11 notable stats from the Miami Hurricanes’ playoff semifinal win over Ole Miss
The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes are national championship bound after a 31-27 College Football Playoff semifinal win over the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels in the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday at State Farm Stadium.
Here are 11 notable stats from the win.
3: Quarterback Carson Beck accounted for three touchdowns — a 52-yard pass to Keelan Marion in the second quarter, a 36-yard pass to Malachi Toney in the fourth quarter and, most importantly, a 3-yard rushing touchdown with 18 seconds left in regulation.
Beck finished the game completing 23 of 37 passes for 268 yards, the two touchdowns and an interception.
133: Mark Fletcher Jr. set the pace early and often offensively with a strong effort on the ground. The junior ran for 133 yards on 22 carries — averaging 6 yards per rush. Fletcher had 395 rushing yards through three playoff games and is averaging 6.8 yards per carry in that span.
He now has 1,080 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns on the season. Fletcher is the ninth player in UM history to have at least 1,000 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in the same season, joining Damien Martinez (2024 season), Mark Walton (2016 season), Duke Johnson (2014 season), Willis McGahee (2002 season), Clinton Portis (2001 season), James Jackson (2000 season), Edgerrin James (1997 and 1998 season) and Danyell Ferguson (1995 season).
114: Marion had a game-high 114 receiving yards for his second 100-yard receiving performance of the season. The BYU transfer also had a 116-yard outing against Syracuse.
92: After being held to just 51 total scrimmage yards against Texas A&M and Ohio State, Toney produced against Ole Miss. The freshman phenom caught five passes for 81 yards and a touchdown and had two carries for 11 yards.
Of his 81 receiving yards, 77 yards were after the catch.
On the season, Toney has 99 catches for 1,089 yards and nine touchdowns. He could become the first player in Hurricanes history to have a 100-catch season.
57.8%: The Hurricanes went 11 for 19 on third down against Ole Miss, moving the chains 57.8% of the time. On two of the eight misses, Miami converted on fourth down.
398: Miami’s defense gave up 398 yards of offense, the second-most it has allowed all season behind only the 404 it gave up at Florida State on Oct. 4. Ole Miss, like FSU, plays a very up-tempo offense and managed to get its share of chunk plays throughout the game.
That included a 73-yard touchdown run by Kewan Lacy in the second quarter — the longest play Miami has allowed all season — and five Trinidad Chambliss completions of at least 20 yards.
4: Four of UM’s six pass breakups on Thursday could have been interceptions but they were dropped by defenders. Those near misses helped extend Ole Miss drives at times.
1: UM’s defense, which thrives off living in the opposing backfield, only logged one sack — and that came when Chambliss was called for intentional grounding on the Rebels’ opening drive. The Hurricanes did apply pressure, recording six quarterback hurries, but wasn’t able to finish those plays.
10: After being called for just four penalties through its first two playoff games, Miami was flagged 10 times on Thursday. The breakdown: Three false starts, one offensive holding, one offside, one roughing the passer, one intentional grounding, one targeting (which leaves Miami without Xavier Lucas for the first half of the title game), one personal foul and one defensive pass interference.
41:22: The Hurricanes dominated time of possession, 41:22-18:38. It’s the most lopsided game in terms of time of possession in College Football Playoff history.
Also, Miami’s four drives of 13 plays or more were the most ever in an CFP game. Three of those four drives ended in points.
4-0: Miami this season is now a perfect 4-0 against the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten. UM beat Florida in the regular season before knocking off two more SEC teams (Texas A&M and Ole Miss) and the Big Ten’s Ohio State in its current playoff run.
UM will face a Big Ten team, either No. 1 Indiana or No. 5 Oregon, in the national championship.
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