10 greatest college football national championship games

4. Ohio State upsets Miami in 31-24 overtime 2003 Fiesta Bowl win

Nobody was expecting Ohio State to have a puncher’s chance when they were matched up against Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl to cap a Big Ten-winning 2005 regular season. Not only did the Buckeyes compete, they shocked the college football world with a 31-24 overtime victory for the BCS national championship over the Hurricanes.

Miami opened up the game with a 25-yard touchdown pass from two-time Heisman finalist Ken Dorsey to Roscoe Parrish. Jim Tressel’s offense snapped into form just before halftime, as quarterback Craig Krenzel and freshman running back Maurice Clarett ran in touchdowns 73 seconds apart before the intermission.

Coming back from the break, the teams traded turnovers early in the third quarter. On 1st-and-goal at the Miami 6, Krenzel threw an interception that Sean Taylor returned to 23 before Clarett punched the ball loose and Ohio State recovered. The Hurricanes defense responded with a big stop in scoring range, forcing the Buckeyes to kick a Mike Nugent field goal.

That put Ohio State up 17-7 late in the third quarter. Then Willis McGahee punched in a touchdown on the ground with 2:24 remaining before the final frame. Each team missed field goals early in the fourth quarter, before the Hurricanes leveled the game on a 40-yard Todd Sievers kick with three seconds remaining in intermission.

By that point, McGahee was already lost for the game after a gruesome knee injury in the final quarter that bent his leg backward and tore his ACL, PCL, and MCL. His absence proved critical, as the Hurricanes forced overtime. But things fell apart in the end, as Ohio State benefitted from a pass interference call and then caught the winning score in the second overtime period on Clarett’s game-winning score. The defense held Miami scoreless on their possession to secure the title.