| For all the arguments and all the projections about what would happen if three or more teams finished unbeaten, or if there was only one team left without a loss, we have a true national
championship game between the two best teams in college football.
Since this whole silly BCS thing began, there have only been
two national title games between unbeaten teams and while both were
compelling games, both were blowouts. In the 2000 Sugar Bowl,
Florida State and Peter Warrick beat Michael Vick and Virginia Tech
46-29. Nebraska steamrolled Florida 62-24 in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl.
The Fiesta Bowl has been the home of some of
the biggest duds among the major bowls over the last several years.
Only two of the last fourteen Fiesta Bowls have been decided by
fewer than ten points. One was the rather dry national title game
between Tennessee and Florida State in 1999, and the other was a
26-22 Syracuse win over Colorado in 1993.
Forgetting that this is for the national title, you can
forgive Miami if it's less than excited about playing in the Fiesta
Bowl. The Hurricanes are 0-3 in Tempe getting embarrassed 29-0 by
Arizona in 1999, losing a 39-37 classic against UCLA in 1985, then
the epic 14-10 national championship loss to Penn State in the 1987
game.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are just happy to not be playing
South Carolina in the post-season after losing to the Gamecocks in
their last two bowl games. It hasn't always been pretty this season
for the Buckeyes, especially on the road, barely getting past
mediocre teams like Cincinnati, Purdue and Illinois. Wins are wins,
and Ohio State did what other teams weren't by finding ways to win
when things weren't going as well as expected. It's not like the
team went against a bunch of cupcakes playing, and beating, eight
bowl teams including Pac 10 champion Washington State and Alamo Bowl
winner Wisconsin on the way to thirteen wins.
Miami played some big time teams as well beating seven bowlbound teams. Along the way, the Hurricanes went to Florida and
Tennessee and came away with blowout wins. This is a program in the
midst of a 34 game winning streak and has won five straight bowl
games. The Canes are looking to be the first repeat national
champions since the 1994-1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Players to watch: Where do you start? Obviously all eyes will
be on Ken Dorsey, Willis McGahee and Maurice
Clarett, but there are other major factors in play. The biggest
matchups in this game will be the Miami receivers vs. the Ohio State
defensive backs, and the Ohio State rushing attack vs. the Miami run
defense.
Miami's Andre Johnson will be locked on by one of
college football's best two-way stars, sophomore Chris Gamble.
The 6-3 Johnson destroyed Nebraska in the 2002 Rose Bowl catching
seven passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns, but he'll face the
best athlete he's faced all year in the 6-2 Gamble. Gamble led the
Buckeyes with four interceptions, but he's still learning the subtle
nuances of the position after starting the season at receiver. This
isn't the problem for Ohio State. | |
| National Rankings |
| Ohio
State |
Miami |
| Total
Offense |
| 67th
372 ypg |
6th
473.92 ypg |
| Total
Defense |
| 20th
317.15 ypg |
8th
286.50 ypg |
| Scoring
Offense |
| 42nd
29.15 ppg |
3rd
41.92 ppg |
| Scoring
Defense |
| 2nd
12.23 ppg |
15th
18.08 ppg |
| Run
Offense |
| 30th
194.85 ypg |
34rd
191.33 ypg |
| Run
Defense |
| 4th
78.69 ypg |
73rd
167 ypg |
| Pass
Offense |
| 89th
177.15 ypg |
16th
282.58 ypg |
| Pass
Defense |
| 88th
238.46 ypg |
1st
119.50 ypg |
| Turnover
Margin |
| 23rd
.77 |
51st
.17 |
|
Ohio State 13-0
Texas Tech W 45-21
Kent State W 51-17
Wash St W 25-7
at Cinc W 23-19
Indiana W 45-17
Nwestern W 27-16
San Jose St W 50-7
at Wisc W 19-14
Penn State W 13-7
Minnesota W 34-3
at Purdue W 10-6
at Illinois W 23-16 OT
Michigan W 14-9 |
Miami 12-0
Fla A&M W 63-17
at Florida W 41-16
at Temple W 44-21
Boston Coll W 38-6
Conn W 48-14
Florida St W 28-27
at West Va W 40-23
at Rutgers W 42-17
at Tenn W 26-3
Pittsburgh W 28-21
at Syracuse W 49-7
Va Tech W 56-45 |
|
Position
Ratings
relative to each
other |
| OSU |
5
highest
1 lowest |
Miami |
| 4 |
Quarterbacks |
5 |
| 5 |
RBs |
5 |
| 3.5 |
Receivers |
3.5 |
| 3.5 |
O
Line |
5 |
| 4.5 |
D
Line |
5 |
| 4.5 |
Linebackers |
4.5 |
| 3.5 |
Secondary |
5 |
| 5 |
Spec
Teams |
3 |
| 5 |
Coaching |
5 |
| | | |
The concern for the Buckeyes will be the on the other side
where sophomore Dustin Fox, generously listed at 6-0, will
best tested all game long. He's a safety forced into playing corner,
and if he's getting burned, Ohio State will have a long game.
Trying to help him out is All-Everything safety Mike Doss. There's not a better hitting safety in college football, but he
struggled at times this season in deep pass coverage. If Miami
tries to win with the short passing game, Doss will end up with
about 15 tackles, as he'll be in on every play.
For Miami, it's all about stopping the run. Despite having
two of the nation's most athletic linebackers in Jonathan Vilma and
D.J. Williams to help out a who's who of the 2006 NFL Pro
Bowl defensive linemen, the Canes are 73rd in the nation against the
run. West Virginia ran for 363 yards on the Canes, Pittsburgh ran
for 193, Virginia Tech ran for 192 and Florida State rumbled for
296. Enter Clarett. The precocious Ohio State freshman is the X
factor in this game. As long as he can stay healthy and stay in the
game, the Buckeyes have a chance. If he gets knocked out, the Canes
could totally shut down the occasionally inept OSU offense.
Ohio State will win if...Clarett stays healthy, and
QB Craig Krenzel has a huge game. The Ohio State defense will do
just fine, but the offense could be positively stagnant if it's up
to Lydell Ross and Maurice Hall carrying the ball. Krenzel won't
remind anyone of Michael Vick, or even Bryan Randall, but Krenzel
can make plays with his legs rushing for 287 yards this season. He's
a clutch playmaker and will have to loosen up the Miami defense with
the nation's number one pass defense to take the pressure off the
running game.
Miami
will win if...Ohio State can't get any pressure
on Ken Dorsey. The Buckeyes have some great individual talents in
the secondary, but they give up a ton of yards. If the Miami
offensive line can give Dorsey time, the senior star will pick apart
the OSU DBs. Once that starts happening, Doss and LB Matt Wilhelm
will be even more concerned about TE Kellen Winslow, and things will
start opening up for McGahee. Ohio State isn't going to hang 30
points on the board with this offense, so a few early Miami
touchdowns could put this away early.
What will happen: A shocker. If, IF,
Clarett doesn't get knocked out and Will Smith and Darrion Scott get
pressure on Dorsey, then OSU will win. Ohio State has the perfect
type of team to beat Miami, or will at least keep this close. To stay with the Canes, you need great special
teams, a pounding running game, and a strong defense. No one has a
better kicking game than OSU, Clarett might be the best back in
America when healthy, and the defense number two in the country in
scoring defense. There's no question that Miami has the heart of a
champion, and it might be ridiculous to question Ken Dorsey in a big
game, but this isn't the same Miami team of last year. The OSU
defense will come up with a 2001 Oklahoma Orange Bowl/Alabama in the
1993 Sugar Bowl performance, and the Buckeyes will be national
champions.
CFN Prediction: Ohio
State 20 ... Miami 17
Line: Oasis
Line: Miami -13 | Bet
On Sports line: Miami -13
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