GLENDALE, Ariz. — The University of Miami’s return to football relevance was a long, winding road filled with more downs than ups. Even when the Hurricanes rejoined the national conversation, they were doubted, told they didn’t belong.
Through it all, they kept chugging along — straight into the national championship game.
Miami quarterback Carson Beck scrambled for a 3-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left, and the Hurricanes were headed back home for a shot at the program’s sixth national championship, but first in a quarter-century, after beating Ole Miss 31-27 to win the Fiesta Bowl in an exhilarating College Football Playoff semifinal Thursday night at State Farm Stadium.
“We never flinched,” said Beck, who threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns with an interception at the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. “In the face of adversity, when we had to respond, we responded.”
The No. 10 Hurricanes (13-2), an Atlantic Coast Conference program, didn’t play in their league’s own title game, and they were a somewhat controversial pick for the CFP’s 12-team field — at least outside of South Florida — yet have proven they belong. Three times now, actually.