The 2003 Fiesta Bowl: Were the Canes robbed, or did the Buckeyes Win, Fair and Square?

Monday the 19th, and for the first time in 23 years, the University of Miami’s football team will be playing for a national championship. When the Hurricanes last played for a title, it was January 2003, and they were attempting to become repeat champions, while also trying to win a 35th consecutive game. In their way was a prohibitive underdog Ohio State squad that arrived in Tempe as 13-0 Big Ten Champs, with six wins by seven points or fewer.

Miami was stacked with more than two dozen future NFLers. The Hurricanes were understandably confident and had tremendous momentum going into a Championship Game as 11-point favorites. But a funny, or perhaps tragic thing – depending on your perspective – happened on the way to their coronation…

The Buckeyes boasted the second-best scoring defense in college football that year and had held Miami, which had averaged 40 points per game during the regular season, to a mere 17 points in regulation. Ohio State also forced five turnovers, a crucial ingredient to their success. The Scarlet and Gray prevailed in a double overtime contest that was instantly classic.

But did the Buckeyes really win that Tostitos Fiesta Bowl? Or was Miami victimized by a phantom call that allowed Ohio State to finish as undefeated champs for the first time since the 1969 Rose Bowl?

Well, here’s a synopsis of the “Miami got robbed!” viewpoint compared with the “Ohio State won, fair and square!” take.

Following a much better and closer than expected four quarters, during overtime number one, the defending champs were up 24-17, and the Buckeyes were facing fourth and goal. A Craig Krenzel pass to Chris Gamble in the right side of the end zone was incomplete, but pass interference was called against Miami defender Glenn Sharpe. However, slow-mo replay showed that it was either barely interference or, more probably, it wasn’t interference at all. “The refs were wrong! The game should have been over!!” But, two bits of information, which are rarely discussed, need also to be considered as part of the whole story. First, the p.i. call was one of two possible calls which might have been made on that controversial play. The other was defensive holding. OSU benefited slightly from the interference call, because it resulted with the ball being closer to the goal line by half a yard. (Yes, we know there’s a rumor that this info is bogus, but we’ve seen/heard the official who threw the flag for p.i. say he contemplated calling holding instead. And we’ve also heard other explanations/excuses, so a debate continues even until today.) Moot points, all of them! Because the other, much more compelling, argument is that OSU won the game in regulation.

2003 Fiesta Bowl Miami vs Ohio State No Huddle

During the Buckeyes’ final fourth-quarter possession, they faced a third-and-long, yet completed a Krenzel-to-Gamble pass for a first down. However, the call was ‘incomplete pass.’ Replay showed that the catch was made inbounds, and that the play resulted in a first down. Announcers Fouts and Jackson somewhat reluctantly agreed. Therefore, had that call been correct, Ohio State would have been able to run out the clock and win the game 17-14 in 60 minutes; no overtime needed. So, the twenty-plus years of complaining/whining/bemoaning about the “ultimate sports injustice” can finally be put to rest, because it was illegitimate from the beginning.

Happily, for ‘Hurricane Nation’, The U has a redemption opportunity tonight: play the best game you have played in two decades, beating the undefeated, top-ranked and robustly favored Indiana Hoosiers for a long-awaited sixth national title, while also snapping a 21-season streak of losing at least three games. Sounds plausible and maybe not too difficult, right?

Just don’t tell Curt Cignetti…