Many believed that the Miami Hurricanes did not belong in the college football playoffs. Yet their doubters were proven incorrect after stunning the best team in college football the Ohio State Buckeyes, 24-14.
The Hurricanes’ offensive line did an excellent job of neutralizing the defensive line of the Buckeyes. Mark Fletcher Jr. ended up with 90 yards on 19 carries. His biggest run of the game came in the fourth quarter, which went for 19 yards.
He also caught the first touchdown of the game on third and goal with the Buckeyes expecting him to run it in, which made up for his fumble in the red zone on the Hurricanes’ previous possession.
Ohio State seemingly was ready to answer. Julian Sayin went deep and found Jeremiah Smith for 60 yards. Miami’s defense answered with a sack by Rueben Bain Jr. and then a pick-six on a wide receiver screen.
Late in the second quarter, the Buckeyes’ offense got going, leading to a field goal attempt with seconds remaining. Jayden Fielding came on for a 49-yard attempt, and it was missed.
Ryan Day made the necessary adjustment at halftime to get the Buckeyes’ offense going. Running back Bo Jackson came up big, and a drive that went nearly seven minutes was capped off with his touchdown run.
Miami took time off with their drive, which went for a little over five minutes in nine plays. The result was a 49-yard field goal made by Carter Davis.
Using more two tight end sets, the Buckeyes once again drove down the field. The Hurricanes were having difficulty getting to Sayin, and with the running game looking good, the Buckeyes found the end zone. This time a 14-yard touchdown reception for Smith.
Surprisingly, both teams then traded punts. Miami could not ask for a better offensive possession with around six minutes left in the game. To open the drive was the aforementioned 19-yard run by Fletcher Jr.
Carson Beck found running back CharMar Brown on a quick throw for the first down. He picked up another first down on a 13-yard run and got the next two carries that took the clock to the two-minute timeout.
Wide receiver CJ Daniels picked up 13 yards on a third-down reception. Ohio State then started to use its timeouts. Brown capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run. The Buckeyes got one more chance to put points on the board with 55 seconds left. Two plays later, Sayin was intercepted.
For Ohio State, wide receiver Carnell Tate was quiet with three catches for 37 yards, Jackson finished with 11 carries for 55 yards and the touchdown, and Smith was again big with seven catches for 157 yards and the touchdown.
Defensively Arvell Reese was quiet; I hardly heard his name mentioned, and besides one hit on Beck, he did not really get near the Hurricanes’ quarterback. Defensive end Eddrick Houston did pick up 1.5 sacks, and Sonny Styles picked up a .5 sack.
Offensively for Miami, their offensive line did a great job of keeping the pressure off Beck and allowing running lanes for Fletcher Jr., Brown, and Girard Pringle Jr. Beck only threw for 136 yards, yet he got rid of the football quickly, and when he needed to take off with the football, he did.
When it came to the Hurricanes’ defense, for the most part it was outstanding. Bain Jr. and Ahkeem Mesidor wreaked havoc on the Buckeyes’ offensive line. The duo combined for three sacks; also recording a sack were Wesley Bissainthe and Marquise Lightfoot. His was memorable for his effort; after being double-teamed and held with no flag, he was able to get to Sayin.
Miami moves on to face either Mississippi or Georgia, and the season is over for Ohio State.