By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas — Keionte Scott returned an interception 72 yards for a touchdown, Carson Beck threw a scoring pass and 10th-seeded Miami shocked defending national champion Ohio State, 24-14, on Wednesday night at the Cotton Bowl in the first College Football Playoff quarterfinal.
The Hurricanes (12-2) have won two playoff games to get into football’s final four after needing an at-large berth to make the 12-team field, even without playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. One more win and they will get to play for a national championship in their home stadium.
Next for Miami in Coach Mario Cristobal’s fourth season is a CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 against No. 3 seed Georgia or No. 6 seed Mississippi, the SEC teams who will square off in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night.
There hasn’t been a national title for “The U” since 2001, when Cristobal was an offensive tackle for the Hurricanes and part of his second championship there. The Hurricanes were denied a repeat the following season with a double-overtime loss in the Fiesta Bowl to Ohio State, the only other time the teams met in a bowl – and the last time they played in that game.
“It’s not about me. It’s about all these guys up here, the guys that came before them,” Cristobal said. “This is a joint team effort and a family. … We’re progressing, we’re getting better and better.”
Now it’s second-seeded Ohio State (12-2), which went into the game as a 9½-point favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook, that won’t be able to win back-to-back national titles for the first time in program history.
The Buckeyes hadn’t played since a 13-10 loss to now-No. 1 Indiana in a Big Ten championship game matchup of undefeated teams on Dec. 6. They still got a first-round bye, then lost just like all four teams that went directly to the quarterfinal round in the inaugural 12-team playoff last season.
Scott’s second pick-six this season came when he jumped a quick screen pass to the left thrown by Heisman Trophy finalist Julian Sayin, then had a wide-open field to sprint untouched to the end zone for a 14-0 lead with 11:49 left in the first half.
That came only 1:42 after Beck’s quick pass to Mark Fletcher Jr. coming out of the backfield for a 9-yard score.
Beck, who was part of Georgia’s national titles in 2021 and 2022 when Stetson Bennett was the starter, completed 19 of 26 passes for 138 yards.
When asked what stood out to him about Miami, Beck said, “Just the way that this team has responded to adversity. We knew coming into today that it wasn’t going to be easy. … That’s a damn good football team on the other side.”
The touchdown throw to Fletcher, who also ran 19 times for 90 yards and was the game’s Offensive MVP, was the seventh of 13 consecutive completions for Beck. That set a record in the Cotton Bowl, which was played for the 90th time.
Sayin, a freshman backup behind Will Howard during Ohio State’s championship run last season, was 22 of 35 for 287 yards with two interceptions and a TD to Jeremiah Smith. Sayin was sacked five times.
AP All-America receiver Smith, a Miami native, caught seven of those passes for 157 yards, including a 14-yard TD on a fourth down in the fourth quarter.
Carter Davis added a 49-yard field goal in the third quarter and ChaMar Brown ran for a 5-yard touchdown in the game’s final minute for the Hurricanes, whose 24 points were the most Ohio State gave up this season.
THE TAKEAWAY
Miami: The Hurricanes have won six games in a row since an overtime loss at SMU on Nov. 1, less than 25 miles from AT&T Stadium, where the Cotton Bowl is played. They also made their CFP debut in the Lone Star State, winning 10-3 at No. 7 Texas A&M in the first round on Dec. 20.
Ohio State: All-America safety Caleb Downs, who started in the CFP for the third season in a row, became the first player to force two fumbles in a CFP game. … The Buckeyes had gone four consecutive quarters – the equivalent of a full game – until Bo Jackson’s 1-yard TD run to cap its opening drive of the second half.
UP NEXT
Miami waits to see who it will play in the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State is scheduled to open its 2026 season at home against Ball State on Sept. 5.
More to come on this story.
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