CORAL GABLES, Fla. >> They celebrated on the field. They celebrated in the locker room. And when Miami’s overnight charter flight landed Sunday after the Hurricanes’ biggest comeback win in a quarter-century, another unplanned celebration was waiting.

Fire trucks greeted the plane by shooting plumes of water over it as it taxied to the gate.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw that,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “That was crazy.”

A little bit of crazy on Sunday morning made sense, because everything about Saturday night at California was pretty much crazy as well.

The Hurricanes trailed by 25 points late in the third quarter, trailed by 20 with 11 minutes remaining and somehow beat Cal 39-38 — the biggest comeback win in FBS play this season and the biggest by Miami since a 28-point comeback to beat Boston College in 1999. Miami quarterback Cam Ward enhanced his Heisman Trophy campaign by passing for 437 yards and accounting for three touchdowns in the final 10:28, including the game-winning throw to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds left.

“I didn’t play my best ball,” Ward said. “Nobody played their best ball. We just can’t keep putting ourselves in these situations.”

It was two down-to-the-wire games in a row for Miami. The Hurricanes erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Virginia Tech on Sept. 27 — surviving a Hail Mary touchdown that was overturned on the last play — and then came back from 25 down one week later. The Hokies felt the replay review of the final play was botched and Cal surely thought Miami’s Wesley Bissainthe was guilty of targeting Golden Bears quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the final minutes on Saturday. Had that play gone Cal’s way, Miami would have needed an even bigger miracle.

“This team has so much trust,” Cristobal said. “Insane resiliency. We’re down 35-10 and nobody blinks. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Texas on top

It was a week of upheaval in The Associated Press college football poll, with Texas returning to No. 1 on Sunday after a one-week absence following Vanderbilt’s monumental upset of Alabama.

The Commodores’ win as more than three-touchdown underdogs caused the Crimson Tide to drop from No. 1 to No. 7. The last top-ranked team to fall so far was Ohio State, which plunged to No. 11 in 2010 following an October loss to Wisconsin.

Texas, which had an open date, received 52 out of 61 first-place votes and became the first team in two years to bounce in and out of the top spot in a span of three polls. The Longhorns also were just the third team since 2008 to be voted No. 1 after not playing the day before.

Ohio State beat Iowa for its fourth straight easy win, received nine first-place votes and moved up a spot to No. 2.

Oregon and Penn State each rose three spots, with the Ducks up to No. 3 and the Nittany Lions fourth. Georgia remained No. 5.