History has a funny way of circling back — sometimes violently.
More than two decades after Miami stood on the wrong side of one of college football’s most painful upsets, the Hurricanes returned the favor in spectacular fashion. On New Year’s Eve, under the bright lights of the Cotton Bowl, Miami Hurricanes delivered the biggest shock of the College Football Playoff era, knocking off Ohio State Buckeyes 24–14 as a 9.5-point underdog and ripping the heart out of the defending national champions’ repeat dreams.
This wasn’t a fluke. This wasn’t chaos-ball. This was physical, intentional, and unapologetically Miami.
And now? The Hurricanes are one win away from playing for a national championship — in their own backyard.
Ohio State entered the night rested, favored, and carrying the quiet confidence of a team that’s been here before. Miami entered with momentum, belief, and nothing to lose.
The Hurricanes struck first — and never let go of the script.
After Carson Beck capped an early drive with a short touchdown pass to Mark Fletcher Jr., Ohio State appeared poised to respond. The Buckeyes were moving the ball. The crowd buzzed. Momentum was teetering.
Then everything flipped.
Keionte Scott jumped a screen pass from Julian Sayin and sprinted 72 yards untouched for a pick-six that detonated the game. One second Ohio State was threatening to tie it. The next, Miami was up 14–0 and AT&T Stadium sounded like it had been airlifted straight out of Coral Gables.
Scott didn’t even need a convoy — just daylight and belief.
“It was a lot of emotions,” Scott said afterward. “That’s what this team relies on — just playing free.”
Ohio State never fully recovered.
What made this upset different — historic, even — was how calculated it felt.
Miami didn’t out-gimmick Ohio State. They out-muscled them.
Behind an offensive line that refused to budge and a running back duo that punished every inch of turf, the Hurricanes dictated the game’s rhythm. Mark Fletcher Jr. carried the ball 19 times for 90 yards and a touchdown, while CharMar Brown delivered the late-game hammer blows that finally put the Buckeyes away.
When Ohio State made a second-half push and trimmed the margin, Miami didn’t flinch. They leaned into power football — five runs on six plays — before a quick receiver screen to CJ Daniels set up the final sequence.
Ohio State, desperate, appeared to let Brown score with 55 seconds left just to save time.
It didn’t matter.
Julian Sayin threw his second interception moments later, and Miami walked off having closed the door the old-school way: by bleeding the clock and daring you to stop them.
This wasn’t a Heisman highlight night for Carson Beck — and that’s exactly why it worked.
The former Georgia quarterback, now wearing Miami colors after transferring following an elbow injury, played within himself and within the system. Beck completed 19 of 26 passes for 138 yards, setting a Cotton Bowl record with 13 consecutive completions at one point.
No hero ball. No panic. Just execution.
When asked what stood out about this Miami team, Beck didn’t hesitate: “The way we respond to adversity.”
That response has now carried Miami through two CFP wins — both on Texas soil — after barely sneaking into the playoff field as an at-large selection.
For Ohio State, the loss opened up an uncomfortable can of déjà vu.
With offensive coordinator Brian Hartline departing for South Florida, head coach Ryan Day took over play-calling duties — a move that once again produced uneven results on the biggest stage. The Buckeyes managed only 14 points, and 17 total points across the last 120 minutes of CFP play under Day’s direct play-calling.
Yes, the offense showed signs of life in the second half. Yes, freshman Julian Sayin threw for 287 yards and found Jeremiah Smith for a fourth-down touchdown. But the bigger picture remains troubling.
Ohio State’s two worst offensive performances of the season came in its final two games.
Injuries. Scheme. Timing. Whatever the reason, the machine sputtered when it mattered most.
And now, Ohio State joins an ignominious CFP statistic: teams with first-round byes are now 0–5 in the 12-team playoff era.
Plenty of plays mattered. One defined the night.
Keionte Scott’s pick-six didn’t just change the score — it changed belief. Ohio State went from confident favorite to pressing underdog in less than two minutes, and Miami fed off it.
Scott now has touchdown returns on both of his interceptions this season, and his latest may go down as one of the most iconic plays in Miami postseason history.
Michael Irvin ran the sideline. Jimmy Johnson stood nearby. Mario Cristobal soaked it in — a former Hurricane now guiding the program back toward relevance.
The ghosts were smiling.
No stat sheet fully captures belief — but Miami had it in bulk.
This win guarantees something massive: there will be a new national champion.
Ohio State’s loss ends any chance of a repeat and shifts the entire playoff landscape. Miami now awaits the winner of Georgia vs. Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl, with a semifinal showdown looming at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8.
And yes — there’s a poetic wrinkle here.
Carson Beck could face Georgia, his former team, with a trip to the title game on the line.
College football never misses an opportunity for drama.
This wasn’t just an upset. It was a reclamation.
Miami didn’t sneak past Ohio State. They took this game — with defense, with power running, and with a confidence that felt straight out of the early 2000s playbook. For the first time in a long time, “The U” isn’t just a brand. It’s a problem.
Twenty-three years after Ohio State denied them a title in double overtime, Miami flipped the script in the biggest playoff moment imaginable.
History repaid its debt.
The Hurricanes are still standing.
And college football just got a lot louder.
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