ARLINGTON, TX — Everyone in AT&T Stadium knew what Miami was going to do.
Leading No. 2 seed Ohio State 17-14 in the Cotton Bowl and taking over at their 30-yard line with 5:56 to play, the No. 10 seed Hurricanes had one mission: to run the ball down the Buckeyes’ throat to milk the clock, deliver the knockout blow and send the defending national champions packing from the College Football Playoff.
“We all looked each other in the eyes,” said senior center James Brockermeyer. “We said, ‘This is our moment. Let’s take over this game.’”
What unfolded over the ensuing five minutes of game clock tells the story of a team blossoming at the right time and a program that has reclaimed its place on the national stage after spending more than two decades lost in the wilderness.
Ten plays. Eight runs for 52 yards. A 19-yard gain to get things started by junior running back Mark Fletcher, who had a game-high 90 yards. Twenty-six yards from backup CharMar Brown, including the 5-yard score that provided the final exclamation point on a 24-14 upset.
The whole thing can be boiled down like this: Ohio State knew what Miami wanted to do and couldn’t do a single thing about it.
“It just shows that we’re a team that will do what it takes to win a game and grind things out against a really, really good defense like that,” Brockermeyer said. “They’re a great team. But we’ve got a great team, too.”
That’s how Miami was built, in the trenches, by a coach in Mario Cristobal who knows no other way. From the depths of his five-win debut in 2022 and miserable moments such as a shocking debacle loss to Georgia Tech a year later, Cristobal has pieced together a team constructed to win hard-fought, physical games against the nation’s best in postseason play.
“We keep getting better and better up front,” Cristobal said. “When you play a team like that that’s been the number one defense in the country the entire year, you have to. And you have to not only hit, but you’ve got to be willing to take the hits and keep coming, because that’s what it’s going to be.”
This improvement was evident in an often ugly 10-3 win against No. 7 seed Texas A&M in the opening round, when the Hurricanes overcame three missed field goals and made a late defensive stand to advance to Wednesday night’s quarterfinals. But the Cotton Bowl casts Miami in a new light — as a team capable of winning the whole thing — and shows how adeptly Cristobal installed his formula.
“We live in a geographic area with a lot of high school talent, a lot of skill players. But he built it inside-out and supplanted that with great outside players, skill players,” said Miami athletics director Dan Radakovich.
“That’s the recipe that he thought about and actually put into action. He was able to pull that together. It wasn’t like a zoom kind of thing. It was very progressive, with a great foundation.”
Miami ran for 153 yards, the most Ohio State had allowed since the season opener against Texas, and averaged 4.1 yards per carry. The line gave up just two sacks and four tackles for loss. The Hurricanes set the tone by maintaining possession for more than 11 minutes in the first quarter and closed the Buckeyes out by holding the ball for almost nine minutes in the fourth.
Despite being roughly a touchdown underdog by kickoff, Miami looked better prepared for a line-of-scrimmage battle, especially when pushing piles forward after contact on the game-clinching drive and bullying an Ohio State team most expected to repeat.
“He definitely relayed that message that he wanted us to be the most physical team, the most violent team,” Fletcher said of Cristobal. “And that’s with anybody who we play, who we line up against, especially on the offensive side. But he was screaming that to the defense, too. And, shoot, defense played violent. We got to play violent, too. That’s how we match it.”
Not to be outdone, Miami’s defense sacked Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin five times; that matched Indiana’s sack total from the Big Ten championship game after the Buckeyes had allowed just six sacks during their 12-0 start.
On both sides of the ball, the Hurricanes were able to carry the normally unflappable Buckeyes out of their comfort zone and into choppy waters on the line of scrimmage. Counting sacks, Ohio State managed just 45 rushing yards on 1.9 yards per carry. Going back to 2016, the Buckeyes’ previous low for rushing yards in a game was 58 yards against Indiana earlier this month.
“Our players kept responding. Our players kept coming with their counterpunch,” said Cristobal. “And those last couple of counterpunches, that big stop after they converted a third-and-18, and then the touchdown drive at the end, and then to finish it off with an interception, those are great counterpunches. Those are just really left hooks to the body and to the head.”
Most importantly, the Hurricanes’ defense was able to pressure Sayin with five and often four pass rushers. Clearly fazed, Sayin completed 62.8% of his attempts, his worst performance since the opener, and tossed multiple interceptions for just the second time.
In the game’s biggest single moment, Sayin delivered a misguided pass to the flat in the direction of receiver Brandon Inniss in the second quarter that Miami defensive back Keionte Scott jumped the route and returned 72 yards for a touchdown.
“We got him early, we hit him early, and I think it forced him to throw that interception,” said Mesidor.
“Not only that, but throughout the game he was a little uncomfortable. He really wasn’t dropping back to throw deep bombs. He was throwing drag routes, finding little holes in the zone.”
The turnaround is remarkable, and shouldn’t be ignored. Four years ago, Miami finished short of bowl eligibility for the first time since 2007. Two months ago, the Hurricanes lost 26-20 to SMU and was essentially tossed out of the playoff mix, only to controversially leap ahead of Notre Dame in the playoff rankings on the heels of a four-game winning streak.
Everything is coming together, at long last, and Miami is reestablished as a true national player. If they can do this against Ohio State, the Hurricanes can do the same to every team still alive in this tournament — and maybe deliver the program’s first national championship since 2001 and sixth overall.
“It’s a great time to shine, at the end of the game,” said Brockermeyer. “We’re just a team that never folds and we never will.”