Miami vs Everybody: How the Hurricanes Can Shock Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl

It’s almost time for everyone else to join the bandwagon.

After December 31, we’ll have everyone understanding what we already know in Miami, we have a team of destiny.

The Miami Hurricanes already cracked the College Football Playoff door open by beating Texas A&M. They doubted that game too, the same way they’re doubting us constantly against Ohio State. Texas A&M and their fanbase had to learn the hard way.

Now comes the part where nobody outside South Florida thinks they belong in the room.

Miami, the No. 10 seed, the one seed that they said they should have Notre Dame take their spot (remember that stupid a** debate?) take on the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (and we can’t wait to put belt to a** in the Cotton Bowl.

This s**t was made for ESPN. Primetime, even as Nine-point underdogs. It’s still the same old song.

Miami has lived in this space before.

If the Miami is going to turn this year’s CFP to chaos it’s going to take a lot of discipline, physicality, and refusing to waste the opportunities Ohio State will give in the course of a football game.

You Don’t Get Many Chances Against Ohio State. Finish Them.

It’s cool, Ohio State has the second best team in the nation.

But honestly, who gives a s**t. On any given day, any team can be beat and we have the ability to do just that. Mario Cristobal already defeated Ryan Day when he played against him as the Oregon head coach. Now it’s time to do it with a little South Florida magic behind it.

Right now, yes we know it’ll be difficult as Ohio State has the best scoring defense in the country. Period.

They give up 8.2 points per game and haven’t allowed more than 16 all season. Two shutouts. No charity.

But here’s the part people skip over.

A good chunk of that dominance came against some truly anemic offenses. Teams with offenses that Miami would blow out of the f**king water. Wisconsin, UCLA, Purdue. Minnesota. Rutgers. Michigan in a down year. Indiana was the only “elite” offense they saw and remember when they kicked OSU’s a** in the Big 10 title by scoring 13 meager points?

The Hurricanes average 32.2 points per game, tied for 29th nationally, which is weird because they only scored 10 against Texas A&M (all that means is their offense needs to wake the f**k up.)

Why?

Missed three field goals inside the 30.

Five punts.

A fourth-quarter fumble in Aggies territory.

You don’t beat Ohio State doing that. You don’t even scare them.

Miami doesn’t need perfection. But it needs points when the door cracks open.

Field goals have to be automatic and red-zone trips have to end with celebrations with swagger not dissapointment.

Miami Needs heisman candidate Carson Beck

It’s been a wild ride his season for Carson Beck.

At one point during the year he had it all.

The lock of a first to third round NFL draft pick, and the opportunity to win the Heisman trophy. Then came the turnovers and bad losses, that still stick in peoples minds. A few bad games, with a few bad throws literally threw it all away.

Against Texas A&M, the wind at Kyle Field was real as f**k and it mattered. Even in spite of that, the passing game still has to come threw better.

Carson Beck finished the contest with 14-of-20 for 103 yards and a touchdown against A&M, which was efficient but the bad is that only 2-of-7 on throws were over 10 yards. That’s not enough against Ohio State.

Miami survived because Mark Fletcher Jr. went nuclear.

172 yards.

17 carries.

Absolute violence.

That formula won’t be enough again.

Miami needs the Beck that closed the regular season completing nearly 80% of his passes, while throwing for 1,125 yards and 11 touchdowns, and looked like a quarterback who could actually tilt coverage.

Ohio State will load the f**king box as much as Miami will allow them. They’ll dare Miami to throw. Beck doesn’t need to win the game by himself, we’ll repeat that again, Beck DOES NOT need to win the game by himself, but he has to make Ohio State respect the air.

Win the Trenches, the Ball & Win! 

This is where Miami lives. The Hurricanes’ identity still starts up front, and the numbers back it up. Miami logged seven sacks and nine tackles for loss while allowing just two sacks themselves against A&M.

The gurus at Pro Football Focus, Miami ranks top-10 nationally in:

• Pass rushing

• Pass blocking

• Run blocking

• Run defense

Ohio State is excellent too, especially against the run, but this is not a mismatch. This is a collision.

If Miami controls the line of scrimmage again, everything else follows.

And then there’s turnovers because Miami is 8-0 when winning the turnover battle and they’ve forced 23 takeaways (what a f**king stat) which is the third-most among the remaining playoff teams.

Miami doesn’t need chaos.

But one strip. One tipped ball. One short field.

That’s how underdogs turn into problems.

Miami doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be sharp, violent, and opportunistic.

Finish drives.

Trust Beck.

Dominate the trenches.

Do that, and suddenly the Cotton Bowl stops feeling like Ohio State’s stage and starts feeling like Miami’s kind of mess.

And Miami has always thrived in chaos.