The Miami Hurricanes are coming home to play for a national championship.
Quarterback Carson Beck's 3-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining provided the winning points for Miami's 31-27 College Football Playoff semifinal comeback win over Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday night in Glendale, Ariz.
After playing five consecutive games -- including three CFP games -- away from Miami, the 10th-seeded Hurricanes (13-2) earned the chance to play in the national championship game in their home stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Jan. 19.
Miami won the Fiesta Bowl for the first time in five all-time appearances and will face either No. 5 Oregon or top-seeded Indiana, who will square off on Friday night in the other CFP semifinal in the Peach Bowl at Atlanta.
The Hurricanes won their seventh game in a row and secured a program-record 13th win. It's Miami's first opportunity to play for a national title since 2002 and it will attempt to win its first since 2001 and sixth overall.
"These guys know exactly who they are and they weren't going to settle for just getting here," Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. "A lot of times, I think narratives take over and this game has never been about that and I think these guys after Nov. 1 made a decision to just bring the energy. We just have to get back to Miami ... we haven't been home in a while, and work on (being) 1 and 0."
Ole Miss (13-2), the No. 6 seed, which persevered to reach the CFP semifinals despite its head coach Lane Kiffin departing to become LSU's coach in November, had one last chance after quarterback Trinidad Chambliss led the Rebels to the Hurricanes' 35-yard line with six seconds left.
But Chambliss' Hail Mary into the corner of the end zone went off De'Zhaun Stribling's hand while Miami defensive back Ethan O'Connor was in tight coverage as time expired.
"We knew this was going to be hard," Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said. "To be the best, you have to coach your best and if you don't, you don't deserve to win. I thought we had an opportunity despite not playing our best game and that's what we said at halftime.
"Our kids came back and went up, but hats off to (Miami). They found a way, and we have to do a better job of closing it."
The Rebels, who also won a program-record 13 games this season, put together a go-ahead touchdown drive when Chambliss connected with Dae'Quan Wright for a 24-yard touchdown. The Rebels added the two-point conversion when Chambliss found Caleb Odom in the back of the end zone to take a 27-24 lead with 3:13 left.
Chambliss completed 23 of 37 passes for 277 yards, one touchdown pass and no interceptions.
"I'm just thinking about my brothers and the people who sacrificed a lot to get to this point," Chambliss said. "This season has been bumpy and there's been a lot of things going on. But they just kept our focus. It's been truly special."
The Hurricanes' next game will be their first in their home stadium since Nov. 15. They finished the regular season with back-to-back road wins at Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh before winning their first-round game at Texas A&M and beating Ohio State in the quarterfinals in the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas.
Beck, who was named the game's Offensive Most Valuable Player, directed a 15-play, 75-yard drive.
Beck completed 23 of 37 passes for 268 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
"It feels really good to be a Cane and I'm so proud of this team," Beck said. "We never flinched in the face of adversity and answered the bell."
The Hurricanes took a 24-19 lead with 5:04 left when Malachi Toney caught a bubble screen, broke a tackle and sped his way to the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown. Toney caught five passes for 81 yards.
The lead changed six times overall and four times in the final seven minutes, starting with Lucas Carneiro's fourth made field goal - a 21-yarder that put Ole Miss ahead 19-17.
The game remained close despite Miami dominating the first half and finishing the game with a lopsided edge in plays (88-60) and time of possession (41:22 to 18:38).
After holding Ole Miss to minus-1 yard in the first quarter, Kewan Lacy broke through Miami's defensive line and scored from 73 yards out to give the Rebels a 7-3 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
Lacy left the game due to a right hamstring issue, but he returned on the Rebels' first drive of the second half. He finished with 103 yards on 11 carries.
The Hurricanes committed 10 costly penalties for 74 yards, and Ole Miss sacked Beck four times while Miami's prolific pass rush, which accumulated 46 sacks entering the game, only sacked Chambliss once. Suntarine Perkins had 1.5 of those sacks.
Kapena Gushiken also intercepted a Beck pass at the Rebels' 14 in the third quarter after it was deflected at the line by Kam Franklin.
Still, Miami continued to run the ball well as it has throughout the playoffs, led by Mark Fletcher Jr.'s 133 yards on 22 carries. Keelan Marion caught seven passes for 114 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown catch that put Miami ahead 17-10 with 2:18 left in the first half.
--Field Level Media
