Miami finally returns to national elite after more than two decades adrift

16 hours ago 2

GLENDALE, AZ — Wouldn’t you know it, as we reach peak crazy in the ever-evolving menagerie that is college football, the Miami Hurricanes decided to reintroduce old school nostalgia.

By winning a game despite itself.

Breathe deep, everyone, and soak in the brief respite from the nouveau riche transitory, cash is king aura of the game while Miami takes you on a nostalgia tour for the ages.

One that almost died before it could reach a beautiful ending.

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The dagger is the game-winning drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run from Carson Beck with 18 seconds remaining. The story of Miami’s 31-27 Fiesta Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal win over Ole Miss is so much more than that.

Not until Miami knocked down a final heave into the end zone from Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was the evolution complete.

After more than two decades away from the national elite, Miami has finally returned. Even if it nearly blew the game in the process.

This was as much about Miami’s domination as it was the Canes’ inability to finish and avoid disaster. But all that coach Mario Cristobal has preached in his four seasons in Coral Gables, all that has played out in this season of redemption, showed up when it mattered most.

Despite the mistakes, the penalties, missed scoring opportunities and so much more, Miami has arrived at the place it pointed to back in August: returning to South Florida to play in the national championship game.

The Canes did it by going old school, by lining up and physically punishing Ole Miss on both sides of the ball. At this point, who cares if they nearly gave away the game, if it took a 75-yard drive to pull it off.

Miami is back among the national elite because Cristobal’s plan from Day 1 has worked. Even in the face of nearly blowing it all in the most important game of the season.

You remember the good ol’ days, don’t you? When players weren’t paid (legally, anyway), universities hoarded the cash and free player movement was from the starting lineup to the bench.

And when Miami, with the best players and coaches, did whatever it wanted in a two-decade run that rivaled anything the sport had ever seen. Until a guy named Saban came along.

But this Miami team has plenty of Nick Saban in it, and more of what made Miami great — and led to five national titles from 1983-2001. Cristobal played at Miami under Jimmy Johnson and won a national title, and coached under Saban at Alabama and won another.

He’s now on his way to finally returning Miami to the elite of the game, and possibly ending a 25-year national title drought. By taking the formula Johnson used and Saban perfected, and imposing its will on anything and anyone in its way.

A formula so perfected, it even perseveres through human error. A missed field goal, an interception at the Ole Miss 15, poor play-calling that insisted on throwing the ball when the run game couldn’t be stopped.

The Canes didn’t put this one away until that punishing drive late in the fourth quarter, with some key throws from Beck and a timely scramble for a touchdown. A devastating response that finally ended Ole Miss’ magical run through the CFP.

And bonus for the old schoolers: It happened on a day when former Ole Miss coach and current college football villain Lane Kiffin lost twice. Once when his former team ran into a physically-imposing Miami team, and earlier in the night when Washington quarterback Demond Williams decided to stay in Seattle instead of playing for the highest bidder (see: LSU and Kiffin).

Score one for the old schoolers.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miami football will play for CFP national title after Fiesta Bowl win vs Ole Miss

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