Ohio State-Miami 2003 epic looms over this Cotton Bowl, even if few on either side were there
Twenty-three years later, Miami and Ohio State's roles are reversed as they meet to keep their national title hopes alive.
ARLINGTON, Texas — It was on the flight down to Texas earlier this week that former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett had a realization.
On Jan. 3, 2003, Clarett and the Buckeyes shocked the sports world, upsetting 11.5-point favorite Miami in the national championship game. Clarett scored twice in a 31-24 double-overtime win that ended Miami’s 34-game unbeaten streak and sent two proud programs in opposite directions. As Ohio State and Miami prepare for Wednesday’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl, those who remember the instant classic that capped the 2002 season have thought about it often.
“What I remember most was how much they doubted us,” Clarrett said Monday. “Prior to the game, they had an afterparty scheduled.”
But a lot of people here for this game don’t remember it. Clarett, who has traveled with the Buckeyes to big games in recent years, noticed that the only two people on the team flight who were part of that last big Miami game were him and longtime head trainer Doug Calland.
“None of these kids were even born when I played,” Clarett said.
Many of them don’t know that game is a seminal moment in college football history. Of the 43 starters, 37 became NFL Draft picks, including 18 first-rounders. It brought about a changing of the guard, sending Ohio State back to the top of the sport, where the Buckeyes have remained ever since. Miami, on the other hand, hasn’t been back to this level of a stage since that game.
Current Miami wide receivers coach Kevin Beard played receiver on that Hurricanes team. He tore his ACL in November of that season and didn’t play in the title game, but there are lessons from it he imparts to his players.
Such as the infamous late pass interference flag on a fourth down in overtime that kept the Buckeyes’ hopes alive.
“In the process of my time here, those conversations always come up from the standpoint of, don’t leave it in their hands,” Beard said, referring to the officials. “If you leave it in their hands, don’t be surprised if it goes the other way.”
Official Terry Porter, who threw the flag, remains a villain to Miami faithful. Porter has said the delay came from making sure he got the call right. Officiating supervisors in the months and years after the game said pass interference was the correct call. It just didn’t happen during the part of the play everyone looks back on. Replays of that moment, including during the live broadcast, focus on when the ball got to Ohio State wide receiver Chris Gamble and cornerback Glenn Sharpe. Color commentator Dan Fouts offered a “Bad call” on the broadcast.
But the call was for Sharpe jamming and holding Gamble before the ball was in their area, not his hug after the ball arrived. The line judge at the goal line didn’t throw a flag, but other camera angles show Porter quickly signaling defensive holding.