Hurricanes hold off Ohio State rally to win Cotton Bowl, advance to playoff semifinals

Akheem Mesidor scoffed at the comment.

Heading into the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday, where the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes were set to play the No. 2-ranked and defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes in a College Football Playoff semifinal, Mesidor was asked how he felt about people outside the program viewing Miami as the underdog.

“I don’t really care about what anybody has to say,” Mesidor responded. “I play football. We all play football. We all believe in each other and believe in ourselves, so all the exterior noise and stuff, I don’t really care for it. I’m just here to play football.”

Mesidor and the Hurricanes have never lacked confidence. They’ve never doubted what they could accomplish. When they’re playing at their best, they know they can compete with anyone.

Even the defending national champions.

The Hurricanes did just that on Wednesday, and now they’re one step closer to a potential national championship.

Miami held off Ohio State’s second-half comeback bid for a 24-14 win at AT&T Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 71,323 to advance to the CFP semifinals. The Hurricanes (12-2) will next play in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 against the winner of Thursday’s Sugar Bowl matchup between the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs and No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels for a spot in the national championship game on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium.

Ohio State’s season ends with a 12-2 record, a perfect regular season followed by losses in the Big Ten Championship Game to Indiana and the Cotton Bowl to Miami.

“It starts and ends with these guys and their teammates,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “Their resiliency, their commitment to a program, and a level of work and dedication that is just rare. Their resiliency, their just desire to find a way to punch through and get better on a weekly basis has led us to this opportunity; and now has granted us another one. So, looking forward to getting back to work.”

Miami, which entered the game as a nine-and-a-half-point underdog, needed a lot to go right in order to pull off the upset.

How’d they do?

They needed to rattle Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist and led the nation in completion percentage (78.4%) entering the game.

Miami sacked him five times — Mesidor had two, while Rueben Bain Jr., Marquise Lightfoot and Wesley Bissainthe each had one — and had two more quarterback hurries. Ohio State gave up 10 sacks in its two losses after allowing just six through its first 12 games.

“When you got guys like Rueben Bain and myself and then Ahmad Moten who can rush the passer, it’s really fun,” Mesidor said.

They needed to score early and establish a lead. Miami did so on its third drive, going 83 yards on 13 plays capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass from Carson Beck to Mark Fletcher Jr. on a possession that took 8:04 off the game clock to put Miami up 7-0 with 13:31 left in the second quarter.

Fletcher, the hero on Miami’s go-ahead drive in the first round against Texas A&M, finished with 115 yards from scrimmage (90 rushing yards on 19 carries, 25 receiving yards on two catches).

In addition to the touchdown, Fletcher ripped off a 19-yard rush to start Miami’s game-sealing drive that ended in a 5-yard touchdown from CharMar “Marty” Brown with 55 seconds left.

“This game leaned more towards Fletcher and Marty, that combination, because of how big and physical Ohio State was,” Cristobal said. “This was going to have to be a slug-it-out, contact, balance, yards after contact type of game. And those guys, they did a great job.”

They needed a momentum-shifting play. Keionte Scott, arguably one of college football’s most underrated players this season, provided that spark.

The nickel cornerback stymied Ohio State’s first true scoring chance by jumping Brandon Inniss’ route, intercepting a Sayin pass and returning it 72 yards for a touchdown to put Miami up 14-0. That score would hold going into halftime after Ohio State missed a 49-yard field goal attempt in the dying seconds of the second quarter.

“I was full of emotions,” Scott said. “I think I took a little moment to peek at the sideline and look at everybody and let them know what was going on, so that was a pretty cool moment. And then just having fun. At the end of the day, that’s what this team relies on: Just going out there, playing free and just having fun.”

And Miami needed to find a way to finish. The Hurricanes knew the Buckeyes weren’t going to roll over. They’re too talented. They had too much at stake.

Ohio State broke up the shutout with a strong drive to start the second half, going 82 yards down the field on 11 plays capped by a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Bo Jackson.

Miami responded with a 49-yard field goal from Carter Davis to extend its lead back to double digits, 17-7 with 3:01 left in the third quarter, but the Buckeyes marched down the field again — 10 plays, 75 yards — with Jeremiah Smith hauling in a 14-yard touchdown catch to get Ohio State within 17-14 with 13:28 left to play.

UM’s defense, needing one more stop, got it when they pressured Sayin into dumping off a short pass on third and 20 to running back CJ Donaldson that went nowhere.

Miami took control from there, with the power running combo of Fletcher and Brown paving the way, eating five minutes of game clock and going back up by 10 points with 55 seconds left.

Jakobe Thomas sealed it two plays later with an interception.

The celebration began.

Two wins down. Two to go.

“What a helluva game,” Beck said. “What a helluva opportunity that we were able to pull out a win at the end. I’m just so proud of our team and our guys.”

This story was originally published December 31, 2025 at 10:50 PM.