hurricanes

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Carson Beck scrambled for a three-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left, and Miami will head back home for a shot at its first national championship since 2001 after beating Mississippi 31-27 in an exhilarating College Football Playoff semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday night.

The 10th-ranked Hurricanes (13-2) had their vaunted defense picked apart by the sixth-ranked Rebels (13-2) in a wild fourth quarter, falling into a 27-24 hole after Trinidad Chambliss threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Dae’Quan Wright with 3:13 left.

Beck, who won a national title as a backup at Georgia, kept the Hurricanes calm amid the storm, leading them down the field for the winning score — and a shot at a national title on their home field at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19. Beck is 37-5 as a starter, including two seasons at Georgia.

The sixth-seeded Rebels lost their coach before the playoff, but not their cool.

If anything, Lane Kiffin’s decision to bolt for LSU seemed to harden Mississippi’s resolve, pushing the Rebels to the best season in school history — and within a game of their first national championship game.

Ole Miss kept Miami within reach when its offense labored and took a 19-17 lead on Lucas Carneiro’s fourth field goal, from 21 yards.

Malachi Toney, the hero of Miami’s opening CFP win over Texas A&M, turned a screen pass into a 36-yard touchdown that put Miami up 24-19.

Chambliss’ TD pass to Wright put the Rebels back on top, but the improbable run came to an end when the defense couldn’t hold the Hurricanes.

But what a run it was.

With Pete Golding calling the shots after being promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach, and most of the assistants sticking around, the Rebels blew out Tulane to open the playoff and took down mighty Georgia in the CFP quarterfinals.

They faced a different kind of storm in the Hurricanes.

Miami has rekindled memories of its 2001 national championship team behind a defense that went from porous to nearly impenetrable in its first season under coordinator Corey Hetherman.

The Hurricanes walled up early in the Fiesta Bowl, holding Mississippi to minus-one yard.

One play revved up the Rebels and their rowdy fans.

Kewan Lacy, the nation’s third-leading rusher, burst through a hole up the middle for a 73-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter — the longest run allowed by Miami’s defense since 2018.

The Hurricanes seemed content to grind away at the Rebels in small chunks offensively, setting up CharMar Brown’s four-yard touchdown run and a field goal.

Miami unlocked the deep game just before halftime, taking advantage of a busted coverage for a 52-yard touchdown pass from Beck to Keelan Marion.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Jalen Chatfield’s first goal of the season was a tiebreaker and goalie Frederik Andersen snapped a personal nine-game losing streak as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ducks 5-2 on Thursday night.

Chatfield, a defenseman playing in his 300th career game, scored during the Hurricanes’ three-goal second period. He also had an assist.

Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall each had a goal and an assist, and Mark Jankowski and Jackson Blake also scored for the Hurricanes (27-14-3), who won their third straight. Andersen made 11 saves for his first victory since Nov. 6. He had gone 0-7-2 during his winless stretch.

Ryan Poehling and Mikael Granlund scored for the Ducks (21-20-3), who have an eight-game losing streak (0-7-1). Ville Husso stopped 30 shots.

The Ducks had leads in each of the first two periods.

Poehling scored with 6:42 left in the first period. Jankowski tied the score on Carolina’s 17th shot of the game at 8:56 of the second period, with the puck swept into the goal by Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson’s skate.

Granlund shot wide through the crease on an open net, but pretty much stayed in the same position and then tapped in a pass from Mason McTavish for the Ducks’ 2-1 lead with 6:42 left in the second. Stankoven scored for the third game in a row, taking a pass from Taylor Hall on a two-man rush to pull the Hurricanes even.

Chatfield’s goal came with 3:52 remaining in the second period. Carolina outshot the Ducks 18-3 in the period.

Blake and Hall scored in the third period, with Hall’s goal into an empty net.

Winger Troy Terry, who co-leads the Ducks with 42 points, missed a game for the first time this season because of an upper-body injury.

Up next for the Ducks: Close out a four-game trip at Buffalo on Saturday.