Miami vs. Ole Miss live score, updates, highlights from 2026 College Football Playoff semifinals

By | January 8, 2026
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Thursday night’s College Football Playoff semifinal features a pair of surprise teams with a shot at a national title. The 12-2 Miami Hurricanes earned a CFP bid despite being on the outside looking in for most of the back end of the season.

With wins over Texas A&M and Ohio State, the Canes have proven they are more than worthy of their bid. Mario Cristobal has successfully rebuilt the program, bringing Miami back to national prominence.

That said, the next steps in the rebuild are massive ones.

Ole Miss playing in this semifinal is unexpected. Just last month, the Rebels lost longtime head coach Lane Kiffin, who is now at LSU. Despite Kiffin wanting to coach his team through its playoff run, the Rebels are 2–0 without him — a record that includes an upset victory over Georgia, which beat Kiffin and the Rebels earlier this season.

Ole Miss’ semifinal berth is the product of a remarkable job by Pete Golding, who was hired as Kiffin’s defensive coordinator before the 2024–25 season and named Ole Miss’ permanent head coach shortly after Kiffin’s departure.

A big reason for Ole Miss’ success is how well quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has played in high-pressure situations. He threw for a season-high 368 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia, impressively making several plays after the pocket broke down. Running back Kewan Lacy added 98 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

On the other side, Miami’s defense has been the star of its playoff run — the Canes held Texas A&M to a season-low seven points. Against Ohio State, they picked off Julian Sayin twice, including a pick-six in the first half.

Defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. is the leader of Miami’s defense, which ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense and fifth in rushing defense. In his two playoff games, Bain has combined for four sacks, including 4.5 tackles for loss. Miami was listed as a 3.5-point favorite as of Tuesday night.

The Sporting News is tracking live scoring updates and highlights for Miami vs. Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff semifinals. Follow below for complete results from the 2026 Fiesta Bowl.

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Miami vs. Ole Miss football score

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Miami vs. Ole Miss live updates, highlights from 2026 College Football Playoff semifinals 

All times Eastern. 

11:16 p.m.: Carson Beck hits CJ Daniels on 3rd and 6, who makes the extra effort to get the first down. Canes are within Carter Davis’ range here to force overtime. 

11:12 p.m.: Penalties are working in Miami’s favor late here. Ole Miss’ defender gets flagged for a facemask, and Miami gets down to Ole Miss’ 46.  

Ole Miss 27, Miami 24 3:13 4th quarter

11:03 p.m.: TOUCHDOWN—TRINIDAD CHAMBLISS WITH ICE IN HIS VEINS! He throws a 24-yard dart to Dae’Quan Wright for a touchdowns to put Ole Miss up.

Pete Golding goes for two and gets it on another Chambliss completion in the end zone. Three point lead! What a game!  

11:02 p.m.: Miami gets flagged for a pass interference on third down, and Trinidad Chambliss rushes 19 yards for a huge first down. 

Miami 24, Ole Miss 19 5:04 4th quarter

10:56 p.m.: TOUCHDOWN—HELLO MALACHI TONEY! He catches a screen from Beck and takes it in 36 yards for a touchdown to put the Canes back on top.

How about the true freshman tonight! What a game! 

10:55 P.M.: Mark Fletcher rushes for 17 yards and a first down, and Miami is already in Ole Miss territoy here. 

Ole Miss 19, Miami 17, 7:00 4th quarter

10:48 p.m.: FIELD GOAL—On 3rd-and-goal, Chambliss’ pass attempt to Lacy falls incomplete. Ole Miss has to settle for a field goal here and Lucas Carneiro easily hits the 21-yarder. 

10:44 p.m.: Oh boy, Miami is Miami-ing. Back-to-back unsportsmanlike penalties on a targeting and a late hit, and Ole Miss is on the Canes’ 5. 

10:41 p.m.: And the targeting is upheld by the officials. Xavier Lucas is ejected from the game, and Ole Miss gets an extra 15 yards on top of the first down. Here’s the play:

Rebels are on Miami’s 21.

10:39 p.m.: Trinidad Chambliss has arrived, folks. He stands tall in the pocket on a 3rd-and-9 while facing pressure and throws a dart to Cayden Lee for a first down. Miami gets flagged for targetting as well on the hit on the catch, which is under review.  

10:38p.m.: Kewan Lacy is coming through in the clutch here. Still dealing with that hamstring injury, he has a pair of much-needed first downs on this drive. Ole Miss is getting closer to Carneiero’s field goal range. 

10:37 p.m.: Trinidad Chambliss might be heating up here. he hits Daequan Wright for a 19-yard pass and a first down. 

10:31 p.m.: Ole Miss comes up with back-to-back sacks sack on Beck! Miami was facing a 3rd-and-16, and the Rebels got home once again to knock the Canes out of field goal range. What a job by Pete Golding’s defense there! 

Start of 4th quarter: Miami 17, Ole Miss 16

10:30 p.m.: Miami has a nice drive going here, as the Canes are already in Ole Miss territory. Mark Fletcher and Malachi Toney with the majority of the yardage here. 

Miami 17, Ole Miss 16, 0:22 3rd quarter

10:21 p.m.: FIELD GOAL, CARNEIRO DOINK REDEMPTION!—You just can’t make this up, folks. Carneiro doinks it on a 54-yard attempt that drops in! 

10:12 p.m.: INTERCEPTION— On 3rd-and-7, Miami gets flagged for a false start, and on 3rd-and-12, Carson Beck’s pass attempt is tipped and intercepted.

Huge break for this Ole Miss defense, who looked like it was going to give up points there. 

10:09 p.m.: On third down, Beck scrambles again but is stopped a couple yards short of first down. Mario Cristobal goes for it on 4th-and-2, and gets it with Charmar Brown. Miami is imposing its will here on this drive. 

10:04 p.m.: Carson Beck shows off his wheels with a an eight-yard scramble for a first down, and Miami is close to midfield here. 

9:59 p.m.: CARNEIRO DOINK! Man, we jinxed Lucas Carneiro, whose 51-yard attempt doinks off the left upright and bounces out.

Miami gets the ball back with a chance to add to its lead.  

9:58 p.m.: Trinidad Chambliss has had two balls nearly picked off to open this drive, he is lucky here. 

9:54 p.m.: Miami’s Carter Davis misses a 51-yard field goal attempt as it goes wide right. Ole Miss is back in business here.

Carson Beck was flagged for intentional grounding, which backed the Canes up despite a nice drive early on. 

Start of the 2nd half: Miami 17, Ole Miss 13

9:49 p.m.: Miami picks up right where it left off, and Malachi Toney caches a 19-yard pass from Beck to get down to the Miami 47. And Mark Fletcher with another strong 19-yard run, and the Canes are in business here early down to Ole Miss’ 34. 

Halftime: Miami 17, Ole Miss 13

9:24 p.m.: Miami goes to the locker room with a lead, but it feels like it should be more than a four-point game. 

The Canes are out-gaining Ole Miss in yardage 228-145, and winning time of possession 22:44 to 7:16. The Rebels have just 73 rushing yards on the night, with most of that coming from Kewan Lacy. We’ll see if he can go in the second half. 

Miami 17, Ole Miss 13, 0:11 2nd quarter

9:18 p.m.: FIELD GOAL— Lucas Carneiro is money! He nails a 58-yarder to make this a four-point game at halftime.

9:17 p.m.: Heck of an effort by Chambliss here, who makes a few quick-strike throws to get Ole Miss in Lucas Carneiro’s field goal range inside the Miami 40. But a pair of incompletions including a near interception makes it a long 58-yarder. 

9:14 p.m.: Ole Miss’ defense forces a Miami three-and-out for the first time tonight, helped by a big sack on Carson Beck.

The Rebels will likely go into the locker room down seven, and the Canes will get the ball coming out of halftime. 

9:08 p.m.: A quick three-and-out for Ole Miss, who is still without Kewan Lacy, dealing with that hamstring. Lacy’s backup, Logan Diggs, is not the same runner as Lacy, and it’s pretty evident.  

Miami 17, Ole Miss 10 2:18 2nd quarter

9:02 p.m.: TOUCHDOWN— Oh my, a busted coverage from Ole Miss in the secondary, and Carson Beck finds Keelan Marion on a 52-yard bomb for a touchdown. Marion was wiiiide open. 

What a play by Beck to stay patient in the pocket there! 

Miami 10, Ole Miss 10, 4:38 2nd quarter

8:55 p.m.: FIELD GOAL—Ole Miss is able to even things up here, with a 42-yard field goal from Lucas Carneiro. 

8:53 p.m.: Trinidad Chambliss finds Harrison Wallace III on a dart for 20 yards to get down to Miami’s 27. But on third down, Miami brings the house and forces Chambliss to throw the ball away. Miami looks like it got away with a late hit on Chambliss, though: 

8:50 p.m.: ESPN’s Laura Rutledge reports that Kewan Lacy is dealing with a right hamstring injury and has it heavily taped. Something to keep an eye on for sure, as his touchdown run is one of the few highlights of the night for Ole Miss on offense. 

Miami 10, Ole Miss 7, 7:09 2nd quarter

8:45 p.m. TOUCHDOWN— CharMar Brown runs it the middle four yards for the Miami score to give the Canes a three-point lead. 

Miami is just killing the time of possession battle. That last scoring drive was a 15-play, 75-yard one that took 7:41 off the clock. 

8:42 p.m.: Malachi Toney, folks. On 3rd down and 7, it looks like Ole Miss has him wrapped up and short of the line to gain, but he shakes free and continues upfield for a huge first down. 

What an effort! 

8:37 p.m.: On 3rd-and-7, Beck finds Elija Lofton downfield for an extra 15 yards and a first down to get down to Ole Miss’ 24. Miami calls a timeout. 

8:34 p.m.:  Carson Beck finds Joshua Moore on 2nd down and 10 for 11 yards, and Miami is back in Ole Miss territory.  

Ole Mss 7, Miami 3, 14:50 2nd quarter

8:29 p.m.: TOUCHDOWN—Hello, Kewan Lacy! He takes it 73 yards to the house to turn things around for this Rebel offense. 

8:27 p.m.: Hasn’t been the best start for Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebel offense, to say the least: 

End of the 1st quarter: Miami 3, Ole Miss 0

8:25 p.m.: Ole Miss is facing a 2nd-and-2 after an offsides penalty from Miami before the end of the 1st quarter. Still no first down for the Rebels’ offense yet! 

8:23 p.m.: Facing a 3rd-and-14, Mark Fletcher goes nowhere, and Ole Miss’ defense finally gets a stop. Miami was hurt by two penalties that drive, with a hold and a false start that backed the offense up. 

8:21 p.m.: Good news for Canes fans, as Malachi Toney pops out of the injury tent and is back onto the field. 

8:17 p.m.: Malachi Toney takes a big hit from Ole Miss’ Nick Kull, and it is flagged for targeting.

The refs review and and call no targeting, so Kull will remain in the game. Bad news for both teams though, as Toney and Kull both go into their respective injury tents. 

8:15 p.m.: Miami’s CharMar Brown rushes it eight yards on first down, setting up another clock-eating drive for Miami as it did in its first drive. Ole Miss’ defense could use a quick stop here, or this is going to be a long night. 

8:11 p.m.: Ole Miss goes three-and-out again, as Keionte Scott comes unblocked on a blitz to force Chambliss to get the ball out quick.

His pass falls incomplete, and the Rebels are forced to punt here. Not the start Pete Golding and Ole Miss’ offense was looking for! 

Miami 3, Ole Miss 0, 6:22 1st quarter

8:03 p.m.: FIELD GOAL—Miami strikes first, as a Carter Davis’ 38-yard field goal is good. A nice opening drive by Miami, and one that took a whopping 6:59 off the game clock.

  Miami’s winning the time of possession battle early, having the ball for 7:21 compared to Ole Miss’ 1:17. 

8:02 p.m.: Finally Ole Miss’ defense comes alive! Malachi Toney takes the direct snap on third down, but gets stopped by Kam Franklin to force fourth down. 

8:00 p.m.: On 3rd-and-1, Beck fakes the hand-off and finds CharMar Brown in the flat for a first down. Great opening drive for Miami here, and the Canes are winning on the line of scrimmage early. 

7:55 p.m.: Mark Fletcher runs in the tackles and gets a Miami tough first down.

Huge conversion for Shannon Dawson & company early. The Canes are at Ole Miss’ 40. 

7:54 p.m.: Next up, it’s Carson Beck and this Canes offense for the first time tonight. Although the Canes got down to midfield, Beck is stopped short on a scramble on third down. Miami is going for it on 4th and 2!  

7:50 p.m.: Facing a 3rd-and-4, Miami brings the house and Chambliss just has to throw it away. Unfortunately he gets flagged for intentional grounding on the play.

  Great start for Miami’s defense to force a three-and-out. 

Start of the 1st quarter: Ole Miss 0, Miami 0

7:45 p.m.: Ole Miss wins the toss and elects to receive, so we’ll get Trinidad Chambliss and this Rebel offense first. Let’s get this thing going! 

7:35 p.m.: The College GameDay crew minus Kirk Herbstreit, who is calling the game, likes Miami tonight: 

7:31 p.m.: We are nearing kickoff here! Who ya got in this one? Just one game left standing between a national championship game for both of these teams! 

7:15 p.m.: Miami will have some special honorary captains on-hand tonight, in Ray Lewis and Edgerrin Cooper: 

7:12 p.m.: Ole Miss is rocking the baby blues tonight: 

7:11 p.m.: Greetings, all! Who’s ready for some football? We are just over 30 minutes until kickoff, can’t wait to get this one started! 

6:30 p.m.: The stage is set from Glendale: 

MORE MIAMI-OLE MISS NEWS:

Where to watch College Football Playoff semifinals

Miami vs. Ole Miss start time

  • Date: Thursday, Jan. 8
  • Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

The Fiesta Bowl between Miami and Ole Miss will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The stadium’s capacity is 63,400, and nearly every seat should be filled as we approach kickoff. 

What channel is Miami vs. Ole Miss on today?

  • TV channel: ESPN
  • Live stream: Fubo 

The Fiesta Bowl will be broadcast nationally on ESPN, with Chris Fowler (play-by-play) and Kirk Herbstreit (color analyst) on the call from Arizona.

ESPN is once again producing its annual Megacast for the College Football Playoff featuring alternate broadcasts of the game across ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio and the ESPN App.

Fans looking to stream the game can turn to Fubo, which offers a free trial to new users.

MORE: Lane Kiffin suffers early transfer portal losses

College Football Playoff schedule 2026

Dec. 19

Game Matchup Time (ET) TV
First-Round CFP game Alabama 34, Oklahoma 24 8 p.m. ESPN

Dec. 20

Game Matchup Time (ET) TV
First-Round CFP game Miami 10, Texas A&M 3 12 p.m. TNT
First-Round CFP game Ole Miss 41, Tulane 10 4 p.m. TNT
First-Round CFP game Oregon 51, James Madison 34 8 p.m. ESPN

Dec. 31 

Game Matchup Time (ET) TV
Cotton Bowl Classic (quarterfinal) Miami 24, Ohio State 14 7:30 p.m. ESPN

Jan. 1

Game Matchup Time (ET) TV
Capital One Orange Bowl (quarterfinal) Texas Tech vs. Oregon 12 p.m. ESPN
Rose Bowl Game (quarterfinal) Indiana vs. Alabama 4 p.m. ESPN
Allstate Sugar Bowl (quarterfinal) Georgia vs. Ole Miss 8 p.m.  ESPN

Jan. 8

Game Matchup Time (ET) TV
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (semifinal) Miami vs. Ole Miss 7:30 p.m. ESPN

Jan. 9

Game Matchup Time (ET) TV
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (semifinal) Indiana vs. Oregon 7:30 p.m. ESPN

Jan. 19

Game Matchup Time (ET) TV
CFP National championship TBD 7:30 p.m. ESPN

MORE: Ranking the 2025 College Football Playoff semifinalists from first to worst

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