The U is back. Seriously.
No. 10 Miami advanced to the national championship game with a 31-27 win over No. 6 Ole Miss on Thursday, the Hurricanes’ third-straight victory as a lower-ranked opponent in the College Football Playoff.
Miami mounted a massive drive to come back and win the game, marching 75 yards in 15 plays to score the go-ahead touchdown. Quarterback Carson Beck ran in the game winner from three yards out with 18 seconds left to send his team home for the season finale.
The Hurricanes will now face the winner of the No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 1 Indiana game for the national championship on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Ole Miss had been on a storybook ride since the departure of head coach Lane Kiffin, who left the school on Nov. 30 to take the same job at LSU. Since then, the Rebels won two playoff games — a 41-10 blowout win over James Madison, a 39-34 comeback victory against No. 3 Georgia — before falling short against the Hurricanes.
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who spent the first four years of his career at Division II Ferris State, played well, completing 23 of 37 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown. But his heave into the end zone as time expired fell incomplete, ending the Rebels’ hope of continuing their resilient run.
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 to only 18 minutes and 38 seconds for Ole Miss.
Beck, who spent the first five years of his career at Georgia, completed 23 of 37 passes for 268 yards, two passing touchdowns and one interception, as well as the winning run.
Miami’s national title appearance will be the school’s 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.