No. 10 Miami stuns No. 2 Ohio State 24-14 in the CFP quarterfinals
🙌 No. 10 Miami upsets No. 2 Ohio State 24-14
The Miami Hurricanes have knocked off the defending national champions, defeating Ohio State 24-14 in the CFP quarterfinals. The Canes advance to the CFP semifinals where they await the winner of No. 3 Georgia and No. 6 Ole Miss in the Sugar bowl tomorrow night.
The Canes jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, holding it until an opening second half touchdown from Ohio State. The Buckeyes controlled the second half, but the two touchdown deficit proved too much for Ryan Day's squad to overcome.
Miami running back Mark Fletcher had 90 powerful yards on the ground while Carson Beck added 138 yards and a touchdown in the air. However, arguably the play of the game came early in the second quarter when Keionte Scott perfectly jumped an outlet pass from Julian Sayin, taking it 72 yards back to the house for six.
The Canes defense was relentless all night, taking down Sayin five times in the backfield. Sayin was only sacked six times all regular season. Superstar wideout Jeremiah Smith put on a show even in the loss, finishing with 157 yards on just seven catches and a touchdown.
Miami was on the bubble heading into the CFP selection show, but the Canes were handed the final at-large bid and they have more than proved their belonging after tonight's upset.
🤩 Jeremiah Smith delivers | 4Q: Miami 17, OSU 14
The Buckeyes put together another long scoring drive, going 75 yards in 10 plays as Julian Sayin found Jeremiah Smith for a 14-yard touchdown connection on 4th and 2. The true freshman wide receiver is delivering again for Ohio State in the CFP, racking up 141 yards on just six catches and now a touchdown.
Ryan Day's squad holds all of the momentum as Mario Cristobal will try and pull his team together to close out this upset in Arlington in the fourth quarter.
Fourth and Smith.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB)
📺 ESPN
🏆 College Football Playoff perfect bracket outcomes
Entering today's quarterfinal matchup, only 12.9% of the College Football Bracket Challenge Game picks remained perfect. In the first round, Miami cut down the most brackets as the perfect picks dropped from 52% to under 17% after No. 7 Texas A&M fell at home. We are tracking all of perfect brackets as we get closer to crowing a champion.
Our lead bracket reporter Wayne Staats dug up the numbers for tonight. Depending on the Cotton Bowl outcome, here are how many perfect brackets will remain:
- Ohio State wins — 10.9% remain
- Miami wins — 2% remain
🎯 Canes add three | 3Q: Miami 17, OSU 7
Miami responds to the Buckeyes' opening second half touchdown drive with three points, pushing the Cotton Bowl back to a two-score game with a 50-yard field goal — one yard longer than Ohio State's 49-yard attempt to close the first half.
Interesting stat to note: There have been zero penalty flags thrown so far this game as the third quarter winds down.
👀 Ohio State gets on the board | 3Q: Miami 14, OSU 7
The Buckeyes make a statement on the opening drive of the second half, putting together an 11-play, 82-yard drive capped off by a one-yard rushing touchdown from Bo Jackson. This is the exact response Ryan Day's squad needed out of the half, and Ohio State has now put the pressure back on the Miami offense which stalled out in the second quarter.
Put it on the board Bo 💯
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB)
📺 ESPN
✔️ Halftime check in from the Cotton Bowl
We are 30 minutes deep into the 90th Cotton Bowl, and we have had plenty of action as the teams head to the locker rooms. No. 10 Miami holds a 14-0 lead over No. 2 Ohio State on the back of an inspiring performance from the Canes defense, including a 72-yard pick-six from defensive back Keionte Scott in the second quarter.
The Canes pass rush headlined by ACC DPOY Rueben Bain has compiled three sacks for 29 lost yards on Julian Sayin, as the Ohio State quarterback has been running for his life all night. The Buckeyes have posted some explosive plays, most notably a 59-yard deep ball to Jeremiah Smith, but that drive was flipped over with the pick-six.
KEIONTE SCOTT PICK SIX
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow)
"TAKE IT TO THE CRIB" ~
Miami only leads Ohio State 165 to 154 in total yards, but the Buckeyes' negative three yards on the ground jumps off the statcast. They average over 150 yards per game on the ground, but the Miami front seven have bottled up the run game all night.
The missed field goal as time expired in the second quarter only rubs in a forgettable first half for Ohio State faithful, but Ryan Day's squad does receive the second half kickoff only down two scores regardless of how lopsided the first half may have seemed.
🫷Ohio State misses field goal to close the half
After a long drive that started on their own two-yard line, the Buckeyes walk away with zero points after their 49-yard field goal attempt goes wide left. No. 10 Miami takes a 14-0 lead into the locker room over No. 2 Ohio State.
📝 Which conferences are winning bowl season?
With bowl season flying by, we have you covered with which conferences will carry bragging rights into the 2026 offseason. Here are some of the glaring numbers as we round out 2025:
- The Big Ten leads all conferences with seven wins thus far. Their 7-3 bowl record marks the second-highest winning percentage (.700) of any conference, only trailing the Big 12 at 4-1 (.800).
- The SEC has struggled early. The conference with the most teams in the College Football Playoff is 3-6 so far. They had lost four consecutive bowl games before Texas put the SEC back in the win column by defeating Michigan earlier today.
- The CUSA and the American have the best winning percentages of Group of Five conferences, each sitting at 4-3. The American still has two bowl games to play while CUSA has played all seven of its bowl games.
👉 Click or tap here to find the full schedule and breakdown of each conference's bowl record
🤯 CANES PICK SIX | 2Q: Miami 14, OSU 0
After a relatively boring first quarter, the action has picked up in Arlington after Keionte Scott jumped Julian Sayin's outlet pass in Miami territory, returning it 72 yards to the house for the Canes. The Buckeyes finally found some offense after Sayin connected with Jeremiah Smith for 59 yards on the first play after receiving the kickoff. But Scott and the Canes shut down the promising possession in electric fashion.
The 14-point deficit is the Buckeyes' largest deficit in three years.
A 70 YARD PICK-6 FOR MIAMI
— JM Football (@JomboyMediaFB)
The Canes lead the Buckeyes 14-0
⚡️ Miami strikes first | 2Q: Miami 7, OSU 0
Carson Beck finds his running back Mark Fletcher out left for a nine-yard touchdown catch to give the Canes the first points of the Cotton Bowl. Miami has controlled the ball all game despite the first quarter fumble, holding almost 13 minutes of possession to the Buckeyes' 3:40. Ohio State has nine total yards to the Canes' 128.
Julian Sayin and company will receive the kickoff with over 13 minutes still to play in the second quarter.
Miami lined up with 7 O-Linemen running QB G/H Counter with a Rail RPO 🔥
— Jake Franklin Football (@JakeFranklinFB)
❌ Ohio State forces red zone turnover | 1Q: OSU 0, Miami 0
After a punt from each team to open the game, Miami's promising drive came to an abrupt stall on a third down run as Ohio State's Payton Pierce punched the ball out of Mark Fletcher's hands, forcing a Canes fumble.
It is Fletcher's first lost fumble of the season.
FUMBLE
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow)
THAT'S OHIO STATE FOOTBALL
GOOD PUNCH BY PAYTON PIERCE
🎊 30 minutes to kickoff in the Cotton Bowl
Happy New Year's Eve and happy College Football Playoff game day! We are 30 minutes until kickoff between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 10 Miami in the Cotton Bowl, a rematch of the 2003 national championship game in the Fiesta Bowl. Will Ohio State continue its back-to-back quest, or will the Canes stun the defending champs and march closer to their first title since 2001? Follow along here for live updates throughout the game as we ring in the 2026.
NEW YEAR’S EVE GAME DAY‼️🎉🏈
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff)
🍿 Previewing Ohio State vs. Miami
No. 2 Ohio State and No. 10 Miami have only met five times, the last time being 2011, but there’s a good bit of history between the two renowned programs. For older college football fans, you remember the 2002 BCS national championship game between them, both undefeated at the time, ending in a double overtime victory for the Buckeyes.
Nearly 23 years later, here’s a look at how both teams got to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals:
🌰 Ohio State (12-1)
What isn’t there to rave about this year’s Buckeyes team?
Ohio State sat atop the AP poll nearly the entire season. The Buckeyes earned the No. 1 ranking after defeating then-No. 1 Texas in the opening weekend of the season, and they kept that mark into conference championship weekend, going undefeated in the regular season with more ranked wins against Illinois and Michigan. The Buckeyes' only blemish was their 13-10 loss in the Big Ten championship to Indiana, stripping away their projected No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff and first conference title since 2020.
Yet, OSU only dropping one spot reflects how good this team is. Heisman finalist quarterback Julian Sayin led the nation in completion percentage (78.4%) and recorded five games with over 300 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. A major reason for his success is the two-headed monster he has out wide in receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate — arguably the best one-two punch in the country.
The defense has been stellar too, allowing the least amount of yards per game (213.5) nationally and just 10 touchdowns. Impact players are threaded throughout the bunch, as four players received All-Big Ten first team selections, the most by any team in the conference.
Although they limited the Hoosiers to just 13 points at Lucas Oil Stadium, Sayin and the offense struggled against Indiana's elite defense. They should expect a similar, high-octane defense from Miami.
🙌 Miami (11-2)
Energy is currently high in Miami-Dade County after the Hurricanes walked into College Station and took down Texas A&M, 10-3, for their first-ever CFP victory. Defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald’s game-sealing interception, his second of the game, was a glimpse into how good Miami’s defense was against the Aggies and during the first few weeks of the season.
Both teams were held scoreless in the first half partly due to Kyle Field’s windy atmosphere, but that doesn’t take away how good the defensive play was. By the end of the game, Miami forced three turnovers, collected seven sacks and allowed TAMU just two red zone opportunities on 11 drives. Star defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. wreaked havoc all game, finishing with three sacks, four tackles for loss and a blocked field goal.
And offense showed up when needed. They jumped on the back of running back Mark Fletcher Jr., who rushed for a career-high 172 yards — 75 on the Hurricanes’ fourth quarter scoring drive. Freshman phenom Malachi Toney redeemed himself after his late-game fumble by scoring the game-winning touchdown.
Although the victory was ugly, it showed Miami’s ability to win without scoring a lot of points, which is something they produced early in the 2025 campaign. The Hurricanes averaged 34.6 points per game in its three ranked wins during the first six weeks of the season.
They now hold a five-game winning streak ahead of their biggest, most difficult matchup of the year in Ohio State.
🎥 Revisiting the 2002 BCS National Championship game
Ohio State and Miami produced one of the most memorable national championship games in recent history. The two historic programs met in the 2002 BCS national title game, also known as the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, where the Buckeyes won 31-24 in a double overtime thriller.
Although both were undefeated, the Hurricanes entered the contest on a 34-game win streak.
Miami forced the first overtime after nailing a 40-yard field goal as time expired in regulation, tying it at 17-17.
The Hurricanes scored first in OT, but the Buckeyes responded with a touchdown two plays after Miami was called for a pass interference on fourth down. Ohio State scored again in the second overtime and stopped the Hurricanes on the one-yard line to win its first national championship in 32 years.
Here are some highlights from the game:
January 3, 2003: OSU beats Miami 31-24 in 2OT at the Fiesta Bowl to win the BCS Title.
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips)
There was a flag that extended the game in OT
👀 College Football Playoff bracket
Here is the 2025 College Football Playoff bracket entering the quarterfinals round:
Just 12.9 percent of brackets went 4 for 4 in the first round in krikya98.com's College Football Bracket Challenge Game.
The Buckeyes and Hurricanes were viewed drastically differently by college football fans regarding the national championship conversation. 25.33% of brackets selected Ohio State to win the national title, the second best odds, while Miami was picked by 1.54%.
👉 Click or tap here to see which teams are being picked the most