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CNN Saturday Morning News

Ohio State Wins National Championship

Aired January 04, 2003 - 09:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And if you're keeping track of football, the college football world has a new national champion. The Ohio State Buckeyes quieted the Miami Hurricanes last night in Tempe, Arizona, but it was anything but quiet. It took four quarters and two overtimes for Ohio State to win its first national title in 34 years.
We're joined now this hour by CNN sports reporter Josie Karp live from Tempe.

What a game!

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Yes, absolutely, Heidi. They are already calling it one of the greatest college football games ever played, and with very good reason. It was the first national title game that was decided in overtime. It saw the end of Miami's 34-game winning streak, it gave Ohio State its first title since 1968.

And if you like drama and if you like suspense, there was no better place to be than right here at Sun Devil Stadium last night. This game just went back and forth, and it wasn't decided until fourth down in the second overtime, when the Miami offense couldn't find the end zone. That gave Ohio State the championship, and it gave college football a game to remember.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the way a national championship game should come down to, overtime, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) time, who has the biggest heart? That's the way it should be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This right here is really a test (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the two best teams in college football. You know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Miami scored their butts off, and we did too. You know, but we just knew it was destiny for us to make this.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

KARP: It was really quite a scene at the end of the game on the field. There were players from both sides on the ground, emotionally drained, physically drained.

But the one thing that a lot of guys from Ohio State said was that they believed that it was a fitting ending to their season and a fitting way to win the championship, because they really flirted with disaster all season long. Six of Ohio State's regular season games were decided by a touchdown, no less. And they said, Hey, why not the game to decide the national championship be one of those nail-biters as well, Heidi.

COLLINS: I know somebody who was biting his nails was the quarterback, Ken -- what is his last name? No, I'm sorry, Craig Crenzell (ph).

KARP: Ken Dorsey (ph), yes.

COLLINS: Yes. But he, he -- I was reading from Ohio State. He couldn't even watch the last play. He was on the sidelines, like, covering his eyes, right?

KARP: Absolutely. You know, and players from both sides said that they went through that game, there were times when they thought they had the game won, there were times when they thought they had the game lost. And pretty much to a man, they said they'd never experienced anything like that.

And it was certainly interesting to look at the tale of two quarterbacks, because going into the game, it was the quarterback from Miami, Ken Dorsey, who had gotten all of the accolades. He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy the last two years.

But Craig Crenzell hadn't been given a lot of credit. He was the guy they said that was going to be conservative and not make a lot of mistakes. And that's really the way he played last night's game, but it was also the way Ohio State won last night's game.

COLLINS: That's right. But what about Miami losing their star running back? Do you think that had anything to do with it?

KARP: Oh, absolutely. You know, you can point to a lot of different things in this game that factored into the way it was determined. But when Willis McGehey (ph) went out late in the game with that knee injury, I mean, it changed the Miami offense completely. They kept giving the ball to the backup, Jared Peyton (ph), but he hadn't played a lot all season long. McGehey had set a Miami rushing record for a single season. He was somebody they really relied on.

So when they go over this game years from now, or even today when those Miami guys look back, they're going to say, Hey, if we'd had Willis McGehey, maybe the outcome would have been a lot different.

COLLINS: I think Ohio State would dispute that.

Josie Karp, thank you, from Tempe, Arizona.

KARP: Thanks, Heidi.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 4, 2003 - 09:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And if you're keeping track of football, the college football world has a new national champion. The Ohio State Buckeyes quieted the Miami Hurricanes last night in Tempe, Arizona, but it was anything but quiet. It took four quarters and two overtimes for Ohio State to win its first national title in 34 years.
We're joined now this hour by CNN sports reporter Josie Karp live from Tempe.

What a game!

JOSIE KARP, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Yes, absolutely, Heidi. They are already calling it one of the greatest college football games ever played, and with very good reason. It was the first national title game that was decided in overtime. It saw the end of Miami's 34-game winning streak, it gave Ohio State its first title since 1968.

And if you like drama and if you like suspense, there was no better place to be than right here at Sun Devil Stadium last night. This game just went back and forth, and it wasn't decided until fourth down in the second overtime, when the Miami offense couldn't find the end zone. That gave Ohio State the championship, and it gave college football a game to remember.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the way a national championship game should come down to, overtime, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) time, who has the biggest heart? That's the way it should be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This right here is really a test (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the two best teams in college football. You know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Miami scored their butts off, and we did too. You know, but we just knew it was destiny for us to make this.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

KARP: It was really quite a scene at the end of the game on the field. There were players from both sides on the ground, emotionally drained, physically drained.

But the one thing that a lot of guys from Ohio State said was that they believed that it was a fitting ending to their season and a fitting way to win the championship, because they really flirted with disaster all season long. Six of Ohio State's regular season games were decided by a touchdown, no less. And they said, Hey, why not the game to decide the national championship be one of those nail-biters as well, Heidi.

COLLINS: I know somebody who was biting his nails was the quarterback, Ken -- what is his last name? No, I'm sorry, Craig Crenzell (ph).

KARP: Ken Dorsey (ph), yes.

COLLINS: Yes. But he, he -- I was reading from Ohio State. He couldn't even watch the last play. He was on the sidelines, like, covering his eyes, right?

KARP: Absolutely. You know, and players from both sides said that they went through that game, there were times when they thought they had the game won, there were times when they thought they had the game lost. And pretty much to a man, they said they'd never experienced anything like that.

And it was certainly interesting to look at the tale of two quarterbacks, because going into the game, it was the quarterback from Miami, Ken Dorsey, who had gotten all of the accolades. He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy the last two years.

But Craig Crenzell hadn't been given a lot of credit. He was the guy they said that was going to be conservative and not make a lot of mistakes. And that's really the way he played last night's game, but it was also the way Ohio State won last night's game.

COLLINS: That's right. But what about Miami losing their star running back? Do you think that had anything to do with it?

KARP: Oh, absolutely. You know, you can point to a lot of different things in this game that factored into the way it was determined. But when Willis McGehey (ph) went out late in the game with that knee injury, I mean, it changed the Miami offense completely. They kept giving the ball to the backup, Jared Peyton (ph), but he hadn't played a lot all season long. McGehey had set a Miami rushing record for a single season. He was somebody they really relied on.

So when they go over this game years from now, or even today when those Miami guys look back, they're going to say, Hey, if we'd had Willis McGehey, maybe the outcome would have been a lot different.

COLLINS: I think Ohio State would dispute that.

Josie Karp, thank you, from Tempe, Arizona.

KARP: Thanks, Heidi.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com