The Miami Hurricanes beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 24-14 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal behind some great leadership. At halftime, when defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. grabbed the floor, he captivated the locker room and said what everyone watching was already starting to feel.
Rueben Bain Jr. halftime speech vs Ohio State🔥 pic.twitter.com/XY9x1bkSnU
— Grant Reacts (@GrantReacts1) January 3, 2026
Rueben Bain leads Miami to CFP semifinals
In a clip shared online, Bain delivered a simple, straight-to-the-point message.
"We only got 30 more minutes. 30 more minutes we get everything we worked for. Them boys ain't work how we work, they ain't feel how we feel, they ain't cry how we cry. You can see they don't got the energy we got. They don't want it how we want it."Rueben Bain
The Hurricanes went into the break up 14-0, scoring on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Carson Beck to Mark Fletcher Jr., then changing the dynamics of the game with Keionte Scott's 72-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Bain and Akheem Mesidor combined for three sacks in the first half as Ohio State punted on four of its first five drives. Bain ended with three total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack, while Mesidor finished with two sacks.
Of course, Ohio State did not roll over. The Buckeyes came out of the break and immediately cut the lead to 14-7 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Bo Jackson. Miami answered with a 49-yard Carter Davis field goal, but the real gut-check came in the fourth quarter when Julian Sayin hit Jeremiah Smith for a 14-yard touchdown to make it 17-14 with 13:28 left.
Miami then answered the call. With the game down to one possession, the Hurricanes put together a 10-play, 70-yard drive that bled the clock and ended with CharMar Brown's 5-yard touchdown run with 55 seconds left. That was the game.
The Hurricanes' next step is the CFP semifinal game against a talented Ole Miss team that just defeated Georgia.