In Cristobal's image, Miami's beefy offensive line steamrolls a path to title game

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Miami coach Mario Cristobal gathered his offensive linemen together during a pressure-packed, fourth-quarter drive in the Fiesta Bowl and delivered a message to the big, beefy guys he knows so well.

You five are about to lead the way for the winning touchdown.

“He believed in us,” Hurricanes right tackle Francis Mauigoa said. “We were in the middle of the field and he's saying, ‘We’re going to score this. Defense get ready.'”

Sure enough, a few minutes later quarterback Carson Beck ran untouched into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown to cap a bruising 15-play, 75-yard drive, and the No. 10 seed Hurricanes had earned a 31-27 victory over No. 6 Mississippi along with a chance to play for their first national title since 2001.

“All the work that we put in, all the preparation that goes into this, is for moments like these,” said Beck, who finished with 268 yards passing and two touchdowns. “You play this game for moments like these, you live for moments like these.”

It was the kind of physically dominant performance that Cristobal — a former offensive lineman at Miami — thoroughly enjoyed.

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

Miami dominated the line of scrimmage for the majority of their win, racking up an impressive 191 yards rushing as the line spent much of the night steamrolling the Rebels’ defense. Mark Fletcher ran for 133 yards on 22 carries, the Hurricanes had 459 total yards and the offense controlled the ball for more than 41 minutes compared to roughly 18 1/2 minutes for the Rebels.

That's not to say the Ole Miss defense didn't present some challenges. The Rebels sacked Beck four times, which helped them rally for a 27-24 lead with 3:13 left.

“They brought out some smart stuff — they brought out some good blitzes,” Mauigoa said. “The head coach over there (Pete Golding) is a smart guy.”

But the offensive line — from left to right, Markel Bell (6-foot-8, 345 pounds), Matthew McCoy (6-6, 325), James Brockermeyer (6-3, 295), Anez Cooper (6-5, 345) and Mauigoa (6-6, 335) — was at its best on the final drive.

Cristobal gave the group the game ball during the on-field postgame celebration.

“It was just what the situation required,” Brockermeyer said. “If we didn't do that, we lose the game. I think it's a little different when you've got to have it. Never throw in the towel, keep fighting, keep throwing haymakers and at the end of the day, look up at the scoreboard and the Miami Hurricanes are 1-0.”

Beck had plenty of time to survey the field on the game-deciding play, pulling the ball down before running into the end zone. It had to be a beautiful sight for Cristobal, who was an offensive tackle for the Hurricanes during some of their glory years in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Brockermeyer said the team — and particularly the offensive line — feeds off their coach's energy.

“Unless you've played offensive line like he has, there's no way to truly understand what it's like,” Brockermeyer said. "It's just such a blessing to have a guy like that in our corner, a guy who gets it, respects it, puts a huge emphasis on it.

“He's built this program around the offensive and defensive lines and it's awesome to be a part of.”

Now the Hurricanes are one game away from their first title in 25 years. They'll play for the national title on Jan. 19 against either Indiana or Oregon in their backyard in Miami Gardens, Florida.

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Miami head coach Mario Cristobal talks with defensive back Jakobe Thomas (8) during the second half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Miami defensive lineman Artavius Jones (42) and linebacker Wesley Bissainthe (31) react after a play during the second half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Miami running back Charmar Brown (6) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Miami head coach Mario Cristobal reacts after a touchdown during the first half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Miami offensive lineman Markel Bell holds up a trophy after winning the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game against Mississippi, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Buffalo (12-5) at Jacksonville (13-4)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.

BetMGM NFL odds: Bills by 1.

Against the spread: Bills 8-9, Jaguars 12-5.

Series record: Tied 10-10, with Jacksonville winning both postseason matchups.

Last meeting: Bills beat the Jaguars 47-10 in Buffalo on Sept. 23, 2024.

Last week: Jaguars beat the Titans 41-7; Bills beat the Jets 35-8.

Bills offense: overall (4), rush (1), pass (15), scoring (T4).

Bills defense: overall (7), rush (28), pass (1), scoring (12).

Jaguars offense: overall (11), rush (20), pass (12), scoring (6).

Jaguars defense: overall (11), rush (1), pass (21), scoring (8).

Turnover differential: Bills plus-1; Jaguars plus-13.

QB Josh Allen enters the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season and with a 7-6 record, with four of those losses on the road. He’s completed 65.7% of his passes, averaging 258 yards a game, with 33 touchdowns (25 passing, seven rushing, one receiving). He also has just four interceptions and two lost fumbles.

RB Travis Etienne could be playing his final game in Jacksonville. The fifth-year pro is a pending free agent, and although he has a career-high 13 total touchdowns, he hasn’t topped 100 yards rushing since late September. Going against a defense that has allowed more than 150 yards on the ground seven times gives him a chance to shine.

The NFL’s top rushing attack against the league’s best run defense. Buffalo’s James Cook led the league with 1,621 yards rushing, averaging 95.3 a game, and faces a unit that didn’t allow any player to reach 75 yards on the ground. The Jaguars topped the league in run defense for the first time in franchise history, allowing 85.6 yards a game. They became the third team since 2000 to not allow a 75-yard rusher in any game.

Bills: Jordan Phillips won’t play after joining fellow DT Ed Oliver (torn bicep/knee) on injured reserve. Starting LB Terrel Bernard (calf) and rookie CB Maxwell Hairston (ankle) have been ruled out. K Matt Prater is questionable after aggravating a quadriceps injury to his kicking leg. LB Shaq Thompson (neck) backup RB Ty Johnson (ankle) and WR Joshua Palmer (ankle) bear monitoring in being listed as questionable.

Jaguars: RG Patrick Mekari (back) and LT Cole Van Lanen (knee) are expected back. Mekari missed the past two weeks, and Van Lanen injured his right knee in the fourth quarter against Tennessee and sat out practice Wednesday.

The series is tied at 10, although Jacksonville has won three of the past four, including a wild-card game in the 2017 season that featured Jaguars QB Blake Bortles finishing with more rushing yards (88) than passing yards (87).

The Bills are 7-7 in playoff games in nine seasons under coach Sean McDermott, with five of those losses coming on the road. ... The Bills have dropped eight consecutive road games in the playoffs, all of them since a win at Miami in the 1992 AFC championship game. The road skid is the NFL’s second-longest, active postseason run behind Detroit’s 12 in a row. ... Buffalo went 6-5 when trailing at halftime and twice overcame double-digit, fourth-quarter deficits. ... Allen was sacked a career-high 40 times and went 3-5 in games he committed a turnover. Playoffs included, he’s 48-35 in games in which he commits a turnover, and 46-10 in turnover-free outings. ... Cook is Buffalo’s first player to win the NFL rushing title since O.J. Simpson did so four times, the last one coming in 1976. ... Khalil Shakir led Buffalo with 719 yards receiving, but the Bills had 11 players with at least one TD catch, led by TE Dalton Kincaid’s five. ... LT Dion Dawkins, S Jordan Poyer, CB Tre’Davious White, LB Matt Milano and LS Reid Ferguson all holdovers from the Buffalo team that lost at Jacksonville in the 2017 wild-card game. … The Jaguars are averaging 33.6 points during their eight-game winning streak, the franchise's longest since 1999. ... They are 4-1 in home playoff games. … Jacksonville is the third team in NFL history to win 13 or more games a season after losing 13 or more, joining a list that includes 2025 New England and 1999 Indianapolis. … Jacksonville's Liam Coen is the seventh head coach in NFL history to win 13 or more games in his first season. ... QB Trevor Lawrence joined Allen, Arizona’s Kyler Murray and Carolina’s Cam Newton as the only players in NFL history with 25 or more TD passes and nine of more TD runs the same season. Lawrence has 24 total TDs (19 passing and five rushing) during the team's win streak. ... LB Devin Lloyd finished second in the NFL with six takeaways, including five interceptions. ... CB Antonio Johnson had a career-high nine pass defenses in the regular season. ... Lloyd and Johnson were only players in the NFL with five or more INTs and at least one sack.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Jacksonville Jaguars place-kicker Cam Little (39) celebrates his 67-yard field goal during the first half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Alec Anderson (70) spikes the ball after running back Ty Johnson scored a touchdown against the New York Jets in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) runs the ball past Tennessee Titans outside linebackers Truman Jones (56) and Jaylen Harrell, far right, during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Buffalo Bills tight end Dawson Knox (88) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the New York Jets in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)