GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) \u2014 Miami\u2019s return to relevance was a long, winding road filled with more downs than ups.<\/p>\n
Even when the Hurricanes rejoined the national conversation, they were doubted, told they didn\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n
Through it all, they kept chugging along \u2014 straight into the national championship game.<\/p>\n
Carson Beck scrambled for a 3-yard touchdown<\/a> with 18 seconds left, and Miami will head back home for a shot at its first national title since 2001 after beating Mississippi 31-27 in an exhilarating College Football Playoff semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe never flinched,\u201d said Beck, who threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. \u201cIn the face of adversity, when we had to respond, we responded.\u201d<\/p>\n The 10th-ranked Hurricanes (13-2) didn\u2019t play in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game and were a somewhat controversial CFP pick \u2013 at least outside of South Florida \u2013 yet proved they belong. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Malachi Toney, hero of Miami\u2019s opening CFP win over Texas A&M, turned a screen pass into a 36-yard touchdown<\/a> that put the Hurricanes up 24-19.<\/p>\n Trinidad Chambliss, a year removed from winning a Division II title at Ferris State, led the Rebels down the field and found Dae\u2019Quan Wright for a 24-yard touchdown with 3:13 left.<\/p>\n Then it was Beck\u2019s turn.<\/p>\n He won a national title as a backup at Georgia before two productive seasons as the Bulldogs\u2019 starter. Beck kept the Hurricanes calm amid the storm, leading them down the field for the winning score \u2014 and a shot at a national title on their home field at Hard Rock Stadium.<\/p>\n Now 37-5 as a starter, Beck gets one more chance at glory against against top-ranked Indiana or No. 5 Oregon on Jan. 19 in the CFP championship game.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s hungry, he\u2019s driven, he\u2019s a great human being, and all he wants to do is to see his teammates have success,\u201d said Mario Cristobal, in his fourth season coaching his alma mater. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we witnessed tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n The sixth-seeded Rebels lost their coach before the playoff, but not their cool.<\/p>\n If anything, Lane Kiffin\u2019s decision to bolt for LSU<\/a> seemed to harden Ole Miss\u2019 resolve, pushing the Rebels to the best season in school history \u2014 and within a game of their first national championship game.<\/p>\n \u201cI will just remember how they embraced each other,\u201d Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said. \u201cThere was a lot going on the last month. They\u2019re going to be talking about this for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n They sure will.<\/p>\n Ole Miss took the lead on Lucas Carneiro\u2019s fourth field goal, from 21 yards, and seemed poised to continue its improbable run with Chambliss\u2019 TD pass to Wright.<\/p>\n Even after Beck\u2019s touchdown, the Rebels still had a chance. <\/p>\n Chambliss completed two passes to get Ole Miss to the Miami 35 with 6 seconds left, offering a glimmer of hope.<\/p>\n The best season in Rebels history ended when Chambliss\u2019 heave to the end zone fell incomplete as time expired, but what a run it was.<\/p>\n \u201cThis team has just sacrificed a lot to get to this point,\u201d said Chambliss, who threw for 277 yards and a touchdown. \u201cThis season\u2019s been bumpy and there\u2019s been a lot of things going on, and we just kept our focus. It\u2019s been truly special.\u201d<\/p>\n With Golding calling the shots after being promoted from defensive coordinator \u2014 and most of the assistants sticking around \u2014 the Rebels blew out Tulane to open the playoff and took down mighty Georgia<\/a> in the CFP quarterfinals.<\/p>\n They faced a different kind of storm in the Hurricanes.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes walled up early in the Fiesta Bowl, holding Ole Miss to minus-1 yard.<\/p>\n One play revved up the Rebels and their rowdy fans.<\/p>\n Kewan Lacy, the nation\u2019s third-leading rusher, burst through a hole up the middle for a 73-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter \u2014 the longest run allowed by Miami\u2019s defense since 2018.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes seemed content to grind away at the Rebels in small chunks offensively, setting up CharMar Brown\u2019s 4-yard touchdown run and a field goal.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Carneiro made a 58-yard field goal just before halftime, had a 51-yarder bounce off the left upright and caromed in a 54-yarder off the same upright later in the third quarter.<\/p>\n The kicker\u2019s ups and downs mirrored the Rebels\u2019 night in the desert, one that ended with the Hurricanes heading home to play for a championship.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here<\/a>. AP college football: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-football-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-football<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE, Ariz. 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