How Hurricanes will try to stop Ole Miss star Trinidad Chambliss in Fiesta Bowl

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PARADISE VALLEY, Arizona — Miami defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman did not mince words when describing Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.

“He’s the best player we’ve played to this point,” Hetherman said Tuesday.

Hetherman is the Hurricanes coach tasked with stopping — or at least slowing down — the Ole Miss signal-caller when the teams face off at the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday with a trip to the national title game on the line.

“He’s very talented,” Hetherman said. “He is as good as a guy as we’ve seen all year. I mean, you turn the film on, that’s what jumps off right away: ‘What is this? Why do we (have) to play him?’ But he’s very talented. He makes them go.”

Chambliss was already a well-known player around the nation before the playoffs began. He surprised people when he took over for injured Ole Miss starter Austin Simmons (a South Florida native and former South Florida Sun Sentinel All-County selection) and helped the Rebels score 41 points in a win over Arkansas.

Ole Miss kept winning with Chambliss, with the lone blemish being a loss during the regular season to Georgia. But when Chambliss and the Rebels got another shot at the Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl, Chambliss got the last laugh. He threw for a season-high 362 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Ole Miss upset Georgia to earn a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.

“As the season’s gone on, he’s gotten more comfortable,” Hetherman said. “He’s gotten used to his receivers. He’s gotten used to playing within the system. He’s gotten used to playing the tempo. And he’s very dynamic, and you can tell his confidence every week’s a little bit higher. And whether it’s working with the offensive coordinator, working with his teammates, and as you go through, you constantly get better.”

Hetherman and his defense’s job on Thursday will be to make Chambliss uncomfortable. Miami has excelled at containing opposing quarterbacks, racking up 12 sacks in its first two playoff games.

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But Chambliss has been good about avoiding sacks. The 6-foot-1 quarterback has been sacked 13 times this season, and only two teams — Florida and Washington State — have sacked him three or more times. He is quick and can extend plays before throwing or scramble out of danger.

“He’s fast, elusive. His capability is great,” Miami defensive end Akheem Mesidor said. “So if you don’t (have) good rush lanes, he’ll tear you apart. He’ll extend the play for four seconds, five seconds and give his receivers time to get open. That’s hard on (defensive backs) covering for five, six, seven seconds. That’s super hard. So if you don’t have good rush lanes, they’ll mess you up.”

In addition to his prolific passing numbers, Chambliss also has 520 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns.

“He can extend the play,” Hetherman said. “He can run the football very well. There’s always that threat of him pulling it down. We’ve got to always have an extra defender on the field for him.”

Miami has also relied on forcing turnovers in its playoff wins. The Hurricanes forced Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed to turn the ball over three times, including on a game-ending interception in the end zone. Ohio State’s Julian Sayin threw two interceptions — one was a pick-six returned by Keionte Scott, and the second was the game-sealing interception by Jakobe Thomas.

Chambliss does not do that. He has just three interceptions all season. Those three interceptions were not caused by a pass rush making Chambliss panic; all three were when he was kept clean, according to Pro Football Focus.

“His decision-making is rarely off,” Scott said. “He knows where he wants to go with the ball. He knows what he wants to do with the ball. …  He believes in what he’s seeing. So that’s something interesting.”

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