2003 Fiesta Bowl The 2003 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl took place on January 3 , 2003 in Tempe , Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium . The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Miami Hurricanes by a score of 31 – 24 in double overtime . It also served as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2002 NCAA Division I - A football season . The game was the second overtime result 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 . Game summary . The Buildup . Throughout the season the defending national champion Miami Hurricanes continued a historic winning streak . The regular season ended with a perfect record extending the streak to 34 games . Their roster included future NFL players on both offense and defense including Willis McGahee , Ken Dorsey , Andre Johnson , Kellen Winslow Jr . , Jonathan Vilma , D . J . Williams , William Joseph , Jerome McDougle , Antrel Rolle , Kelly Jennings , and Sean Taylor . Their offensive line had also produced 3 straight 1 , 000 yard seasons by 3 different running backs , and were leading the nation in fewest sacks allowed . They were an overwhelming favorite to win their 2nd consecutive national title . Ohio State had started the season ranked # 13 after losing to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl the previous year . It was head coach Jim Tressel ' s second year with the team , and he had the experienced Buckeyes looking to win the Big Ten title . After gaining national respect by beating a top 10 Washington State team , Ohio State would go on to ride their strong defense and surprising offense to a 13 - 0 regular season . Freshman star Maurice Clarett highlighted their elite rushing attack , while quarterback Craig Krenzel managed the games well by throwing to talented wideouts Michael Jenkins and Chris Gamble . They had won 6 games by 7 points or fewer , and the last 3 games by a slim margin of 16 points . The Buckeyes took advantage and finished their season with a close win against Michigan , who were ranked 9th nationally . They held on to a 14 - 9 lead with an interception in the endzone by safety Will Allen in the final seconds . Even though they were undefeated , the Buckeyes were heading into the Fiesta Bowl as - 2 touchdown underdogs . But they had a lot of motivation from strong leaders like 3x All - American safety Mike Doss . 1st Quarter . The Miami Hurricanes won the coin toss for first possession options and elected to defer their choice until the 2nd half kickoff . The Buckeyes chose to receive the kickoff and Miami decided to defend the north goal . The kickoff resulted in a touchback but the Buckeyes were flagged for having 12 men on the field , moving the spot of the ball back to the Buckeye 15 - yard line . The Buckeyes ' first series resulted in a three - and - out , and Buckeye punter Andy Groom ' s 56 - yard punt resulted in Miami beginning their first possession on their own 20 . During the first down , the Hurricanes ' quarterback Ken Dorsey was sacked for a loss of 3 yards . Running back Willis McGahee was tackled on the second down in the backfield for a loss of 2 yards . On third and 15 , Dorsey completed a 20 - yard pass to Andre Johnson for a 1st down . A couple of plays later , Dorsey again completed a pass to Andre Johnson for 11 yards . The next play saw Dorsey sacked again , this time for a 5 - yard loss . The Miami offense failed to gain a first down and punter Freddie Capshaw punted the ball 43 yards . Ohio State received the ball on its one yard line . After three downs , the Buckeyes punted . Groom kicked the ball 44 yards where Roscoe Parrish made a fair catch at the Miami 48 yard line . Miami ' s drive started out slowly with a 1 - yard loss on a run by McGahee , but the next play saw Dorsey throw a 28 - yard first down pass to Kellen Winslow , Jr . . Three plays later , Dorsey sidestepped blitzing safety Donnie Nickey and threw to Parrish for a 25 - yard touchdown to put Miami up 7 - 0 ( after Todd Sievers ’ s extra point ) with 4 : 09 left in the first quarter . Ohio State ' s Maurice Hall returned the ensuing kickoff for 15 yards . On the first play from scrimmage , Buckeye quarterback Craig Krenzel threw an interception to Miami safety Sean Taylor . On its first play after this , the Miami quarterback completed a 14 - yard pass to Andre Johnson for another first down . McGahee was tackled twice for a net loss of 4 yards , and Dorsey ' s pass on third - and - 15 was 2 yards short of a first down . On fourth down Miami ' s Capshaw punted 44 yards for a touchback . The Buckeyes took over at their 20 yard line , but got a false start penalty , moving them to their 15 yard line . The Buckeyes did not get a touchdown before the quarter ended . 2nd Quarter . After a quick first down at the end of the 1st quarter the Ohio State drive stalled as Maurice Clarett was tackled for no gain , and then a 7 yard loss , on the next two plays . Groom punted for 63 yards to the Miami 7 yard line where Parrish returned it 6 yards . The Hurricanes moved the ball after a 10 yard holding penalty for another first down . Ohio State responded after the mental error when cornerback Dustin Fox intercepted Ken Dorsey ’ s pass , which was intended for Parrish , at the Miami 49 and returned it 12 yards . Ohio State picked up a first down in 2 plays but come up short on a long 3rd and 12 to make it 4th and 1 . The Buckeyes uncharacteristically decided to fake the field goal attempt and have kick holder Andy Groom ( otherwise a punter ) carry the ball on an option , but the Buckeyes were stopped for no gain on the play and turned the ball over on downs . Miami began their next possession with another penalty . The Hurricanes were called for an illegal formation penalty for 5 yards , but Dorsey quickly rebounded 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 Geathers for a 4 yard gain . The Hurricanes tried to pass two more times , but the first pass was incomplete and the second was intercepted on a deflection by Buckeye safety 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 , with the help of a Miami offsides penalty . Krenzel carried the ball into the endzone on 4th and 1 from the 2 for a touchdown . Mike Nugent kicked the PAT to tie the score at 7 - 7 with a little over 2 minutes to go in the first half . Nugent ' s kickoff after the score went to the back of the endzone for a touchback . On the Hurricane ' s first play from scrimmage Ken Dorsey was sacked and fumbled the ball . The Buckeye ' s Darrion Scott recovered the fumble on the Miami 14 yard line . 2 plays later , and again with the help of a Miami offsides penalty , Maurice Clarett ran for a 7 yard touchdown . After another successful PAT by Nugent the Buckeyes were up 14 - 7 . Nugent kicked off for another touchback , and Miami chose to run out the clock . The Buckeyes led at half time , 14 – 7 . 3rd Quarter . On the first play of the second half , Ohio State kicker Mike Nugent sent the ball into the endzone for yet another 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 elected to punt . Freddie Capshaw 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 they handed off to Clarett twice , resulting in a 4 and 10 yard gain respectively and a Buckeye first down . Ohio State was flagged for a 5 yard offsides penalty on the next play . The Buckeyes were 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 was stripped by Maurice Clarett causing a fumble which was recovered by Clarett . The turnover resulted in 3 points for OSU when Nugent converted a field goal that put the Buckeyes up 17 – 7 . On the following kickoff the Hurricanes ' Andre Johnson returned the ball 39 yards before getting tackled . Again , the Buckeyes defense held Miami to a 3 and out and forced a punt . Capshaw had a 43 yard punt down to the Ohio State 10 yard line where Chris Gamble fielded the ball for a 1 yard gain . Antrel Rolle was called for a kick catch interference penalty of 10 yards on the punt . Ohio State began their next drive at their own 21 yard line , and only moved the ball 4 yards before calling in Groom to punt the ball 30 yards out of bounds . Miami ' s next possession consisted of a couple big plays including a 23 yard reception and a 7 yard reception by Winslow from Dorsey . Miami then faced 1st and goal from the Ohio State 9 yard line . Willis McGahee ran 9 yards for a Miami touchdown . Sievers PAT kick was good and the score became 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 tackled for no gain . Krenzel ran for 4 yards making it 3rd and 6 , and 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 in favor of the Buckeyes . 4th Quarter . The 4th Quarter started out with a 49 yard punt out of bounds by Andy Groom giving Miami the ball at their own 24 yard line . Miami 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 of the game after the play . McGahee ' s injury was caused by a shoulder leading hit by safety Will Allen . The tackle ruptured all three ligaments in McGahee ' s knee , putting his career in doubt . ( McGahee subsequently recovered from his injury and has gone on to a successful professional football career . ) The next plays were a Dorsey completion to Ethenic Sands for 9 yards , and a Dorsey completion to Winslow for a gain of 11 yards . The Canes were then held forced to bring out kicker Todd Sievers to attempt a 54 yard field goal . Sievers ’ s attempt was wide right and the Buckeyes took over on downs . The Buckeyes put a drive together , also earning 3 first downs including a 10 yard completion from Krenzel to Michael Jenkins , a 12 yard completion from Krenzel to Gamble , and a 6 yard rush by Clarett . However the Miami defense held and forced Ohio State to try a field goal . Nugent ' s attempt at a 42 yard field goal missed the uprights wide right . Miami then took over the ball at its own 25 with 6 : 36 left in the game . On the first play of the Miami drive , Dorsey hooked up with Kellen Winslow for an 11 yard gain and a first down . Jarrett Payton then rushed for 5 yards , right before Dorsey and Winslow hooked up yet again for a 10 yard gain and another Miami 1st down . Miami was stopped two plays in a row bringing up 3rd and 8 when Dorsey passed to Parrish for a 34 yard completion , but Parrish fumbled the ball at the hands of cornerback Dustin Fox . Nickelback Will Allen recovered the fumble for the Buckeyes . Krenzel then rushed for one more 1st down on a 4 yard gain until they were held by the Miami D and were forced to punt once again . On third down a catch by Chris Gamble was ruled incomplete due to his being out of bounds . The Buckeyes were forced to punt and Groom punted the ball 44 yards . Miami ' s returner , Parrish , ran the ball back 50 yards before being tackled by Groom and Doss . An Ohio State defender was blocked in the back as he attempted to tackle Parish just short of the Miami 40 yard line . The officials did not see the penalty , and the return was allowed to stand . Miami started their drive at the Buckeye 26 yard line with 2 : 02 left in the game . They ran 3 plays for a total of 3 yards and decide to take a timeout on 4th and 7 with 3 seconds left in the game . Miami elected to have Sievers attempt a 40 yard field goal . Tressel called a timeout to try to ice the kicker . Ohio State then used its last timeout in a further attempt to rattle Sievers . The 40 yard attempt was successful , however , and tied the score at 17 with no time remaining in regulation play , forcing the game into overtime . First overtime . Ohio State won the toss at the start of overtime and chose to be on defense first . Miami started 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 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 the defense , but the penalty was declined . Miami lead 24 – 17 at this point , forcing the Buckeyes to score a touchdown on their next possession to keep the game alive . On the Buckeyes ' turn to try to score from the Miami 25 yard line , Krenzel came up with a 5 yard rush on the first play . Ohio State had a 2nd and 5 on the Miami 20 yard line and a false start penalty was called against the Buckeyes bringing them back 5 yards to the 25 . On 2nd and 10 Krenzel got sacked for a 4 yard loss bringing up 3rd and 14 . Krenzel then threw an incomplete pass to Clarett to make it 4th and 14 and their last chance to get a 1st down . Krenzel came through and completed a 17 yard pass to Jenkins for a 1st down on the Miami 12 yard line . Krenzel then threw another incomplete pass to Jenkins which brought up 2nd and 10 where Krenzel took the ball himself and rushed for 7 yards down to the Miami 5 yard line . The third down was an incomplete pass by Krenzel , which brought up 4th down and 3 . Krenzel attempted a pass to Gamble , but the ball bounced off Gamble ' s hands and was called an incomplete pass by the line judge . The Miami fans and team , believing the game to be over , began to rush the field . However , Terry Porter , a field judge had thrown a late flag in the endzone . The penalty was defensive pass interference , called on Miami defender Glenn Sharpe . Due to the controversial penalty , Ohio State received the ball on the 2 yard line with an automatic first down . With a fresh set of downs , Krenzel rushed for a 1 yard touchdown on 3rd down . Nugent ' s kick was good and tied the score at 24 sending the game into a double overtime . Second overtime . On the second overtime the teams switched possession order , giving the ball first to Ohio State . The Buckeyes started strong with Lydell Ross rushing for a 9 yard gain on 1st down . 3rd and 1 came up and Krenzel rushed for 5 yards and an Ohio State 1st down . For 1st and 10 on the Miami 11 , Krenzel completed a 6 yard pass to Jenkins which brought up 2nd and 4 on the Miami 5 yard line . Krenzel then handed off the ball to Maurice Clarett for a 5 yard rushing touchdown putting Ohio State up 31 – 24 after a successful Nugent PAT . Miami had to score a touchdown to tie the game and send it to a 3rd overtime . The Hurricanes drew a couple of blanks to put them in a 4th and 3 situation where Dorsey completed a 7 yard pass to Winslow for a 1st down . A facemask penalty was called on Ohio State during the play to make it 1st and 5 for Miami from the Buckeye 6 yard line . Ken Dorsey then threw an incomplete pass to Andre Johnson but a pass interference call on the Buckeyes defender gave Miami a 1st and goal from the 2 yard line . The Buckeye defense held Miami to only one yard in the next 3 plays to bring up a big 4th and goal on the 1 yard line . Ken Dorsey threw a pass as he was being hit by linebacker Cie Grant ; it was incomplete , ending the game with Ohio State winning the BCS National Championship 31 – 24 . The Aftermath . It had featured good defense , very physical battles among the offensive and defensive linemen , and strong performances by the teams ' star players . It was the first national championship game to go into overtime , and the back - and - forth battle continued all the way to the 1 - yard line on the final play . OSU had leaned on their defense all season , and the unit came through when they were needed most . The goal - line stand in the 2nd overtime is considered a defining moment of the Ohio St . season and cemented that group as one of the best in Buckeye history . Ohio State came to the desert as underdogs , but Jim Tressel won his 1st Division 1 - FBS national championship as a head coach , and it was the storied program ' s first national title since Woody Hayes ' s 1968 squad . They were also the first college football team to ever win 14 games in an undefeated season . Krenzel and Doss were named Co - MVP ' s of the game . It was particularly emotional for Doss , because he had come back to Ohio State for his senior year when he would most likely have been taken in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft . But the dedicated senior would eventually win the coveted crystal trophy , and would also go on to win a Super Bowl trophy with the Indianapolis Colts . Miami ' s juggernaut program enjoyed three more years of successful football , but the program went downhill for the rest of the decade . Ohio State has had mostly 10 + win seasons , and has dominated the Big Ten . The two teams would not meet until almost a decade later ; once in 2010 and once in 2011 , with Ohio State winning the first meeting 36 - 24 on a strong performance by the defense and Heisman trophy candidate Terrelle Pryor and with Miami winning the next 24 - 6 . The amount of future NFL talent that played in the game is considered highly exceptional . Of the 43 players who started in the game ( OSU ' s Chris Gamble started on both offense and defense ) , 37 of them were eventually NFL draft picks ( including 18 first - rounders ) . Of the 100 players who played in the game , 58 went on to play in the NFL . The Call . The pass was ruled incomplete by the side judge . A few seconds later , another official who had also ruled the pass incomplete then threw a flag , calling for pass interference against Miami . When asked why it took him so long to make the call , official Terry Porter said he wanted to make sure that the call was correct . When reviewed in frames 2 , 3 and 4 , where Glenn Sharpe is seen holding Chris Gamble , the ball is already in flight , which is why Porter changed the hold to pass interference . " The Call " has since been defended by two sportswriters as a good one , however some sportswriter have denounced the call , including Sports Illustrated ' s Rick Reilly , and CBS Sports Dennis Dodd , who wrote : It should also be noted that Dodd later changed his opinion and wrote the following : In the age before coaches ' challenges and referee reviews were included within the NCAA rules , the call was subsequently validated by the National Association of Sports Officials , and was also selected by " Referee Magazine " as one of the " Best 18 Calls of All Time . " " The Call " was also discussed on the ESPN Classic show , The Top 5 Reasons You Can ' t Blame . . . , in an episode titled , " The Top 5 Reasons You Can ' t Blame the Referees for Miami losing the 2003 Fiesta Bowl . "