Former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit believes Miami fans are hoping for more than just a College Football Playoff semifinal berth in the Cotton Bowl against the Buckeyes on New Year’s Eve.
On an episode of the “Nonstop” podcast with co-host and former Ohio State teammate Joey Galloway, Herbstreit believes the meeting between the Hurricanes and the Buckeyes will be personal for Miami fans, referencing a late and controversial pass interference call against Miami in overtime during the 2003 Fiesta Bowl and BCS national championship.
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“The fan base, I’m telling you, they’re all about it,” Herbstreit said on the podcast. “They want revenge. They want to kick Ohio State’s [explicit]. If they could play Oregon, Texas Tech, Alabama, Indiana, Ole Miss, Georgia or Ohio State, it would be 100% unanimous: Miami wants Ohio State, and they get them.”
Down 24-17 in the first overtime period to Miami in 2003, Ohio State’s offense pushed the ball to the Miami 5-yard line with two more chances to score a touchdown.
After a third-down incompletion, Buckeyes quarterback Craig Krenzel attempted a pass to wide receiver Chris Gamble, but the pass was broken up by defensive back Glenn Sharpe, seemingly sealing Miami’s victory as national champions as the closest sideline official signaled for an incompletion.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day talks talks to Kirk Herbstreit on the set of ESPN College GameDay prior to the College Football Playoff first round game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Tennessee Volunteers in Columbus on Dec. 21, 2024.
But when the Hurricanes began to celebrate, a second official threw a late flag for pass interference, shocking the crowd and giving Ohio State the ball at the 2-yard line and a reset to first down. Ohio State scored on the drive and scored a touchdown in the second overtime period while Miami failed to score at the one-yard line on its possession, resulting in a national championship for the Buckeyes.
CR FIESTA 3JAN03) Fiesta Bowl 2003 – OSU vs. Miami – Sequence # 3 of 5 – Ohio State’s Cie Grant puts pressure on Miami’s Ken Dorsey to end the game in the final play of the second overtime of the final quarter of the National Football Championships at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The pass fell incomplete. January 3, 2003. (Dispatch photo by Chris Russell)
Galloway had similar sentiments to Herbstreit about Miami’s fans wanting revenge for the pass interference call.
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“The friends I have that are Miami fans… the minute they got in, they were like, ‘We want a piece of the Buckeyes,’ ” Galloway said. “These kids [Miami players] have no idea, but they want this, and they’re going to get every bit of it.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Kirk Herbstreit explains Miami fans want revenge vs OSU in Cotton Bowl
