ARLINGTON, TX — No. 10 seed Miami controlled the line of scrimmage and forced No. 2 Ohio State out of its comfort zone to score a 24-14 Cotton Bowl win and the first upset of this year’s College Football Playoff.
After sneaking into the tournament as the last at-large seed, the Hurricanes proved they belonged by handling the defending national champions. The loss was the second in a row for Ohio State after a 12-0 start.
Miami running back Mark Fletcher Jr. had 90 yards on 19 carries. Carson Beck completed 19 of 26 attempts for 138 yards and added 23 yards on the ground. Defensively, the Hurricanes notched five sacks and held OSU to just 45 rushing yards.
‘We keep getting better and better up front,’ Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. ‘We don’t think we have arrived by any stretch, but we certainly think we’re getting better. When you play a team like that that’s been the number one defense in the country the entire year, you have to.’
Star receiver Jeremiah Smith delivered for the Buckeyes, pulling down 157 yards on seven grabs. Julian Sayin had two interceptions, one that changed the complexion of the game, and finished with 287 yards on 22 of 35 passing with a score. Bo Jackson led OSU with 55 rushing yards.
Miami advances to the national semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl against the winner of Thursday night’s Sugar Bowl between No. 3 Georgia and No. 6 Mississippi.
After both teams traded punts on the game’s opening possessions, Miami put together a promising 42-yard drive that advanced to the Buckeyes’ 19-yard line before Fletcher was stripped by linebacker Payton Pierce on third down to give the ball back to the Buckeyes.
Miami’s offense would get back on track on its next drive. After forcing an Ohio State punt and taking over at their 17-yard line, the Hurricanes needed 13 plays to score the game’s first points on Fletcher’s 9-yard touchdown grab with 13:31 left in the second quarter.
One of the game’s key moments came on the ensuing possession. After hitting Smith for a 59-yard gain on the first snap from scrimmage, Sayin was intercepted two plays later by Miami’s Keionte Scott, who ran it back 72 yards for a pick-six and a 14-0 Miami lead with 11:49 left in the half.
‘It was on film for sure, but I think in the moment, with all the skill players on one side of the ball, so, obviously, knew the ball was coming in that area,’ Scott said of his decision to jump the screen pass. ‘And then as soon as the tight end motioned, I kind of confirmed in my head — made up in my mind that I was going at that moment.’
The Buckeyes would gain some momentum before the break by clamping down on a Miami drive that reached the 30-yard line before a sack and a 6-yard loss dropped the Hurricanes out of field goal range. But after taking over at its 2-yard line and moving into Miami territory, Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding’s 49-yard try with two seconds left in the second quarter drifted left.
The 14-point deficit was the largest for the Buckeyes since its 45-23 loss to Michigan to end the 2022 regular season. The Buckeyes hadn’t been held scoreless in the first half since a 31-0 loss to Clemson in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl.
Ohio State would find some answers in the locker room. Keyed by a 23-yard completion to Smith, the Buckeyes would march 82 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 1-yard Jackson touchdown run, to make the score 14-7 with 8:05 to play in the third quarter. The drive featured 35 rushing yards after OSU had managed minu-2 yards on the ground in the first half.
‘I felt like it took us a while to get into the rhythm of the game,’ Ohio State coach Ryan Day said about the team’s 25-day layoff after the Big Ten title game. ‘I thought we did coming out in the second half and by then it was going to take a very, very efficient second half to win the game.’
Miami answered with a 49-yard field goal from Carter Davis to make it 17-7 with 3:01 remaining in the quarter. Previously, the most points the Buckeyes had allowed in a game this season was 16 in a win against Illinois.
Davis was 6 of 10 from 40-plus yards heading into Wednesday night and had missed three of four attempts in the opening round against No. 7 Texas A&M. The Hurricanes were able to move into his range after freshman receiver Malachi Toney was stripped by Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs on the previous down but then recovered his own fumble and gained another two yards.
The Buckeyes’ offense would have another response on a drive bridging the third and fourth quarters. After driving to the Miami 14-yard line, Ohio Sate came up short on a Jackson run on third down and decided to go for it on fourth-and-2. Sayin delivered over the middle to Smith, who weaved through the secondary to cut the lead to 17-14 with 13:28 left in the game.
Taking over after a touchback, the Hurricanes would manage a first down via a Beck scramble. The drive then petered out, though, and Miami’s punt went out at the Ohio State 25-yard line. But the Buckeyes’ own herky-jerky drive slowed by a holding penalty went just six yards in seven plays and took over four minutes off the clock, giving the Hurricanes the ball at their 30-yard line with 5:56 to play.
Behind Beck and Fletcher, Miami would then deliver the knockout blow. A 70-yard drive that started with a 19-yard Fletcher run and two key third-down conversions on Beck completions — the biggest a 14-yard toss to CJ Daniels on third-and-4 at the OSU 20-yard line — ended with a 5-yard score from running back CharMar Brown to put Miami ahead 24-14 with 55 seconds left. Sayin was then intercepted by Jakobe Thomas to seal the win.