Miami heading home for shot at national title after beating Ole Miss 31-27 in Fiesta Bowl

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Miami’s return to relevance was a long, winding road filled with more downs than ups.

Even when the Hurricanes rejoined the national conversation, they were doubted, told they didn’t belong.

Through it all, they kept chugging along — straight into the national championship game.

Carson Beck scrambled for a 3-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left as 10th-seeded Miami beat sixth-seeded Mississippi, 31-27, in an exhilarating College Football Playoff semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday night.

“We never flinched,” said Beck, who threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. “In the face of adversity, when we had to respond, we responded.”

Miami will head back home for a shot at its first national championship since 2001. The Hurricanes will play either top-seeded Indiana or fifth-seeded Oregon on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Hurricanes (13-2) didn’t play in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game and were a somewhat controversial CFP pick — at least outside of South Florida — but proved they belong.

Miami held Texas A&M and reigning national champion Ohio State to a combined 17 points to reach the CFP semifinals. Then the Hurricanes shut down the high-scoring Rebels (13-2) for three quarters before pulling it out in a wild fourth.

Beck threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Marion (114 yards, seven receptions) with 2:18 remaining in the second quarter to give Miami a 17-10 lead.

Lucas Carneiro kicked a 58-yard field goal just before halftime to bring Ole Miss within 17-13, had a 51-yarder doink off the left upright (no good) and doinked a 54-yarder off the same upright (good this time) to make it 17-16 in the third quarter. His fourth field goal, a 21-yarder with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, put Mississippi ahead 19-17.

Malachi Toney turned a screen pass into a 36-yard touchdown with 5:04 left to put the Hurricanes up 24-19.

Mississippi’s Trinidad Chambliss, a year removed from winning a Division II title at Ferris State, found Dae’Quan Wright for a 24-yard touchdown with 3:13 left. His two-point conversion pass to Caleb Odom gave Ole Miss a 27-24 lead.

Then it was Beck’s turn, and he scored from the 3 untouched to cap a 15-play, 75-yard drive that gave Miami its final lead.

Chambliss completed two passes to get Ole Miss to the Miami 35 with six seconds left, but his heave to the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.

“This team has just sacrificed a lot to get to this point,” said Chambliss, who threw for 277 yards and a touchdown. “This season’s been bumpy and there’s been a lot of things going on, and we just kept our focus. It’s been truly special.”

Miami coach Mario Cristobal, a former Hurricanes offensive lineman, gave his O-line the game ball during the on-field postgame celebration. “It was just what the situation required,” 6-3, 295-pound James Brockermeyer said of the winning drive. “If we didn’t do that, we lose the game. I think it’s a little different when you’ve got to have it. Never throw in the towel, keep fighting, keep throwing haymakers and at the end of the day, look up at the scoreboard and the Miami Hurricanes are 1-0.”

Beck won a national title as a backup at Georgia before two productive seasons as the Bulldogs’ starter. He is 37-5 as a starter for the two schools.

“He’s hungry, he’s driven, he’s a great human being, and all he wants to do is to see his teammates have success,” said Cristobal, in his fourth season coaching his alma mater. “And that’s what we witnessed tonight.”

Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for 133 yards on 22 carries for Miami. Kewan Lacy, the nation’s third-leading rusher, gained 103 yards on 11 carries, including a 73-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter that gave Ole Miss a 7-3 lead. It was the longest run allowed by Miami’s defense since 2018.

The Rebels sacked Beck four times. “They brought out some smart stuff — they brought out some good blitzes,” Hurricanes right tackle Francis Mauigoa said. “The head coach over there [Pete Golding] is a smart guy.”

The Rebels lost their coach before the playoff, but not their cool. If anything, Lane Kiffin’s decision to bolt for LSU seemed to harden Ole Miss’ resolve, pushing the Rebels to the best season in school history — and within a win of their first national championship game.

“I will just remember how they embraced each other,” Golding said. “There was a lot going on the last month. They’re going to be talking about this for a long time.”