Despite giving the Miami Hurricanes giving Fernando Mendoza and the unbeaten Indiana Hoosiers as much of a run for their money as one could have expected in the College Football Playoff National Championship, a late Carson Beck interception nullified a comeback and sealed a 27-21 defeat.
The one silver lining for many of the Hurricanes' best individual players who will bolt for the professional ranks as a result of this game is that their performance against the Hoosiers will stick out in the minds of NFL GMs.
These three players will find greener pastures in the NFL, as their play against Indiana ranks among their best such showings of the entire season.
3 Miami prospects who improved NFL Draft stock vs. Indiana
3. EDGE Akheem Mesidor
Mesidor may turn some GMs off as a 24-year-old player without amazing speed, but after getting to Mendoza twice in this game and showcasing a violent style of play that will get teams interested, Mesidor is looking like a lock to be selected somewhere in the Top 50.
Mesidor, who ended the season with more sacks than the much-ballyhooed Rueben Bain, may end up sneaking into the end of the first round in a class that saw LT Overton and TJ Parker disappoint and Matayo Uiagalelei return to Oregon.
2. CB Keionte Scott
Mendoza made some plays in the second half, but he looked nothing like the juggernaut that was ripping defenses to shreds. The secondary did all they could in this game, and perhaps the player who was on top of his game the most was the Hurricanes' high-end nickel in Scott.
Scott helped keep two future Top-75 picks in Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. out of the end zone, helping limit the former to just 28 yards receiving. Some big Charlie Becker catches doomed this secondary, but a game like this one may lock Scott in as a second-round player.
1. EDGE Rueben Bain Jr.
Bain has long been thought of as one of two favorites to be selected No. 2 overall by the New York Jets alongside Ohio State star linebacker Arvell Reese. After this game, in which Bain recorded a sack and three tackles for loss against a stout Indiana offensive line, he may have established himself as the leader in this two-horse race.
The only thing Bain has working against him is his historically small arms for an edge rusher that big. Outside of that, Bain has shown he is a two-way menace who played the biggest part of anyone in making a historically dominant and efficient offense look fairly pedestrian.