TEMPE -- For three quarters, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a perfectly good, if not memorable, college football championship game.
By the end of the fourth quarter, with Ohio State and Miami tied at 17, it was a classic.
After two overtimes, and the Buckeyes' 31-24 victory, it was one of the greatest ever.
No one wanted to be No. 2.
In a shocking, thrilling season-ender, Ohio State ripped the national title from the confident 'Canes -- who, at one point, rushed onto the field thinking they had won.
That's the kind of game it was.
It changed minute by minute, down by down.
In the end, Maurice Clarett ran 5 yards for the winning touchdown, and Ohio State's defense turned back one final bid by No. 1 Miami to tie it. With that, the Buckeyes completed an unlikely, unbeaten run to their first national title in 34 years.
The second-ranked Buckeyes ended the Hurricanes' try for a second straight title and their winning streak at 34.
But it would have never happened if not for a late pass interference call at the end of the first overtime.
Instead, the fourth-down call gave Ohio State the chance it needed to tie the game and send it into the second overtime.
By then, it already was an all-timer -- the first national championship game to go into overtime, in a matchup of the nation's last two undefeated teams, both fighting staying to stay perfect.
Miami's Todd Sievers sent the game into overtime with his 40-yard field goal on the final play of the fourth quarter.
The Buckeyes' punishing defense had rattled and pounded Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey all night.
And on the last play of the game, on fourth-and-goal at the 1, Cie Grant blitzed and forced Dorsey to heave a desperation pass that linebacker Matt Wilhelm batted to the ground.
A few plays earlier, Wilhelm hit Dorsey with such force it sent the quarterback to the sideline for one play. He came back in, but the Buckeyes would not be denied against a team trying to secure its place in history as one of college football's great dynasties.
The fantastic finish was nothing new for Ohio State this season. The Buckeyes won six games by seven points or fewer, including their last three to make it to the title game -- 10-6 over Purdue, 23-16 over Illinois in overtime and 14-9 over Michigan.
|
Score By Quarters |
|
Ohio State |
0 |
14 |
3 |
0 |
14 |
31 |
|
Miami (FL) |
7 |
0 |
7 |
3 |
7 |
24 |
|
|
Miami (FL) |
Ohio State |
|
First Downs |
19 |
14 |
|
Rushing Yards |
65 |
145 |
|
Passes Attempted |
44 |
21 |
|
Passes Completed |
29 |
7 |
|
Had Intercepted |
2 |
2 |
|
Passing Yards |
304 |
122 |
|
Punting/Avg. |
4/43.2 |
6/47.7 |
|
Fumbles/Lost |
3/3 |
0/0 |
|
Penalties/Yards |
6/30 |
9/49 |
Scoring Summary:
UM: Parrish 25 yd pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick); OSU: Krenzel 1 yd run (Nugent kick); OSU: Clarett 1 yd run (Nugent kick); OSU: Nugent 44 yd field goal; UM: McGahee 9 yd run (Sievers kick); UM: Sievers 40 yd kick; UM: Winslow 7 yd pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick); OSU: Krenzel 1 yd run (Nugent kick); OSU: Clarett 5 yd run (Nugent kick)
MOPs: Craig Krenzel, Mike Doss (Ohio State)