This is as good as it gets, when you break through, when you change your world — when the night and the dream are coming to you at the same time on a big stage like Miami had Wednesday night in the Cotton Bowl.
All Miami had to do was hold on to their lead by the end. And they held tight. And when safety Jakobe Thomas came down with an interception to seal Miami’s 24-14 College Football Playoff quarterfinal win against Ohio State, it brought in the New Year with new stars and a new path in a very old way.
“Coach Johnson!’’ Miami coach Mario Cristobal shouted to Jimmy Johnson on the Arlington, Texas, field afterward, as if linking up with that old dynasty. “Coach Johnson! There you go, brother. There you go. Greentree Practice Field!”
Jimmy had tears in his eyes. Any old Hurricane was allowed after this night. Beating Texas A&M in the opener of the College Football Playoff was dramatic. But beating the Ohio State team that was defending champs, ranked No. 1 most of this season and 9½-point favorites said everything’s on the table for Miami now.
The title? Why not? Did you see this game? The stage gets bigger and the stakes rise as Miami takes on the winner of Thursday night’s Georgia-Mississippi game in the CFP semifinal. But Miami will be pressed to play a better game than it did against Ohio State.
Breathtaking. That’s what it was when Miami took control after after a scoreless first quarter. Oh, they’d made an impression in that first quarter everywhere but the scoreboard. They had 110 yards in the first quarter. Ohio State had 9. That said they could hold their own against a proven program.
And then the night changed so fast in ways you didn’t expect. That’s what’s so impressive about this Miami team.
Offense? They went on an imposing 18-play, 83-yard drive that was equal parts muscle-flexing run game and precision-strike passing. The touchdown was a nice wrinkle, a power package where quarterback Carson Beck made as if he’d run the ball before passing to Mark Fletcher, who went untouched into the end zone.
Defense? Ohio State had minus-3 yards rushing at half. That told of its every-down muscle. But the play that changed game came less than two minutes after Fletcher’s touchdown when Ohio State quarterback Justin Sayin threw down to the line to a receiver and threw to Miami safety Keionte Scott instead.
Seventy-two yards later, Scott had a touchdown, Miami had a 14-0 lead and the Hurricanes had the necessary cushion they’d ride the rest of the way.
Ohio State wasn’t done. It came out swinging with a touchdown to start the second half. It cut the game to 17-14 in the fourth quarter. But you can go down a roster for how Miami responded from there. It was everyone, everywhere.
Defensive ends Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor made sure Miami had four sacks in four straight games. The offensive line helped Fletcher carry 19 times for 90 yards. Directing it all was quarterback Carson Beck.
Beck didn’t have a monster game. He completed 19 of 26 passes for 138 yards. That didn’t even match Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, the best player in the country, who had seven catches and a touchdown with 157 yards.
But by this new era’s standards, Beck’s cool and experience was worth every penny of the $4.5 million he’s getting at Miami. He didn’t make a mistake and matched every necessary moment. There was Beck crashing over two Ohio State defenders for a first down in the fourth quarter after Ohio State pulled within three points.
There he was throwing a dart to CharMar Brown on third down for another first down later in the fourth quarter. Finally, with two minutes left, there was Beck on third-and-4 at the Ohio State 20, throwing a wide receiver screen to CJ Daniels for the first down.
If the game wasn’t over there, but it was when Brown ran 5 yards for the touchdown with 55 seconds left, followed by Thomas’ interception.
Only it’s not over. Did Miami look like a team that was done? It keeps going now. The fun. The playoff. And the chance to continue the kind of run only they thought possible and that sits before them.
