Story byone-man-to-beatFri, January 9, 2026 at 5:49 AM UTC·3 min readMiami used an enormous time of possession advantage and one timely scramble to dash Ole Miss’ hopes of playing for a national title in a 31-27 loss in the Fiesta Bowl. The Hurricanes (13-2) had the ball for 41:22, which is the ultimate kryptonite for Ole Miss’ up-tempo offense. The Rebels (13-2) defense made it a valiant effort bearing the brunt of 51 rushes for 191 yards, but the back breaker of Miami going 11/19 on third down kept drives alive and the clock ticking. The two crucial fourth down conversions, and the seemingly endless push from the Hurricane offensive line was just too much to overcome. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementLooking at the statistics, Ole Miss shouldn’t have been in this game much less leading with less than a minute to go.
