Miami has an eerily similar moment in the Fiesta Bowl, but with a far different ending this time around
The Hurricanes finally were the benefactor of a late-game controversy in the desert.
You’ll have to forgive some Miami fans if they waited a few moments to celebrate after the ball fell incomplete on the turf at the Fiesta Bowl. They’d seen this movie before. Or so they thought.
Fortunately, for them, this movie had a different ending, one that saw players hugging and celebrating with confetti dropping over the bowl logo.
The Hurricanes rallied twice in the fourth quarter to clip Ole Miss 31-27 in the first College Football Playoff semifinal on Thursday night in Glendale, Arizona. Miami will now play at home for its first national championship since the 2002 season.
And speaking of that 2002 season, which ended with a 31-24 double-overtime loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl and BCS national championship game, this one was not without controversy on a final pass.
Miami was the benefactor of a controversial moment involving pass interference at the end of the Fiesta Bowl
With six seconds remaining, Ole Miss had the ball at the Miami 35-yard line. One play for a trip to the national championship game. Trinidad Chambliss dropped back and let the ball fly towards the corner of the end zone. Ole Miss wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling and Miami defensive back Ethan O’Connor engaged in some hand fighting and tugging, and the ball bounced off Stribling’s hand and fell incomplete.
Stribling, Chambliss, and the Ole Miss sideline called for a penalty flag, but none came, and Miami and their fans could finally celebrate. It was the program’s first Fiesta Bowl win in five tries.
Many Miami fans surely in that moment had vibes of Miami’s Glenn Sharpe and Ohio State’s Chris Gamble from the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. On fourth and goal in overtime with Miami just one stop away from winning the national championship, Craig Krenzel sent a pass to the corner of the end zone. Sharpe broke it up, and it appeared Miami had won, with players spilling onto the field.
However, a very late flag came from official Terry Porter for defensive pass interference. Ohio State would go on to win the national title, and Miami ultimately went into two-plus decade slump.
It a bit of cosmic karma that the Hurricanes got the benefit of the doubt 23 years later in that same game. Whether they should have depends on what color t-shirt or jersey you’re wearing.
The Hurricanes put the Ohio State pain behind them a bit with their 24-14 Cotton Bowl win on New Year’s Eve. They finally slayed the Fiesta Bowl dragon the following week. We’ll find out on January 19 if they can secure the program’s first title since 2001 and complete what’s been nothing short of a magical run.
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