Canes win: Now end this ACC/SEC bias. And 10 thoughts, takeaways from UM victory
Ten notes and thoughts in the aftermath of UM’s 31-27 playoff semifinal win against Mississippi, sending the Canes to the national championship game Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium:
▪ Savor the moment, Hurricanes fans. Relish it.
You can now confidently say the “U is back” without it eliciting eye rolls or ridicule.
Kudos to Mario Cristobal for doing not only what he set out to do by year four, but navigating one of the most difficult playoff roads in CFP history, beating three teams that entered with a combined three losses and mauling opposing defensive lines along the way.
Perhaps a championship will be needed to fully flush the frustration of 20 years of underachievement. But this has been a glorious year regardless of whether Miami beats the Indiana-Oregon winner or not.
Now let’s talk about something else for a minute: Bias.
It’s difficult to eliminate biases that have been ingrained over time, even if there are irrefutable facts to dispute those perceptions.
Sometimes, it can take years to persuade people to change their minds even with evidence smacking them in the face. Sometimes it never happens at all.
But college football’s decision makers -- particularly the CFP selection committee -- need to show some intellectual maturity and stop treating the SEC like it’s comprised of invincible teams, and treating the ACC like “Little Sisters of the Poor.”
That it took a BYU loss to Texas Tech to compel the committee to include Miami in the 12-team field was laughable, in retrospect.
That Alabama didn’t drop a spot in the rankings after being drubbed by Georgia in the SEC championship was objectionable.
The fact Oklahoma’s spot in the field went unquestioned, and Miami and Notre Dame needed to compete for one playoff spot, was ridiculous.
Miami’s win Thursday improved the ACC’s record to 9-4 in bowl games and dropped the SEC to 2-8 this postseason (playoff and bowl games) in contests not involving two SEC schools.
The ACC won 8 of 14 matchups against the SEC this season, Thursday’s win included.
Why was Alabama’s 31-17 loss to a 4-8 FSU team so easily dismissed by the committee?
By the way, the SEC won’t win a national championship for the third straight year, the first time that has happened since 2000-2002.
Every year is different, but the committee - and everyone else with a say on anything in this sport - need to shake this intellectually lazy mindset that the SEC must always get the benefit of the doubt.
▪ This was the signature career moment for Carson Beck, who made clutch throw after clutch throw on Miami’s game-winning drive, completing one third down pass to CJ Daniels and two to Keelan Marion, then scampering three yards for what would be the game-winning touchdown with 18 seconds left.
Beck has been excessively maligned considering the career body of work, his record as a starter now 37-5.
Yes, there were the two errant throws to an open Malachi Toney early on, but this was excellent work in the most pressure-packed of stages. He deftly navigated the game-winning 15-play, 75-yard drive in just under three minutes.
His final numbers: 23 for 37 for 268 yards, two touchdowns, one pick off a deflection that wasn’t his fault and the game-winning TD run.
He ultimately has earned every bit of his $3 million plus NIL deal.
▪ A haunting hallmark of the past 20 years of Canes frustration has been self-inflicted wounds.
And for a time, it looked like more of those mistakes might doom UM.
Miami had three false start penalties, giving them 25 for the year (top five in the country).
Costly penalties by Alex Bauman and Markel Bell torpedoed Miami’s second possession. Ahmad Moten was fortunate not to be called for what was clearly a late hit.
The costliest penalty of all was a Xavier Lucas borderline targeting infraction that gave the Rebels a first down at the UM 22.
Then David Blay Jr. had a glaring late hit penalty.
“Miami has come completely unraveled,” ESPN’s Chris Fowler said.
Miami had 10 penalties for 74 yards after being whistled for just nine for 58 yards combined over the previous three games.
And then there were the dropped picks: Dylan Day and Jakobe Thomas couldn’t haul in interceptions and Wesley Bissainthe and Ethan O’Connor dropped two balls that were deflected.
Jojo Trader had a drop.
Miami’s 42-yard drive to start the third quarter ended with a Carter Davis missed 51-yard field goal, and the subsequent 42-yard drive ended with an interception of a deflected pass by Beck.
▪ The most impressive aspect of this playoff run? How UM’s run game dominated against two loaded SEC teams (Texas A&M and Mississippi) and a team with at least three likely first-round draft picks on defense (Ohio State).
Miami’s physicality in the run game has been breathtaking at times, including one third quarter play Thursday when Mark Fletcher Jr. churned for six yards and then gained another 13 as his teammates pushed the pile.
Then there was CharMar Brown overpowering the Rebels line with a 9-yard run on a 4th and 2 in the third quarter. Mississippi knew what was coming and couldn’t do a thing about it.
It’s one thing to do that against Florida A&M, quite another to do it against a team that entered 13-1 after administering a similar punishing against the Aggies and Buckeyes.
Miami closed with 191 yards rushing yards on 3.7 per carry. But that per carry average is misleading, because Fletcher had 22 for 133 (6.0 per carry) and Brown churned out 54 yards on 14 carries.
Pass protection had an uncharacteristic hiccup; the Canes permitted four sacks after allowing just 15 in its first 14 games. Beck missed a wide open Keelan Marion on the fourth of those sacks, early in the fourth. But the pass protection was supreme on the game winning drive.
▪ Toughness has been one of the signature qualities of this team, and we saw it repeatedly again Thursday. Safety Jakobe Thomas, named the defensive player of the game, missed only one play against an apparent shoulder injury. Akheem Mesidor returned quickly after what looked like an ugly elbow injury.
▪ Mississippi used quick throws and motion to effectively limit the effectiveness of Rueben Bain, who had no tackles in the first half and one for the game. In Bain’s defense, he was blatantly held on at least one play that officials missed.
Mesidor had four tackles, none for loss.
Miami’s only sack of the night came early, on a blitz by Mo Toure.
Kudos to Wesley Bissainthe and Armondo Blount for big third down stops. And freshman cornerback Ja’Boree Antoine held his own when pressed into duty late after Lucas was ejected and OJ Frederique left in the second half with an injury.
Antoine was called for a pass interference during Mississippi’s late TD drive but also broke up a pass that could have been a first down.
▪ UM is down to six scholarship receivers, but they’ve had a very good postseason, highlighted by a career night from Marion, who had seven catches for 114 yards, and Malachi Toney’s run after catch artistry on a 36-yard TD that put the Hurricanes up 24-19 with five minutes left.
▪ In the championship, the Canes will be playing what amounts to their first home game Nov. 15. UM has won three of its five national titles on its home field (the Orange Bowl).
This was the first time since 1971 that the Canes played eight scheduled home games. They’ll finish the year with nine.
The Canes pocketed $4 million with the win, bringing their postseason payout to $20 million. The ACC is the only Power 4 conference that doesn’t require teams share that money with other ACC schools.
▪ Quick stuff: Tight end Elija Lofton left in the second quarter after taking a hard hit to the sternum… Kewan Lacy’s 73-yard TD run featured multiple rapid fire breakdowns: Blay was sealed off, Keionte Scott fell, Bryce Fitzgerald couldn’t get there quickly enough and Zechariah Poyser missed the tackle… Cristobal said several UM players were sick and played through it.
▪ ESPN’s Nick Saban, who picked the Canes to win the game and advocated for them to make the playoffs, blamed Miami for “mismanagement” that allowed Mississippi to get the ball back to set up Lucas Carneiro’s 58 yard field goal that pulled the Rebels to within 17-13 at the half.
Saban said if Miami hadn’t tried to pass the ball on first down of its previous drive, and run three consecutive times, that the Rebels wouldn’t have had the time to drive down the field.
But in the big picture, these were three well-coached games, with no egregious time management errors.
▪ UM held the ball 22:54 in the first half and 41:22 for the game -- both records in the 12-year history of the CFP.
Take away the 73 yard run by Lacy, and the yardage differential would have been 228 to 72 in the first drive.
Overall, the Canes’ four drives of 13 plays or more were the most ever in an CFP game.
This story was originally published January 9, 2026 at 12:22 AM.
