Ohio State-Miami. 2002-2003 Fiesta Bowl, the BCS National Championship Game. Miami starts the game as a 12-point favorite, but Ohio State keeps the score even at 17 apiece, forcing overtime. Miami scores a touchdown on their overtime, forcing Ohio State to a 4th-and-3 on the five yard-line.
That 4th-and-3 play may have changed college football forever. Ohio State QB Craig Krenzel threw an incomplete pass to Chris Gamble in the end zone, but refs through a pass interference flag on Miami DB Glenn Sharpe. That call — considered a ticky-tacky PI by most football fans outside of the state of Ohio — gave the Buckeyes a fresh set of downs on the one-yardline. Ohio State eventually scored and won in double OT, spoiling Miami’s hopes at back-to-back National Championships.
That Ohio State win thanks to a bad pass interference set in motion a series of events that changed college football forever: The U left the Big East for the ACC and the program started to crumble from it’s glory days.
In the video above, as part of our series on Legendary What Ifs, we examine what could have happened if that pass interference flag was never thrown, forcing a 2002-2003 National Championship for the Miami Hurricanes.