SI:AM | Miami Got Away With One Last Mistake in Error-Ridden Win Over Ole Miss

A missed pass interference call on the final play of the game denied the Rebels a chance to win it.

Miami made plenty of mistakes against Ole Miss but was still able to come away with the victory. / Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I really hope Indiana-Oregon can live up to last night’s thriller. 

In today’s SI:AM: 
🙌 Miami advances
🏈 Most desirable NFL openings
🏂 Chloe Kim’s third Olympics

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Miami survives

Miami’s 31–27 win over Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff semifinals really should not have been that close. The Hurricanes dominated the game by several measures, racking up a whopping 41:22 time of possession, holding the Rebels to 2-for-10 on third down conversions and running 28 more offensive plays than the guys from Oxford. But a litany of mistakes kept Ole Miss in the game and nearly cost Miami a trip to the national championship. One final error—blatant pass interference by Miami defensive back Ethan O’Connor—went unpunished and allowed the Hurricanes to escape with the victory. 

Miami dominated the first half much more than the 17–13 halftime score would indicate. The Hurricanes held the ball for nearly 23 of the game’s first 30 minutes. Kewan Lacy’s 73-yard touchdown run accounted for 50% of the Ole Miss offense’s first-half yardage. The Rebels didn’t run a single play in the red zone. 

Ole Miss hung around, though, thanks to a mistake-filled second half by the Hurricanes. Miami’s opening drive of the second half resulted in a missed field goal after quarterback Carson Beck’s failure to understand the rules resulted in a 12-yard loss on an intentional grounding penalty. (The Hurricanes had attempted a flea flicker, and when the Rebels weren’t fooled, Beck threw the ball away. Since he’d given up possession of the ball on the hand off to the running back, he no longer had the right to throw it away without penalty.) The mistake put Miami well behind the sticks and effectively killed the drive. Kicker Carter Davis missed a 51-yard field goal attempt. 

A flukey interception on a pass that was deflected at the line helped Ole Miss cut the deficit to 17–16 and highlighted Miami’s inability to come up with a turnover. By my count, Hurricanes defenders dropped at least four passes that could have easily been intercepted. 

On the next Ole Miss possession, it looked like Miami was fully unraveling. Back-to-back 15-yard penalties by the Hurricanes (including one for targeting that got cornerback Xavier Lucas ejected) set the Rebels up with a first-and-goal. However, the Miami defense stood tall and held Ole Miss to a go-ahead chip-shot field goal. 

Trinidad Chambliss’s miracle run with Ole Miss came to end against Miami. / Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

What followed was as thrilling a conclusion to a football game as you’ll ever see. Miami took the lead back on an electric run after the catch by freshman sensation Malachi Toney, only for Ole Miss to go back ahead, 27–24, thanks to a brilliant drive by quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. Miami took the lead for good on a 15-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in a Carson Beck touchdown scramble. 

The Rebels got the ball back with 18 seconds left and one timeout, and Chambliss managed to get them into Hail Mary range with two big chunk plays, setting up one final chance for Ole Miss to save its season. De’Zhaun Stribling got a hand on Chambliss’s pass, but he was being mugged by O’Connor. The DB grabbed the back of Stribling’s shoulder with one hand and shoved his other hand into the front of Stribling’s shoulder pads. The receiver never stood a chance. And yet, the officials declined to throw a flag. 

There’s a high bar for pass interference on a Hail Mary attempt. It’s an inherently chaotic play that always results in plenty of pushing and shoving from both the defender and the receiver. It has to be really egregious for an official to decide it’s worth granting the offensive team an untimed down from the 20-yard line. But does it really get any more egregious than O’Connor yanking Stribling down with both arms? 

Just the defender doing his job.... No flag on the final play of the game pic.twitter.com/0SfjgZSNR9

— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) January 9, 2026

“This is defensive pass interference. Everything up until the ball comes in is just mutual contact between two players tracking the ball,” NBC football rules analyst and former NFL referee Terry McAulay wrote on social media. “But as the ball arrives the defender grabs the jersey with the right hand and pulls the [receiver] down.”

It’s a brutal way to lose a game, but Ole Miss lost the game well before that by allowing Miami to run roughshod throughout the first three quarters. Even if the Rebels might have deserved one last play, it’s tough to argue they deserved to win the game. 

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The top five…

… things I saw last night: 
5. Michigan State junior Coen Carr’s highlight reel dunk. 
4. Keyonte George’s ballhandling before he buried a shot to seal the Jazz’s win over the Mavericks. 
3. Thirty seconds of pure hockey chaos leading to Easton Cowan’s overtime game-winner for the Maple Leafs.
2. Trinidad Chambliss’s perfect throw just before getting blasted by a defender. He stood in the pocket and delivered an accurate pass to where he knew his receiver would be. (This was the play where Miami’s Xavier Lucas was ejected for targeting.)
1. Malachi Toney’s speed and agility on his fourth-quarter touchdown.