Rapid Reaction: Texas A&M season ends with 10-3 loss to Miami in CFP first round
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No one knew it at the time, but a charity kick from an overall-clad Texas A&M student prior to Saturday’s College Football Playoff first-round game was a harbinger of what was to come between the fifth-seeded Aggies and the 12th-seeded Hurricanes.
ESPN’s Pat McAfee was offering $1 million for a 33-yard kick from inside Kyle Field. After the student pushed his kick wide right, McAfee offered a do-over and upped the cash prize to $1.5 million. Again, the student pushed his kick wide.
That would wind up being the story of the day — missed kicks, second chances, and more missed opportunities.
Texas A&M outgained Miami, but a pair of turnovers and a blocked kick kept it off the scoreboard until the fourth quarter. Despite 4 drives that reached inside the A&M 30-yard line, Miami managed just 3 points through the first 55 minutes. Its kicker, Carter Davis, missed 3 of his first 4 field goal tries.
No one found the endzone until the final 2 minutes when the dam finally broke.
A jet sweep to standout freshman Malachi Toney from 11 yards out scored the game’s only touchdown with 1:44 to go. A&M’s defense had been unyielding for the game’s first 58 minutes, and it briefly looked like the game was going to come down to a kick from Davis. Not so fast.
Toney’s touchdown sent the Hurricanes into a frenzy, gave the visitors a 10-3 win, and pushed Miami into the CFP quarterfinals.
Toney scored the game-winner, but Miami running back Mark Fletcher will get the game ball from coach Mario Cristobal in the locker room. He ran for a career-best 172 yards on 17 carries. And he got better as the game went on; Fletcher had runs of 24 and 13 yards in the third quarter, and he exploded for a 56-yard carry in the fourth to set up the winning score. Fletcher had 40 rushing yards at halftime.
The 56-yard run was the play of the game.
On the previous Miami drive, Toney fumbled after a 12-yard gain and A&M took over at its 47-yard line.
A&M gained a quick first down to get across midfield, but Miami edge Rueben Bain Jr. killed the drive with a pair of sacks to force an A&M punt. Miami got the ball back with 4:01 to play at its 14.
Fletcher then exploded down the right sideline.
Aggie quarterback Marcel Reed completed 25 of his 39 passes for 237 yards, pushing his season total to 3,169. In doing so, he became Texas A&M’s first 3,000-yard passer since Kellen Mond threw for 3,107 yards in 2018. Reed is just the fifth Aggie QB to reach that milestone.
But he fumbled in the first quarter and he threw 2 interceptions in the second half, the last of which came in the endzone with 24 seconds to play and ended the Aggies’ season.
A&M drove 70 yards in 10 plays to the Miami 5, needing a touchdown to tie and force overtime. On third-and-goal, Bryce Fitzgerald jumped a Reed pass to end the threat and seal the game.
A&M’s offense was completely one-dimensional. The Hurricanes controlled the line of scrimmage all day. A&M managed just 89 rushing yards on 35 attempts. Reed was sacked 7 times. Rueben Owens and Le’Veon Moss combined for 36 yards on 14 carries.
This one will sting A&M for a while. A&M won its first 11 games and climbed up to No. 3 in the AP poll, its highest ranking since 1995. But the season ends with nothing to show for it after 2 straight losses. A&M lost its regular-season finale against Texas to be shut out of the SEC championship game, and the loss to Miami ends the first Playoff run with a one-and-done showing.
Miami will move on to face Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.
Miami 10, Texas A&M 3
Here’s the Texas A&M-Miami box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
