I have lived through 44 New Years Eves. I can now confidently say watching Miami beat that team from Ohio on NYE 2025 with my two-year old son takes the top spot for me. Let me walk you through my night of watching State of the U’s Game of the Year!
Pregame:
Nervous energy. While I liked Miami’s chances due to its offensive and defensive lines, I knew this game would be a step up in competition from Texas A&M the week prior. I only drank one pregame beer as I had my good luck charm with me: my son!
The wife went out with some girlfriends for NYE as there was no way I was leaving the house. It worked out well as it’s hard to get a babysitter for that holiday. Little guy was in his Miami Hurricanes t-shirt his nana got him. I taught him to say “Go Miami!”. Pretty cool.
I avoided watching any pregame shows. Why you ask? Because I didn’t want to hear about the 2003 Fiesta Bowl or see the Glenn Sharpe play for the one thousandth time. No thanks. Instead, I let little guy watch one episode of Paw Patrol. That made the transition to football easier for him. It was also calming for me. Anything to keep my mind off the game until kickoff was a good thing.
First half:
Miami’s three-and-out on its opening drive was disappointing. The combination sack by Bain and Mesidor on Ohio State’s first possession made me feel much better. It was early, but I could tell the Canes defense was going to show up for this matchup.
I freaking loved the play call for Miami’s first touchdown. Just a great misdirection by offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson that was executed to perfection by Carson Beck and Mark Fletcher Jr. I let out a “Yes!” after the touchdown. Going up 7-0 was huge.
We all know what happened on the Buckeyes’ next possession. I have to admit, I was somewhat demoralized by the long pass to Jeremiah Smith to open their drive. That dude is special and I didn’t want to see him get going. And then..bang! The SOTU Play of the Year happened when Keionte Scott read the play perfectly and snatched the horizontal pass from Julian Sayin for a 72-yard pick-six. Woo! I jumped up, put my arms in the air, and yelled out loud. My son looked up with excitement and said “Yay daddy!”. I leaned down to him for a double high-five and said “Go Miami!”. He responded in kind, “Go Miami!”. It was so awesomely cute; one of the best Miami Hurricanes football moments of my lifetime.
After that play, I knew the Canes were going to win. Even better, the Buckeyes missed a field goal just before halftime to remain scoreless on the night. That was big.
Halftime:
I paused the game at halftime to put little guy to bed. Luckily he falls asleep quickly, so I wasn’t thinking about the live action I was missing when I was patting his butt to help him doze off. Once he was out, I let out a huge sigh, then got ready to be completely stressed out for the second half.
Second half:
I was only a couple of plays behind when I returned to the couch, beer in one hand and remote in the other. I knew Ohio State would put up a better effort in the second thirty minutes, they were too good of a team not to do so. That Carter Davis field goal in the third quarter was SO HUGE in keeping Miami ahead going into the fourth quarter. It was the small cushion the Canes needed.
The defensive stop before Miami’s game-clinching drive was enormous. The entire defensive unit played as one that night. It was beautiful to see. Almost as big was the OSU penalty on their punt. That mistake gave the Canes an extra 20 yards of field position.
The third-down pass to CharMar Brown was a great play call executed well. Brown has really good hands for a big back. I was a huge fan of him this past season and am very excited to see what he can do for this offense in 2026. I was standing two feet from the TV with my hands for the CJ Daniels catch-and-run third-down conversion. I gave a silent fist pump as the game was basically sealed at that point. It was awesome seeing Miami’s offense come up big when it mattered most. The CharMar Brown touchdown run two plays later was icing on the cake.
Postgame:
Needless to say, I was wired after the game. I sat on my couch with my laptop on a pillow with a ear-to-ear smile on my face as I wrote my Three Stars article. The wife came home just before midnight so we could share a smooch. She had to work the next morning, so it was off to bed for her. I couldn’t have fallen asleep if I tried, plus there was far too much postgame content to consume.
What a game. What a night. What a New Years Eve. The win over Ole Miss was incredible, don’t get me wrong. It put Miami in the 2026 CFP National Championship Game in its home stadium while also lifting the Fiesta Bowl curse. Still, I would say the Sugar Bowl win over that team from Ohio was the high point of the season for me. Watching that game on NYE with my young son in a Miami Hurricanes shirt excited for his dad being excited for his favorite team was a truly memorable experience that I will cherish for many years to come.
