SCORE BY QUARTERS
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
FINAL
3
14
0
14
31
0
13
3
11
27
Attendance:
67,928
Kickoff Time:
5:46 p.m. MT
End of Game:
9:29 p.m. MT
Game Duration:
3:43
GLENDALE, Arizona (AP) — Carson Beck scrambled for a 3-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left, and Miami will head back home for a shot at its first national championship since 2001 after beating 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.”
The 10th-ranked 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 – yet proved they belong. They will face either top-ranked Indiana or No. 5 Oregon in the national title game on Jan. 19.
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 in the desert before pulling it out in a wild fourth.
Malachi Toney, hero of Miami’s opening CFP win over Texas A&M, turned a screen pass into a 36-yard touchdown that put the Hurricanes up 24-19.
Trinidad Chambliss, a year removed from winning a Division II title at Ferris State, led the Rebels down the field and found Dae’Quan Wright for a 24-yard touchdown with 3:13 left.
Then it was Beck’s turn.
He won a national title as a backup at Georgia before two productive seasons as the Bulldogs’ starter. Beck kept the Hurricanes calm amid the storm, leading them down the field for the winning score — and a shot at a national title on their home field at Hard Rock Stadium. Beck is 37-5 as a starter, including two seasons at Georgia.
“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 Mario Cristobal, in his fourth season coaching his alma mater. “And that’s what we witnessed tonight.”
Chambliss completed two passes to get Ole Miss to the Miami 35 with 6 seconds left, but his heave to the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.
The sixth-seeded 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 game of their first national championship game.
Ole Miss took the lead on Lucas Caneiro’s fourth field goal, from 21 yards, and seemed poised to continue its improbable run with Chambliss’ TD pass to Wright.
The Rebels couldn’t hold back the Hurricanes on their final drive, but what a run it was.
With Pete Golding calling the shots after being promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach, and most of the assistants sticking around, the Rebels blew out Tulane to open the playoff and took down mighty Georgia in the CFP quarterfinals.
They faced a different kind of storm in the Hurricanes.
Miami has rekindled memories of its 2001 national championship team behind a defense that went from porous to nearly impenetrable in its first season under coordinator Corey Hetherman.
The Hurricanes walled up early in the Fiesta Bowl, holding Ole Miss to minus-1 yard.
One play revved up the Rebels and their rowdy fans.
Kewan Lacy, the nation’s third-leading rusher, burst through a hole up the middle for a 73-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter — the longest run allowed by Miami’s defense since 2018.
The Hurricanes seemed content to grind away at the Rebels in small chunks offensively, setting up CharMar Brown’s 4-yard touchdown run and a field goal.
Miami unlocked the deep game just before halftime, taking advantage of a busted coverage for a 52-yard touchdown pass from Beck to Keelan Marion.
SCORING SUMMARY
QTR
TIME
SCORE
(V-H)
TEAM
SCORING PLAY
DRIVE
1st
06:22
3-0
Miami
Carter Davis 38 yd FG
13-44
(07:21)
2nd
14:50
3-7
Ole Miss
Kewan Lacy 73 yd rush (Lucas Carneiro kick)
2-80
(00:34)
2nd
07:09
10-7
Miami
CharMar Brown 4 yd rush (Carter Davis kick)
15-75
(07:41)
2nd
04:38
10-10
Ole Miss
Lucas Carneiro 42 yd FG
7-51
(02:31)
2nd
02:18
17-10
Miami
Keelan Marion 52 yd pass from Carson Beck (Carter Davis kick)
5-75
(02:20)
2nd
00:11
17-13
Ole Miss
Lucas Carneiro 58 yd FG
8-29
(00:44)
3rd
00:22
17-16
Ole Miss
Lucas Carneiro 54 yd FG
9-49
(02:57)
4th
07:00
17-19
Ole Miss
Lucas Carneiro 21 yd FG
14-86
(05:19)
4th
05:04
24-19
Miami
Malachi Toney 36 yd pass from Carson Beck (Carter Davis kick)
4-75
(01:56)
4th
03:13
24-27
Ole Miss
Dae’Quan Wright 24 yd pass from Trinidad Chambliss (Caleb Odom pass from Trinidad Chambliss)
6-75
(01:51)
4th
00:18
31-27
Miami
Carson Beck 3 yd rush (Carter Davis kick)
15-75
(02:55)
MIAMI STARTERS
POS.
NO.
OFFENSE
WR
0
Keelan Marion
WR
10
Malachi Toney
QB
11
Carson Beck
RB
4
Mark Fletcher Jr.
OL
52
James Brockermeyer
OL
61
Francis Mauigoa
WR
7
CJ Daniels
OL
70
Markel Bell
OL
73
Anez Cooper
OL
78
Matthew McCoy
TE
87
Alex Bauman
POS.
NO.
DEFENSE
DB
0
Keionte Scott
LB
1
Mohamed Toure
DB
24
Ethan O’Connor
DL
3
Akheem Mesidor
LB
31
Wesley Bissainthe
DL
4
Rueben Bain Jr.
DL
5
Justin Scott
CB
6
Xavier Lucas
S
7
Zechariah Poyser
DB
8
Jakobe Thomas
DL
99
Ahmad Moten
MIAMI RESERVES
1 – Joshisa Trader, 10 – Raul Aguirre, Jr., 11 – David Blay, 12 – Marquise Lightfoot, 13 – Bryce Fitzgerald, 16 – Jaboree Antoine, 18 – Armondov Blount, 22 – Cameron Pruitt, 23 – Dylan Day, 25 – Chris Wheatley-Humphrey, 3 – Joshua Moore, 32 – Kamal Bonner, 36 – Nick Kelly, 38 – Carter Davis, 41 – Chase Smith, 46 – Adam Booker, 54 – Ezekiel Marcelin, Jr., 6 – CharMar Brown, 62 – Tommy Kinsler IV, 63 – Samson Okunlola, 65 – Seuseu Alofaituli, 76 – Ryan Rodriguez, 88 – Luka Gilbert, 9 – Elija Lofton, 94 – Dylan Joyce.
OLE MISS STARTERS
POS.
NO.
OFFENSE
WR
1
De’Zhaun Stribling
WR
19
Cayden Lee
WR
2
Harrison Wallace III
RB
5
Kewan Lacy
OL
50
Jayden Williams
OL
51
Delano Townsend
QB
6
Trinidad Chambliss
OL
61
Diego Pounds
OL
62
Brycen Sanders
OL
75
Patrick Kutas
TE
8
Dae’Quan Wright
POS.
NO.
DEFENSE
S
14
Kapena Gushiken
S
16
Wydett Williams Jr.
CB
2
Jaylon Braxton
CB
32
Chris Graves Jr.
LB
4
Suntarine Perkins
LB
44
Andrew Jones
DE
5
Kam Franklin
DT
51
Zxavian Harris
DT
52
Will Echoles
LB
6
TJ Dottery
CB
8
Antonio Kite
OLE MISS RESERVES
1 – Princewill Umanmielen, 11 – Deuce Alexander, 12 – Damien Taylor, 15 – Da’Shawn Womack, 15 – Izaiah Hartrup, 17 – Winston Watkins, 17 – Lucas Carneiro, 20 – Anthony Robinson III, 21 – Tavoy Feagin, 22 – Logan Diggs, 24 – Andy Jaffe, 26 – Tahj Chambers, 29 – Nick Cull, 3 – Sage Ryan, 30 – Jaden Yates, 31 – Ladarian Clardy, 33 – Oscar Bird, 38 – Tyler Banks, 4 – Caleb Odom, 41 – John Ross Ashley, 43 – Isreal Solomon, 45 – Talib Graham, 65 – Connor Howes, 7 – TJ Banks, 73 – Percy Lewis, 77 – Ethan Fields, 85 – Trace Bruckler, 87 – Wyatt Smalley, 88 – Devin Price, 9 – Luke Hasz, 9 – Ricky Fletcher, 90 – Jeffery Rush, 93 – Carter Short, 95 – Andrew Maddox, 96 – Jamarious Brown.
