Miami pulls biggest upset in College Football Playoff history with 24-14 win over Ohio State

More than 20 years after it was on the other end of one of the biggest upsets in BCS history, Miami pulled off the biggest upset of the College Football Playoff era on New Year’s Eve.

The No. 10 Hurricanes beat No. 2 Ohio State 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl to advance to the semifinal round of the playoff. Miami was a 9.5-point underdog at kickoff. Before Wednesday night, the biggest upset in playoff history — in either the four-team playoff or the current 12-team format — was Ohio State’s win over Alabama as a 7.5-point underdog on Jan. 1, 2015.

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After Ohio State’s offense showed signs of life in the second half, Miami put the Buckeyes away much like they did Texas A&M — with a power run game. The Hurricanes gave the ball to Mark Fletcher and CharMar Brown five times over the course of six plays before a wide receiver screen to CJ Daniels got Miami inside the Ohio State 10-yard line with less than two minutes to go.

As Ohio State had just one timeout remaining after using its second following Daniels’ catch, all Miami had to do was bleed as much clock as possible to prevent the Buckeyes from having any real shot at the win.

Instead, Ohio State appeared to let Brown score a TD with 55 seconds remaining. The score gave the Hurricanes a 10-point lead, but Ohio State needed as much time as possible.

The last-ditch plan, predictably, did not work out. Julian Sayin was intercepted with 43 seconds to go.

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Who will be the first team with a bye to get a win?

A year ago, all four teams that had first-round byes in the first 12-team College Football Playoff lost. Now, Ohio State has stretched the streak to 0-5.

Last season, all four teams with first-round byes were underdogs at the time of kickoff. This year, Ohio State was the biggest favorite of the second round.

It had been nearly 23 years since a favorite as big as Ohio State had lost a postseason game. In January of 2003, Miami was an 11.5-point favorite over the Buckeyes in OSU’s legendary 31-24 win in the BCS title game.

Wednesday night, Miami had a 14-0 lead at halftime. The Hurricanes scored first and then flipped the game on its head when Keionte Scott scored on a pick-6 as Ohio State looked like it was about to tie the game.

Less than a month after being the last team into the College Football Playoff field by virtue of jumping ahead of Notre Dame in the final CFP rankings, Miami now awaits the winner of Georgia vs. Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl ahead of the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8.

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Could Miami QB Carson Beck end up facing his old team? Beck transferred from Georgia to Miami after he suffered an elbow injury at the end of the 2024 season.

There will be a new national champ

Ohio State’s loss means that there won’t be repeat national champions for the second time this decade. Georgia became the first team since Alabama in 2011 and 2012 to repeat with titles at the end of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Ohio State was the favorite to join the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide as the only repeat champs of the 2000s.

Instead, the Buckeyes now have offensive questions. Again.

Yes, really.

With offensive coordinator Brian Hartline off to be the head coach at South Florida, head coach Ryan Day took over the play-calling duties for the CFP. The last time Day called plays was the 2023 Cotton Bowl. Ohio State scored three points in that 14-3 loss to Missouri.

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Day ceded play-calling duties after that season and hired UCLA coach Chip Kelly to run the offense. Kelly’s arrival in Columbus helped lead to a national championship before Kelly headed off to the NFL and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Hartline took over as the offensive coordinator in 2025, but his successor now will be a big variable for the Buckeyes in 2026. Yes, Ohio State’s offense looked better after the first 25 minutes of the game. But 17 points in the last 120 minutes Day has called plays is unacceptable for many Ohio State fans.

But even with Hartline calling plays in the Big Ten title game, Ohio State only mustered 10 points against Indiana. The Buckeyes’ two worst offensive games of the season came in their final two games of the season. Whether it was injuries on the offensive line, or schematic edges that Miami and Indiana had figured out over the course of the season, Ohio State’s offense didn’t look like the machine it had for much of 2025 in December. And that ultimately cost the Buckeyes a chance at back-to-back national titles.