ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) 鈥� Ryan Day and his Ohio State coaching staff spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to deal with the long break between the Big Ten championship and the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Regardless, another bye bites the dust, and these Buckeyes won’t win the school’s first back-to-back national championships.
in the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal Wednesday night, taking a two-touchdown halftime lead and bouncing the third-ranked Buckeyes (12-2, No. 2 CFP seed) a year after Ohio State had to play in the first round and won four playoff games on the way to the title.
This time, there were 25 days between the and what ended up being a second consecutive defeat for a team that enjoyed a perfect regular season.
鈥淎t the end of the day, we didn’t execute the way that we needed to to win the game,鈥� said. 鈥淭hat’s what it is. We can’t change it now.鈥�
The Buckeyes tried to change the fate of teams with first-round byes in the second year of the 12-team playoff format.
Instead, the teams that wait a little longer are 0-5, and the Hurricanes (12-2, CFP No. 10 seed) are moving on after barely making the field as an at-large team that didn’t play in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. Miami, in its first CFP, in the first round Dec. 20.
These first-round byes are different. A year ago, two teams were lower seeds. This time, the top four seeds got passes to the quarterfinals. Indiana, No. 3 Georgia and fourth-seeded Texas Tech play their quarterfinals Thursday.
鈥淲e worked really hard during the last three weeks leading up to this game to come out of the gates and win the first quarter, win the first half, be ready to go,鈥� Day said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, we didn鈥檛 get it done. I take responsibility for not getting the guys ready.鈥�
Redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin reflected the rust, throwing a 72-yard pick-6 for a 14-0 deficit early in the second quarter while getting sacked three times.
Sayin and connected on a 59-yard pass that didn’t result in points in a scoreless first half for the Buckeyes. That pair got Ohio State moving after the break, and within 17-14 on Smith’s 14-yard scoring catch on fourth-and-2 early in the fourth quarter.
After Ohio State’s next drive stalled, Miami kept the ball for most of the last six minutes against one of the best defenses in the country. The Buckeyes were in desperation mode in the final minute when Sayin threw a game-sealing interception, his second.
鈥淚t still hasn鈥檛 really hit me,鈥� said senior defensive end Caden Curry, who was part of a 28-14 CFP semifinal victory over Texas in the Cotton Bowl almost a year ago. 鈥淚 am still in my jersey and my pads, but yeah I know I鈥檒l never be able to play another game for this school.鈥�
Smith ended up with 157 yards on seven catches, and his 538 yards receiving in five playoff games are 21 yards shy of former Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith’s CFP record.
Sayin, the Heisman Trophy finalist who led FBS in completion percentage, was much more efficient in the second half, before the final interception when he was hit as he threw. The sluggish first half was just too much to overcome.
鈥淲hen you have a start the way that we did, you put yourself at risk of having to be really darn near perfect in the second half to go win the game,鈥� Day said. 鈥淲e put ourselves behind the 8 ball.鈥�
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