Defending champ Ohio State is out with loss to Miami
- - Defending champ Ohio State is out with loss to Miami
The January 1, 2026 at 5:21 AM
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Miami defensive back Jakobe Thomas, right, makes a tackle on Ohio State tight end Will Kacmarek during the second half of the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal game Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson) ()
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — COTTON BOWL
Jeremiah Smith and the Ohio State Buckeyes won’t be the school’s first back-to-back national champions, and the College Football Playoff still doesn’t have a winner from teams with the first-round byes.
No. 10 Miami held on for a 24-14 victory in the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal Wednesday night, bouncing the No. 3 Buckeyes a year after they won four CFP games on the way to the title.
Ohio State (12-2, CFP No. 2 seed) trailed 14-0 at halftime, but was within three at 17-14 after Smith’s 14-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-2 early in the fourth quarter.
Smith, the All-America receiver, ended up with 157 yards on seven catches, including a 59-yarder that didn’t lead to points in a scoreless first half for the Buckeyes.
The sluggish first half meant Smith’s shiny second half wasn’t enough as Ohio State finished the season with two losses following a 12-0 start. Top-ranked Indiana beat the Buckeyes 13-10 in the Big Ten championship game.
In the first year of the 12-team playoff last season, all four teams that got first-round byes lost in the quarterfinals. Now that record is 0-5, but this time it’s different. A year ago, two teams with first-round byes were lower seeds. This time, the top four seeds got the byes.
Miami’s Keionte Scott returned Julian Sayin’s interception 72 yards for a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Sayin’s second interception in the final minute sealed the win for the Hurricanes (12-2, CFP No. 10 seed).
NO. 14 TEXAS 41, NO. 18 MICHIGAN 27
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Arch Manning made big plays with his arm and his legs, throwing two touchdown passes and putting it away with a 60-yard scoring run in a victory that ended a rough month for Michigan.
Manning was an easy choice as the Citrus Bowl MVP, and that was before he burst up the middle on his 60-yarder that gave the Longhorns (10-3) a 38-27 lead, the first time all game either team led by more than one score.
Manning was 21 of 34 for 221 yards passing, and he ran nine times for 155 yards.
He delivered a perfect throw to Kaliq Lockett on a 30-yard TD for a 31-27 lead, the first time Texas led since a field goal on its opening drive.
That was one play after he scrambled 15 yards for a first down on fourth-and-2. Manning twice converted on fourth down with clutch runs, both times extending drives that led to touchdowns.
Bryce Underwood, Michigan’s freshman quarter, kept the Wolverines in the game until a pair of late interceptions sealed it. He was 23 of 42 for 199 yards and two touchdowns, along with three interceptions in the last 18 minutes of the game.
IOWA 34, NO. 13 VANDERBILT 27
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Mark Gronowski threw two touchdowns and rushed for another to lead Iowa to a win over Vanderbilt.
Gronowski was 16 of 22 passing for 212 yards, throwing touchdowns passes of 10 and 21 yards to Reece Vander Zee and DJ Vonnahme, respectively, as Iowa got out to a 21-3 lead early in the third quarter.
Vanderbilt (10-3) rallied behind Diego Pavia. The Heisman Trophy runner-up threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Tre Richardson and a 16-yarder to Joseph McVay to pull the Commodores within 24-17.
The teams traded scores early in the fourth quarter, with Gronowski making it 31-17 with a 1-yard keeper and Pavia answering with an 11-yard TD run.
Iowa (9-4) pushed the lead back to double digits with a 44-yard field goal from Drew Stevens to cap off a 13-play, 49-yard drive that took more than seven minutes. Vanderbilt answered with a 37-yard field goal from Brock Taylor to make it 34-27, but Iowa was able to close out the game with Xavier Williams running for 11 yards on a third-and-1 with 1:55 remaining and the Commodores out of timeouts.
Pavia finished with 347 passing yards. Richardson caught six passes for 127 yards and Junior Sherrill had eight catches for 123 yards for Vanderbilt.
Vonnahme led the Hawkeyes with seven catches for 146 yards and Kamari Moulton rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown. Gronowski had 54 rushing yards.
NO. 15 UTAH 44, NEBRASKA 22
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Devon Dampier threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 148 yards and three scores, and Utah beat Nebraska .
Scalley was expected to be the Utes’ coach beginning after this game, but Michigan hired Kyle Whittingham on Friday, prompting a quicker change.
For Dampier, the question now is whether the junior will return to Salt Lake City or enter the transfer portal and maybe even follow his old coach to Michigan.
This game was considered a sort of audition for Nebraska freshman quarterback TJ Lateef, who passed for 182 yards and had a touchdown each throwing and running. Mekhi Nelson rushed for 88 yards and a TD on 12 carries, but only 16 yards after the first quarter.
Utah (11-2) reached 11 victories for just the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2019. The Utes improved their bowl record to 18-9, including 5-2 in the Las Vegas Bowl. They also won two Pac-12 championships at Allegiant Stadium.
The Utes outgained Nebraska (7-6) 535 yards to 343. They rushed for 225 yards, giving the Utes a school-record 3,462 for the season. Their four rushing touchdowns gave the Utes 41 for the season, another program record.
DUKE 42, ARIZONA STATE 39
ELPASO, Texas (AP) — Darian Mensah threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns to lead Duke to a victory over Arizona State.
Mensah, named the game’s MVP, was 29 of 51 passing with an interception. He helped Duke to its fourth straight win and tied a Sun Bowl record for TD passes in a game.
The Blue Devils (9-5) also won nine games for a second consecutive season — only the second time in program history they accomplished the feat.
Arizona State (8-5) was led by quarterback Jeff Sims, who was 27 of 38 passing for 375 yards and three TDs. He also ran for 70 yards and two scores on seven carries, including a 38-yard run in the second quarter that tied the game at 21-all.
Source: “AOL Sports”
