TEMPE, Ariz. — “That’s what a national championship game should look like.”
While Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel was referring more to the incredible battle between the Buckeyes and the Miami Hurricanes in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, his words could also reflect the thoughts of every Buckeye fan following OSU’s dramatic 31-24 double overtime victory — every national championship should end with scarlet and gray masses cheering in triumph.
“Two great heavyweights slugged it out, and we came up with the win,” Tressel said after the Bowl Championship Series title game.
Throughout a game in which they were double-digit underdogs, the Buckeyes stood toe-to-toe with the reigning national champions and former dynasty in the making. Then, as in the two previous OSU victories, the defense had to stop the opponent on the last play of the game.
Trailing by seven and on their last down, the Hurricanes were less than one yard away from sending the game into a third overtime. Holding the national championship and a 34-game winning streak in his hands, Miami quarterback and two-time Heisman finalist Ken Dorsey dropped back in an attempt to tie the game.
After linebacker Matt Wilhelm batted Dorsey’s pass victoriously to the ground, every Buckeye fan from Tempe to Columbus realized OSU had just won its seventh national title and the first consensus championship since 1968.
“We won the game, but it was The Game on the national stage — two overtimes,” said Mike Doss, captain, safety and Defensive Player of the Game. “We’re just sitting here looking at each other like, ‘We won the national championship.’ Like little kids in the candy store — it’s Christmas for us.”
The Buckeye crowd in Sun Devil Stadium erupted.
“This day is the culmination of a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice,” Tressel said.
OSU captain and quarterback Craig Krenzel, who outrushed both OSU phenom Maurice Clarett and Miami Heisman finalist Willis McGahee, was named the Offensive Player of the Game.
After the awards ceremony, the 14-0 Buckeyes followed Tressel’s tradition and sang “Carmen Ohio” with all those in attendance.
But, for the first time in 34 years, they sang as national champions.
“We didn’t get the respect we deserved, but now we got it,” said defensive back Will Allen. “You’ll see us again. We aren’t going to stop.”
