2003 Fiesta Bowl

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The 2003 Fiesta Bowl took place on January 3, 2003 in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium, with the Ohio State Buckeyes defeating the Miami Hurricanes by a score of 31-24 in double overtime. It was the 2002 BCS National Championship Game, as part of the Bowl Championship Series, which was contested between The Ohio State University and University of Miami. The game concluded the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. The 2003 Fiesta Bowl was the second overtime game in either the Bowl Championship Series, or its predecessors, the Bowl Alliance or the Bowl Coalition, the first being the January 1, 2000 Orange Bowl between Alabama and Michigan. This game went down as one of the most memorable, but controversial, bowl games in the history of football.

The Miami Hurricanes won the cointoss but chose to defer until the 2nd half. The Buckeyes thus would return the kick and defend the south goal. The game began when Miami's K Todd Sievers then kicked off a for a touchback. However, the Buckeyes were flagged for having 12 men on the field, pushing them back to their own 15-yard line. The Buckeyes' first series did not go well on a 3-and-out, resulting in OSU's Andy Groom's 56-yard punt to the Miami 20.

The Hurricanes took over, after the punt and ran into the same problems as the Buckeyes: Quarterback Ken Dorsey was sacked on 1st down for a loss of 3 yards, and on 2nd down and 13, running back Willis McGahee was tackled in the backfield for a loss of 2 yards. On third and 15, Miami finally moved the ball forward as Dorsey completed a 20-yard pass to Andre Johnson for a 1st down. A couple of plays later, Dorsey again hit Andre Johnson for 11 yards. The next play saw Dorsey sacked again, this time for a 5-yard loss. This time, the Miami offense failed to rebound and punter Freddie Capshaw punted the ball 43 yards to the OSU 1.

The Buckeyes got the ball back but again produced no momentum. Andy Groom punted the ball 44 yards to Roscoe Parrish at the Miami 48 yard line. Miami started out on another slow drive with a 1-yard loss on a run by McGahee, but quickened the pace as Dorsey threw a 28-yard first-down pass to Kellen Winslow. Three plays later Dorsey hit Parrish for a 25-yard touchdown to put Miami up 7 - 0 with 4:09 left in the first quarter.

OSU's James Scott returned the ensuing kickoff for 15 yards. Then, on the very next play, Buckeyes quarterback Craig Krenzel threw an interception to Miami safety Sean Taylor. Miami took over and went to the air again on the first play. After Dorsey completed a 14-yard pass to Andre Johnson for another first down, McGahee was stopped twice in a row for losses of 2 yards each. Dorsey then attempted to pass for a first down, but the 11-yard completion was three 3 yards short of the first down. Miami's Capshaw punted 44 yards for a touchback. The Buckeyes took over at the 20, but were penalized for a false start and started on their own 15 yard line. The Buckeyes finally came to life and engineered a drive consisting of a 5-yard run by Krenzel and a 12-yard completion from Krenzel to Jenkins as the first quarter expired.

The drive stalled after a quick first down at the end of the 1st quarter as Maurice Clarett was tackled for no gain and a 7 yard loss on the next two plays. Groom then punted for 63 yards to the Miami 7 yard line where Parrishe returned it 6 yards.

The Hurricanes initally caught a break with a holding penalty of 10 yards for another first down. After that mistake, Ohio State held their own as Dustin Fox intercepted Ken Dorsey at the Miami 49 and returned it 12 yards.

Ohio State picked up another first down in 2 plays but come up short on a long 3rd and 12 to make it 4th and 1. The Buckeyes decided to fake a field goal with Andy Groom running the ball on an option, but he is stopped for no gain on the play and the Buckeyes turn the ball over on downs.

Miami began with another penaly. The Hurricanes were called for an illegal formation penalty of 5 yards, but that didn't stop Dorsey as he completed a 14 yard pass to Ethenic Sands for a Miami 1st down. Dorsey again completed a pass on the next play to Jason Gaethers for a 4 yard gain. The 'Canes trie to pass two more times but the first was incomplete and the second was intercepted by Mike Doss who returned the ball 35 yards to the Miami 17 yard line.

A few plays later Krenzel threw 8 yards for a first down to Chris Vance. Ohio State proceeded to move the ball to the 2 yard line, after a Miami offsides penalty, where Krenzel carried the ball into the endzone on 4th and 1 for a touchdown. Nugent's PAT kick is good making the score 7 - 7 with a little over 2 minutes to go in the first half.

Nugent's kickoff will go 74 yard for a touchback. The very next play, Ken Dorsey was sacked and fumbled the ball. The Buckeye's Darrion Scott recovered the fumble on the Miami 14 yard line. On the strength of 2 plays, and with the help of another 5 yard offsides penalty on Miami, Maurice Clarett ran for a 7 yard touchdown to put Ohio State up 14 - 7 after another successful PAT kick by Nugent.

Nugent then kicked off for another touchback and Miami chose to run the clock down. Both teams headed into the locker room with the score 14 - 7 in favor of the Buckeyes.

On the first play of the second half, Ohio State K Mike Nugent's kickoff went into the endzone for a touchback. Miami began with the ball on the 20 yard line but fell short on a 3rd and 3 to make it 4th and 1 and decided to punt. Derrick Crudup punted the ball 43 yards and the ball was downed at the Ohio State 28 yard line.

The Buckeyes began the drive with good momemtum as Clarett gets the ball on two running plays, a 4 and 10 yard gain respectively and a Buckeye first down. Ohio State was flagged for offsides and a 5 yard penalty on the next play. The Buckeyes are stopped twice in a row to bring up a 3rd and 15. On third down, Krenzel threw a deep ball to Chris Gamble for a 57 yard reception to the Miami 6 yard line and an Ohio State first down. Krenzel then threw an interception to Sean Taylor who returned it 28 yards.

However, the ball is stripped by Maurice Clarett who also recovers the fumble. The Buckeyes are then held up to a field goal by Mike Nugent which put the Buckeyes up 17 - 7.

Ohio State then returned the ball to Miami via kickoff. The Hurricanes returner, Andre Johnson, returned the ball 39 yards before getting tackled. Once again, the Buckeyes defense held Miami to a 3 and out and forced a punt. Capshaw's punt goes 43 yards to the Ohio State 10 yard line where Chris Gamble receives the punt and goes 1 yard before going down. However Antrel Rolle gets called for a kick catching interference penalty of 10 yards.

Ohio State began the next drive at their own 21 yard line, but only moved 4 yards before Groom came in to punt a 30 yarder out of bounds. Miami then comproduced a couple big plays including a 23 yard reception from Dorsey to Winslow and a 7 yard reception also from Dorsey to Winslow.

Miami then faced 1st and goal from the Ohio State 9 yard line. From here, Willis McGahee ran 9 yards for a Miami touchdown. Sievers PAT kick was good and the score moved to 17 - 14 Buckeyes.

Sievers kickoff resulted in a touchback and gave the ball to Ohio State at their own 20 yard line with 2:11 left in the 3rd quarter. Clarett got the ball on 1st and 10 and was\s tackled for no gain and then Krenzel ran for 4 yards making it 3rd and 6. Krenzel then took the ball himself once more for a 3 yard gain on the final play of the 3rd quarter with the score 17 - 14 Buckeyes.

The 4th Quarter will start out with a 49 yard punt out of bounds by Andy Groom giving Miami the ball at their own 24 yard line. Miami will once again put a drive together earning 3 first downs including a 9 yard rush by McGahee who was injured and out for the rest game after the play. The injury of McGahee would cost Miami big time. A Dorsey completion to Ethenic Sands for 9 yards, and a Dorsey completion to Winslow for a gain of 11 yards. The 'Canes are then held up and are forced to bring out kicker Todd Sievers to attempt a 54 yard field goal. Sievers field goal was wide right and the Buckeyes takeover on downs. The Buckeyes then put a drive together themselves also earning 3 first downs, including a 10 yard completion from Krenzel to Jenkins, a 12 yard completion from Krenzel to Gamble, and a 6 yard rush by Clarett, before they are held up and forced to kick a field goal. Nugent comes in to attempt a 42 yard field goal and misses the uprights wide right. Miami then takes over on downs with 6:36 left in the game. The first play of the drive, Dorsey hooks up with Kellen Winslow for an 11 yard gain and a first down. Jarrett Payton then rushes for 5 yards right before Dorsey and WInslow hook up yet again for a 10 yard gain this time and another 1st down. Miami is then help up two plays in a row bringing up 3rd and 8 when Dorsey passes to Parrish for a 34 yard completion, but Parrish fumbles the ball at the hands of OSU's Dustin Fox as Will Allen, of OSU recovers the fumble. Krenzel will then rush for one more 1st down on a 4 yard gain until they are held and forced to punt once again. Groom punted the ball 44 yards. Miami's returner, Parrish, will run the ball 50 yards before being tackled by Groom and Doss. Miami starts their drive at the OSU 26 yard line with 2:02 left in the game. They run 3 plays for a total of 3 yards until they take a timeout on 4th and 7 with 3 seconds left in the game. Sievers comes out to attempt a 40 yard field goal and OSU calls timeout to try and get Sievers rattled so he would miss the kick. They will do it once more with their last timeout until both teams are finally ready to go out and play the last play of regulation time. Todd Sievers then finally goes out to attempt the 40 yard field goal and puts it through to tie the score up 17 - 17 with no time left in regulation to force this game into overtime.

Ohio State wins the toss to start overtime and chooses to be on defense first. Miami starts their OT drive out slow, but on 2nd and 10, Dorsey completed a 9 yard pass to Andre Johnson to make it 3rd and 1 from the OSU 16 yard line. Jarrett Payton then rushed for 8 yards to give Miami another 1st down and a 1st and goal from the OSU 8 yard line. Two plays later, Dorsey hooked up with Kellen Winslow in the endzone for a 7 yard touchdown pass. Pass interference was called on OSU but the penalty was declined. Miami now leads 24 - 17 forcing OSU to score if they want to keep this game alive and send it into a 2nd OT. It is now the Buckeyes turn to try to score from the Miami 25 yard line and Krenzel comes up big on the first play with a 5 yard rush. OSU now has 2nd and 5 on the Miami 20 yard line and there is a false start penalty against the Buckeyes bringing them back 5 yards to the 25. It is now 2nd and 10 for the Buckeyes and Krenzel is sacked for a 4 yard loss bringing up 3rd and 14. Krenzel then throws an incomplete pass to Clarett to make it 4th and 14 and their last chance to get a 1st down. Krenzel comes through and completes a 17 yard pass to Jenkins for a 1st down on the Miami 12 yard line. Krenzel then throws another incomplete pass to Jenkins which brings up 2nd and 10 where Krenzel takes the ball himself and rushes for 7 yards down to the Miami 5 yard line. 3rd and 3 is another dud for Krenzel which brings up 4th down and 3. Krenzel attempts a pass to Gamble, but the ball is knocked down by Sharpe for what initially appeared to be an incomplete pass. Fans, believing the game to be over, began to rush the field; however, field referee Terry Porter had thrown a late flag in the endzone. The penalty was defensive pass interference, called on Miami defender Sharpe. Due to the penalty, Ohio State received the ball on the 2 yard line with an automatic first down. The penalty call was highly controversial (primarily due to how late the flag was thrown, roughly 4 seconds after the play had ended). With a fresh set of downs, Krenzel rushes for a 1 yard touchdown a few plays later. Nugent's kick is good and the score is tied at 24 sending this game into a double overtime.

This overtime teams switch who goes first giving the ball to OSU for the first possession. OSU starts out strong with Lydell Ross rushing for a 9 yard gain on 1st down. 3rd and 1 comes up and Krenzel rushes for 5 yards and a 1st down. 1st and 10 on the Miami 11 and Krenzel completes a 6 yard pass to Jenkins bringing up 2nd and 4 on the Miami 5 yard line. OSU then gives the ball to Maurice Clarett for a 5 yard touchdown putting OSU up 31 - 24 after a successful Nugent PAT. It is now Miami's turn to try to score and send thisgame into a 3rd overtime. The 'Canes draw a couple of blanks to put them in a 4th and 3 situation where Dorsey completes a 7 yard pass to Winslow for a 1st down. A facemask penalty is called on OSU during the play to make it 1st and 5 for Miami from the OSU 6 yard line. Dorsey then throws an incomplete pass to Andre Johnson but gets a pass interference call on the Buckeyes' defender which brings up another 1st down from the OSU 2 yard line. The OSU defense holds the 'Canes to only one yard in 3 plays to bring up a big 4th and goal on the 1 yard line. Miami's Dorsey threw a desperation pass as he was being hit but was incomplete which ends the game and the Buckeyes win with a score of 31 - 24.

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The late call of pass interference against Miami in the first overtime period was controversial. The pass was ruled incomplete by the side judge, who was in the best position to make the call, as he was looking exclusively at the two players involved. While some may claim that the Ohio State receiver was held at the line of scrimmage,^{[citation needed]} the side judge made no such call. Furthermore, the slow motion replay of the play clearly shows that the ball bounced off of the Ohio State receiver prior to contact by the Miami cornerback. The play was immediately ruled incomplete by the side judge and the game was thought to be over; fireworks erupted, and fans and players rushed the field. Back judge Terry Porter's claim that the delay occurred due to him replaying the play in his mind stirred further controversy. ABC announcer Dan Fouts, the Miami Hurricanes^{[citation needed]}, their fans, and many college football experts^{[citation needed]} continue to claim that Miami was robbed and should have won the 2002 National Championship.

• Ohio State University recap of the game
• ESPN.com recap
• Fiesta Fiasco by Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated - January 10, 2003