Ohio State and Miami set for a nostalgic CFP clash, with the focus on now, not a flag from long ago

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — The last time Ohio State and Miami met in a postseason football game, the Hurricanes spent a few seconds celebrating a victory that gave them back-to-back national championships.

And then The Flag came out.

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The Hurricanes stopped celebrating. Since then, they have not celebrated a title.

It was Ohio State against Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, the national championship of the 2002 season. Miami leads 24-17 in overtime, Ohio State throws into the end zone on fourth down, the ball hits the ground, an official calls it an incomplete pass and the game ends. Miami wins. Except it wasn’t over. Miami doesn’t win. Another official called pass interference to extend the drive, the Buckeyes scored to tie the game, then scored again in the second overtime and won the national title 31-24.

Next week, they will meet in a playoff game – the Cotton Bowl, with Ohio State being the team seeking back-to-back national titles. The Buckeyes (12-1) and Hurricanes (11-2) will meet in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals on New Year’s Eve.

“It’s going to be a challenge for us offensively, but it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to,” Miami quarterback Carson Beck said. “But we recognize how talented they are, and we’re going to have to come out and execute them.”

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And in all honesty, the 2002 Hurricanes weren’t as effective as they should have been against Ohio State. They turned the ball over five times and allowed four sacks. But all we remember is the fourth down where Craig Krenzel threw into the right corner of the end zone, intended for Chris Gamble. Miami cornerback Glenn Sharpe defended, Gamble didn’t make the catch, linesman Derick Bowers called the pass incomplete and the Hurricanes started jumping for joy. Sean Taylor threw his helmet so high in the air in celebration that parts broke off upon landing.

Then Terry Porter, the back judge, called. This was not well received by everyone; even ABC analyst Dan Fouts twice declared it “a bad call” while watching replays.

Porter said over the years he simply took an extra moment to make sure he got the call.

“If you make a call and it’s true, the call disappears. If you make a call and the call is false, it never disappears. Ever,” Porter told the Stillwater News Press for an August story about his entry into the state’s Officials Hall of Fame. “So take your time and try to do it right. That’s what we all want to do. When you go out at night, out of the place – football, basketball, I don’t care – you just want to have done it right.”

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Beck wasn’t even 2 months old when the Miami-Ohio State title game took place. What happened on January 3, 2003, in theory, will not matter much to either side. After all, most of the players in this game weren’t even born when this happened.

“We are focused on the present,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “We are focused on the present.”

But the confrontations are often about history, nostalgia. The teams have played twice since that Fiesta Bowl — Ohio State won in 2010, Miami won in 2011 — but those games are getting almost no attention right now.

“I think games like this, with two historic programs, I think people will always want to pull out the history and make comparisons and everything else,” Cristobal said. “And moments like that, they’re valid. They’re real. That’s what makes college football great, the pageantry. But this game is the Hurricanes and the 2025 Buckeyes chasing it, which will be determined by the 22 guys on the field, one moment at a time. That’s going to be the focus. That’s where all of our attention will be.”

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