Once again, lack of a running game….OSU’s CJ Donaldson pays the price against Miami’s stout run defense. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
The dream of a second straight national championship for Ohio State died slowly but surely Wednesday night against a Miami team that took advantage of the Buckeyes’ vices.
Arlington, TX – Points left on the field and points given.
And a litany of other systemic reasons led to Ohio State’s hopes for a second-half comeback and a repeat national championship fizzling in the great expanse of AT&T Stadium on Wednesday night.
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However, despite the season-long lack of consistent offensive line play and not enough run game, plus the late-season assumed distractions of who’s calling plays and the long layoff, this New Year’s Eve disappointment came down to a collection of plays as close football games always do.
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You saw them. An interception return for a touchdown. A missed field goal. Five sacks of Julian Sayin. Two third-down completions on Miami’s final, clinching touchdown drive. Carson Beck scrambling for first downs.
The lasting heartbreak for the Buckeyes – despite those problems that never got fixed – is they still could have won despite a horrid first half. And they will never believe they shouldn’t have. But those plays ultimately resulted in the Cotton Bowl/College Football Playoff quarterfinal scoreboard reading No. 10 Miami 24, No. 2 Ohio State 14.
Just out of reach…the offense wasn’t crisp and Buckeyes Jeremiah Smith comes up short on this catch attempt in the first half.
“Everybody wants to think it’s the bye and stuff,” senior defensive end Caden Curry said. “Obviously having that one game before definitely gives you a little bit of an edge. But we can’t use that as an excuse. We’re the Buckeyes. You don’t make excuses.”
Last year the Buckeyes (12-2) played in the first round, rolled past Tennessee and on to a national championship, citing no bye as a boost to their run. Last week Miami (12-2) won at Texas A&M and arrived at the home of the Cowboys ready to prove themselves even more worthy of the playoff berth some said they didn’t deserve.
But it didn’t take long for Miami to prove it belonged on the same field as the favored Buckeyes. The Hurricanes drove 83 yards in 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter on Beck’s nine-yard touchdown pass to running back Mark Fletcher Jr. The drive stamped the Hurricanes of being able to run Fletcher (90 yards on 19 carries) and Beck (23 yards on seven carries), and to hit the short passes necessary to convert on third down.
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The Buckeyes weren’t in trouble yet, but their first half of offensive football couldn’t have been much worse.
Miami trusted its pass rush – led by dominating ends Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor – more than it feared Ohio State’s ability to block them. On Ohio State’s third play, the destructive duo met at quarterback Julian Sayin for a sack.
Concern realized…As advertised, Miami’s pass rush and defensive end Akheem Mesidor feasted on this sack of Buckeye quarterback Julian Sayin.
And they kept coming.
Not even a forced and recovered fumble by linebacker Payton Pierce could spark the offense. And Sayin was sacked three times for 29 yards in losses.
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After Miami took a 7-0 lead, the Buckeyes responded with their biggest play of the half. Sayin, with a rare clean pocket, threw deep to Jeremiah Smith for 59 yards to the Miami 16.
Bain sacked Sayin on the next play. It made sense to get the ball out of Sayin’s hands quickly on the next play, which was part of the game plan because of Miami’s incessant pass rush. But nickel back Keionte Scott, who returned to the lineup after three games out with an injury and played well against Texas A&M in the quarterfinal, recognized the alignment and knew what was coming.
OSU’s Jeremiah Smith tries in vain to run down Miami’s Keionte Scott on the pivotal ‘pick six’ touchdown in the first half.
Sayin quickly threw out to his left toward Brandon Inniss. But Scott blew past Smith, who didn’t have a chance to block Scott, and intercepted Sayin’s pass in stride and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
“Obviously knew the ball was coming in that area,” Scott said. “As soon as the tight end motioned, I confirmed in my head and I made up my mind that I was going at that moment. Shot my shot, and the ball went in my hands.”
Instead of the Buckeyes getting points, maybe even seven to tie the score, they were in their biggest hole this season. Still, they almost scored to close the half.
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The offense began to click in hurry-up mode and moved from its two to Miami’s 31 in the final two minutes. But Jayden Fielding’s 49-yard field goal missed to the left. And the Buckeyes had completed four straight quarters, including the second half of the Big Ten title loss to Indiana, with no points.
“We worked really hard during the last three weeks leading up to this game to come out of the gates and win the first quarter, win the first half, be ready to go,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said. “I thought we had an excellent plan on that. When you don’t get it done, that starts with me, and it goes down from there. I take responsibility for not getting the guys ready.”
Instead of at worst being down 7-6 or at best leading 10-7, the Buckeyes went to halftime knowing they had to play a practically perfect second half.
When Sayin hit Smith on a 23-yard pass down the middle to the Miami 26, it finally looked like the Ohio State offense. They even executed in the red zone and in short yardage – two other bugaboos this season – to score on Bo Jackson’s one-yard run with 8:10 left in the third quarter.
Miami drove to a field goal for a 17-7 lead, but the Buckeyes’ offense was in a groove. And a back-shoulder sideline pass to Smith for 26 yards to the Miami 22 was another reminder of what the offense is supposed to look like.
Jeremiah Smith’s fourth quarter touchdown sprint gave the Buckeyes hope for a comeback.
Facing fourth-and-two, Sayin connected with Smith over the middle for a 14-yard touchdown to slice Miami’s lead to 17-14 with 13:28 left. That touchdown was vintage Ohio State.
But that was it. The teams traded punts before Miami drove to the final touchdown, a five-yard run with 55 seconds left.
“When you have a start the way that we did, you put yourself at risk of having to be really darn near perfect in the second half to go win the game,” Day said. “It was going to take a very, very efficient second half to win the game.”
The Buckeyes outgained the Hurricanes 332-291. Sayin was 22 of 35 for 287 yards. Smith caught seven passes for 157 yards. But the Buckeyes rushed for only 45 yards, a total impacted heavily by Sayin’s five sacks for losses totaling 42 yards.
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“There were some opportunities today where I could have maybe taken off and scrambled for some yards,” Sayin said. “And I took some sacks that weren’t necessary and got us into tougher situations.”
Difference of emotions…OSU’s CJ Donaldson shows his disdain for Miami’s game-ending interception of Buckeye quarterback Julian Sayin.
The offensive line knew what it was facing in Bain Jr. and Mesidor. And its depth was tested. With Tegra Tshabola out at right guard, the first start of his career fell to Gabe Van Sickle. He struggled at times and Josh Padilla played in the second half. And left tackle Austin Siereveld was injured at the end of the first half and replaced by Ian Moore.
Clearly the line wasn’t ready for the postseason. Sayin was sacked six times in the regular season, then five teams against Indiana and five times against Miami. The rushing totals of 58 yards against Indiana and 45 against Miami are Ohio State’s worst rushing days in 14 seasons.
“You got to have depth, and you got to perform in those moments,” Day said. “That’s the bottom line, and it’s our job as coaches to get them ready.”
But the margin for error wasn’t big enough for an offense that was young and inexperienced in enough places to fall short.
And so it ends 10 points short, 10 points that, despite this team’s deficiencies, were there for the taking.
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