same No. 49 jersey that Andy wore back in the 1980s when he started at linebacker for Ohio State alongside legendary Chris Spielman and Eric Kumerow — uncle of NFL stars Joey and Nick Bosa. “Man, we’re just very, very appreciative of everything,” Gurd said. “This is more than football. This is more than Ohio State. This is about incredibly deep and strong relationships and memories that will last a lifetime.” Ohio State vs. Notre Dame What: CFP national championship game When: 7:30 p.m., Jan. 20 Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta Records: Ohio State 13-2, Notre Dame 14-1 TV: ESPN