‘Playing as one:’ Hurricanes make latest playoff statement with Ohio State upset
The ball fluttered in the air, no intended target in sight. Jakobe Thomas charged in with room to run, no one around him.
The game-sealing interception went right into his arms.
Thomas took three steps before falling to the ground, pointing his right hand to the sky. Dylan Day gave him a high five. Zechariah Poyser ran in for a hug.
The sideline, meanwhile, was going crazy, no words to explain the emotions.
“Indescribable,” center James Brockermeyer said.
“Exerting with energy,” wide receiver CJ Daniels said.
Doubt these Miami Hurricanes all you want. Count them out. Call them underdogs.
They’re not going anywhere.
And their latest statement on Wednesday night showed just how tough of an out they are going to be in this College Football Playoff.
Miami — the No. 10 seed in the 12-team tournament, the last team to receive an at-large bid into the field, the team that had to rattle off four consecutive convincing wins after losing twice in a three-week span in the middle of the season — pulled off arguably the biggest upset in the 12-year history of the playoff format. The Hurricanes beat the No. 2 seed and defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl for a quarterfinal victory.
Miami (12-2) is now heading to the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 for the semifinals. They Canes will face the winner of Thursday’s Sugar Bowl matchup between the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs and No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels. A win at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, gets the Hurricanes into the national championship game, set for Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium, their home field.
“This is all that we’ve worked for,” star edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. said. “This is what coach [Mario] Cristobal told me about when I was in high school. It’s crazy that it’s happening.”
Added running back Mark Fletcher Jr.: “[Cristobal] told me that we’ll get this program back to national championship status, and we just continue to keep going one game at a time.”
This is the culmination of a process at work. Bain and Fletcher have seen it unfold before his eyes, two of the key cogs who trusted the vision from the start. Players like fellow edge rusher Akheem Mesidor, linebacker Wesley Bissainthe and right tackle Francis Mauigoa make up that group that went through the pains in the early seasons to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The dozen or so key additions that joined the fold this season — whether as freshmen (like Malachi Toney and Bryce Fitzgerald) or transfers (Thomas, Poyser, Daniels, Brockermeyer, quarterback Carson Beck, nickel corner Keionte Scott, and linebacker Mohammed Toure among the slew of big-name veteran additions) — were the finishing touches, the final pieces to round out the edges and shore up weak points.
They collectively bought in with the expectation the results would come.
Well, the results are here — loud and clear.
“We’re a group of guys that’s never going to fold or quit,” Brockermeyer said. “We’re always going to find a way to scrap it out at the end of the end of the day.”
That sums up these Hurricanes for going on two months now. They had to scratch and claw to remain in the playoff picture after losing to Louisville and SMU in a three-week span. They responded with running the table in their final four regular-season games to sneak into the playoff field.
They were given a chance, an opportunity, to prove they were legit.
The response?
First, a gusty road victory at Texas A&M on Dec. 20 to validate their spot in the field.
And then Wednesday’s effort against Ohio State (12-2) to prove they have a team that could win it all if they play to their standard.
Miami led 14-0 at halftime on a Beck touchdown pass to Fletcher and a Scott pick-six. It held Ohio State to 154 total yards and minus-3 rushing yards through the first two quarters. The Buckeyes were scoreless at halftime for the first time since 2016.
And even when the Buckeyes made their push — scoring a pair of touchdowns on their first two drives of the second half to get within 17-14 — the Hurricanes held firm.
The defense, which rattled Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin early and finished with five sacks plus the two interceptions, got a needed stop midway through the fourth quarter to keep the lead intact. The offense followed with a five-minute, 10-play, 70-yard drive capped by a CharMar “Marty” Brown 5-yard rushing touchdown with 55 seconds left to go back up by double digits.
“We just wanted to deliver a knockout blow,” Brockermeyer said. “Seize the moment.”
Then Thomas got his interception that ended it for good.
“This team has constantly battled through adversity, constantly fought, has never not given enough, regardless of any type of doubt, regardless of any negativity that might surround this team,” Beck said. “We’re banded together as one. We’ve shown unity, we’ve shown connection, and we’ve shown that we’re a family. I feel like the way that we play and the brand of football we play shows that.”
They’re one of four teams left competing for a national championship once the rest of the quarterfinals play out. They were doubted, counted out.
Yet here they are. Still playing. Goals still attainable. Ready for the next challenge.
“They’re playing as one, doing whatever it takes, finding a way to play with trust and confidence and just cutting it loose on game day,” Cristobal said. “That’s what these guys bring to the table. When you come out of the tunnel and these guys are beside you, you feel confident that it’s going to get done.”
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