CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) \u2014 The last time Ohio State and Miami met in a postseason football game, the Hurricanes spent a couple of seconds celebrating a victory that gave them back-to-back national championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then The Flag came out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hurricanes stopped celebrating. They haven’t celebrated a title since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was Ohio State vs. Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, the national championship for the 2002 season. Miami leads 24-17 in overtime, Ohio State throws into the end zone on fourth down, the ball hits the ground, one official signals it was 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next week, they meet again in a postseason game \u2014 the Cotton Bowl, with Ohio State being the team seeking back-to-back national titles. The Buckeyes (12-1) and Hurricanes (11-2) will face off in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal on New Year’s Eve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a challenge for us offensively, but it\u2019s a challenge that we\u2019re looking forward to,\u201d Miami quarterback Carson Beck said. \u201cBut we do recognize how talented they are, and we\u2019re going to have to come and execute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in fairness, the Hurricanes of 2002 did not execute as well as they needed against Ohio State. They turned the ball over five times and gave up four sacks. But all anyone remembers is the fourth-down play where Craig Krenzel threw to the right corner of the end zone, intended for Chris Gamble. Miami cornerback Glenn Sharpe defended, Gamble didn’t make the catch, line judge Derick Bowers motioned the pass was incomplete and the Hurricanes started to jump for joy. Sean Taylor threw his helmet so high in the air in celebration that parts of it broke upon landing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then Terry Porter, the back judge, made the call. It did not go over well with everyone; even ABC analyst Dan Fouts twice said \u201cbad call\u201d while watching replays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Porter has said over the years that he simply took an extra moment to make sure he got the call right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you make a call and it\u2019s right, the call goes away. If you make a call and the call is wrong, it never goes away. Ever,\u201d Porter told the Stillwater News Press for a story published in August about his entry into that state’s officiating Hall of Fame. \u201cSo just take your time and try to get it right. That\u2019s what we all want to do. When you walk out at night, out of the place \u2014 football, basketball, I don\u2019t care \u2014 you just want to have gotten it right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beck wasn’t even 2 months old when the Miami-Ohio State title game was played. What happened on Jan. 3, 2003, in theory, won’t matter much to either side. After all, most of the players in this game weren’t even born when that happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re focused on the present,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. \u201cWe\u2019re focused on the present.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But matchups are often about history, about nostalgia. The teams have played twice since that Fiesta Bowl \u2014 Ohio State won in 2010, Miami won in 2011 \u2014 but those games are registering nary a blip of attention right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think games like this, with two storied programs, I think people are always going to want to pull out history and draw comparisons and all that other stuff,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cAnd moments like that, they\u2019re valid. They\u2019re real. It\u2019s what makes college football awesome, the pageantry. But this game is the 2025 Hurricanes and Buckeyes going after it, to be determined by the 22 guys on the field one snap at a time. That\u2019s going to be the focus. That\u2019s where all our attention will be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"