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CFP Semifinal Fans Respond to Carson Beck, Miami Rushing Past Ole Miss In Fiesta Bowl

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
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CFP Semifinal Fans Respond to Carson Beck, Miami Rushing Past Ole Miss In Fiesta Bowl

Miami Hurricanes Carson Beck, competing in his seventh season of college football, cemented his legacy by doing something he really does: Scoring on a rush. 

Down 27-24 in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s CFP Semifinal at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., Beck drove the Hurricanes to the winning score with 18 seconds remaining, clinching a 31-27 victory during the VRBO Fiesta Bowl.  

“Love the guy,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal told ESPN moments after clinching a trip to the national final on Jan. 19. “We’re going to enjoy this one, but we gotta focus on gong 1-0 one more time.” 

Cristobal revealed the Miami program suffered from a team-wide flu bug in the days leading up to the semifinal. 

“I want to give a ton of credit to our players,” he said. “I can’t even tell you how many guys were sick, had the flu and all they kept talking about is: ‘We’re going to find a way.” 

X (Twitter) fans responded to one of the most entertaining games in CFP history …

Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss: The pride of Ferris State, the first former resident of Big Rapids, Mich., to appear in a CFP semifinal …

The Hurricanes were juiced before kickoff …

None of the talking heads gave the Rebels a chance …

Miami’s kicker Carter Davis opened the scoring with a 38-yard field goal, capping a 13-play, 44-yard drive, covering six minutes 59 seconds. It wouldn’t be the last prolonged possession for the ball-control Hurricanes. Ole Miss came back and claimed its first lead on RB Kewan Lacy’s 73-yard, first-quarter race to the end zone …

The Hurricanes responded with CharMar Brown’s 4-yard run. They took a 10-7 lead after the 15-play, 75-yard drive that lasted 7:41 …

Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carneiro hit a ho-hum 42-yarder to tie the game at 10-all with 4:38 left in the second quarter. He was just getting warmed up …

Beck hit Keelan Marion on a 52-yard touchdown pass as the Hurricanes moved out to a 17-19 lead …

Continuing to impress NFL scouts, Carneiro connected on a 58-yarder just before halftime. It was the second-longest in program history. Cloyce Hinton’s 59-yarder in 1969 remains the standard. At the time, he had three of the four longest field goals in CFP history …

After an earlier doink miss, Carnerio clanked a 54-yarder through the uprights, pulling the Rebels to within one (17-16) with 22 seconds left in the third quarter …

Aided by consecutive major penalties by the Hurricanes and Carneiro’s right leg, the Rebels reclaimed the advantage, 19-17, with seven minutes remaining …

Beck hit wide receiver Malachi Toney, a freshman who reclassified and should be a high school senior, raced 75 yards to score a go-ahead touchdown. It was pure speed …

Chambliss, showing championship pedigree, hit Dae’Quan Wright for a 24-yard touchdown pass, moving Ole Miss in front of Miami, 27-24, with 3:13 to go …

On the Hurricanes’ 88th offensive play and 51st rush, Beck scored his first rushing TD since Week 3 with 18 seconds remaining. He drove the team 75 yards on 15 plays …

Chambliss had one more chance on a last-second Hail Mary. Sure looked like defensive pass interference to me …

Final score: Miami (Fla.) 31, Mississippi 27 …

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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