Miami beat Ole Miss 31-27 to reach CFP title game
No. 10 Miami advanced to the College Football Playoff national championship game with a 31-27 victory over No. 6 Ole Miss on Thursday, marking the Hurricanes’ third consecutive win as a lower-ranked team in the playoff.
Miami sealed the comeback with a decisive final drive, marching 75 yards in 15 plays to score the go-ahead touchdown, News.Az reports, citing NBC News.
Quarterback Carson Beck ran in the winning score from three yards out with just 18 seconds remaining, effectively ending Ole Miss’ season.
“The U is back,” the Hurricanes showed, continuing their impressive postseason surge.
Miami will face the winner of No. 5 Oregon versus No. 1 Indiana in the national championship game on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
“We never flinched,” Beck said after the game. “In the face of adversity, when we had to respond, we responded.”
Ole Miss had enjoyed a remarkable postseason run following the departure of head coach Lane Kiffin, who left the program on Nov. 30 to take the same position at LSU. In the aftermath, the Rebels won two playoff games, including a 41-10 rout of James Madison and a 39-34 comeback victory over No. 3 Georgia, before falling short against Miami.
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who spent the first four years of his career at Division II Ferris State, delivered a strong performance, completing 23 of 37 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown. His final pass, a desperation throw into the end zone as time expired, fell incomplete, ending the Rebels’ hopes of extending their resilient run.
“I’m so proud of this group. They never panicked. They never flinched,” said Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding, who was promoted from defensive coordinator following Kiffin’s departure. “This group created a legacy for this team and an expectation for this program.”
The Hurricanes controlled the game on the ground, running 51 times for 191 yards. Miami possessed the ball for 41 minutes and 22 seconds, compared with only 18 minutes and 38 seconds for Ole Miss.
Beck — who played at Georgia from 2020 through 2024 but never appeared in a playoff game for the school — completed 23 of 37 passes for 268 yards, two passing touchdowns and one interception, as well as the winning run.
Miami has won three straight playoff games after having been a controversial entrant in the first place. The Hurricanes were on the outside of the postseason picture until the final ranking of the season, and since then they have been on a roll.
Miami upset No. 7 Texas A&M 10-3 on the road in the first round, then knocked off defending champion No. 2 Ohio State 24-14 in the quarterfinal.
Miami’s national title appearance will be its first since the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, when the Hurricanes lost to the Buckeyes in overtime. They have not won a national championship since the 2001 season.
Similar news
