GLENDALE, Ariz. -- On the sideline, Michael Irvin, the NFL Hall of Famer who has lived and died with every Miami snap this season, squatted with his head in his hands. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips rocked nervously. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, a Canes fan, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, a Miami legend, traded looks of disbelief.

There was 3:13 left on the clock in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. Miami had frittered away a litany of opportunities to break Ole Miss, but instead, tight end Dae’Quan Wright danced across the goal line to give the Rebels a 27-24 lead, and the Canes now had one final drive to keep their magical playoff run going, to return home to South Florida for the College Football Playoff National Championship.

“Three minutes left for the rest of our lives,” Marion told his teammates. “Right here, we take it back home.”

What followed was a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a scramble into the end zone by quarterback Carson Beck that will now take its place in Miami lore, the moment that storied Canes program clawed its way back to the mountaintop.

“You see what happened,” Marion said afterward, his jersey stained with grass and sweat. “That’s where we’re headed. Back home.”

Miami’s march back to Hard Rock Stadium for a chance to secure its first national title in 24 years started at the Ole Miss 25-yard line, with Beck in the backfield staring down the Ole Miss defense and, after two years of seemingly endless criticism, a moment of redemption.

In the first round of this playoff, the Canes had been a woeful 3-of-12 on third down against Texas A&M, but they rode a dominant defense to a 10-3 win. After that, Dawson tweaked his approach on early-down play calling, he said, to avoid so many third-andlongs, and upped the focus on third-down work in practice. It had been the overwhelming focus of Miami’s efforts the past two weeks.

On Thursday, the Canes converted 11 of them their most in a game since 2020.

The ground game had been relentless against Ole Miss behind an offensive line that wasn’t so much opening holes for Fletcher as it was simply shoving the Rebels’ defense downfield.

Beck had just 16 scramble plays during the regular season, but Dawson had urged him to use his legs more over the past two games. Now, he’d turned that advice into the biggest touchdown of Miami’s season -- even if Dawson wasn’t exactly celebrating.

“It was just relief,” Dawson said. “I was just glad I didn’t have to call another play.”

“Regardless of what I do, people are going to doubt me,” Beck said after the 31-27 win. “I’m worried about the people on this team and my family and these coaches. Everybody that’s been through the entire thing with me. Everybody on the outside, they can stay out. I don’t care.”

There is still a game left, of course. That final 15-play touchdown drive didn’t deliver a national championship. But it did exorcise so many demons that have haunted this program since the last time the Hurricanes hoisted the trophy following the 2001 season, and it was the latest reminder that this group is ready to script a new legacy.

“It almost seems like the tougher it gets, the better we play,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “And it’s a testament to them, to their resilience and their will.”

N The Miami Hurricanes will face the winner of the Peach Bowl between the Indiana Hosiers and the Oregon Ducks.

The Peach Bowl will start at 6:30 p.m. and can be televised on ESPN.