Miami upset Texas A&M in a low-scoring College Football Playoff game defined by defense.
Miami’s defense was the key to victory, holding the Aggies’ offense in check.
The result validated the CFP selection committee’s choice to include Miami in the 12-team bracket.
COLLEGE STATION, TX – This one’s for the sickos.
This one, this Miami-Texas A&M fistfight, went out to all those who like this sport when it’s magnificent, but downright romanticize it when it’s warty and unpolished, when every yard’s a struggle, when field-goal attempts sail wide right, or into a big lineman’s paw or ricochet off the upright. Doink!
The sickos laughed. They loved every second of this 10-3 Miami upset of Texas A&M. Because, this had a dose of everything. Except touchdowns. None of those, until Malachi Toney crossed the goal line with fewer than two minutes remaining.
Who needs multiple touchdowns? Not Miami’s defense. The Hurricanes salted away this triumph with Bryce Fitzgerald’s red-zone interception with seconds remaining.
If you desired unparalleled brilliance and pristine performance, well, I’m afraid this College Football Playoff is too big for you, and you need a playoff that’s more elitist.
The sickos will take this unrefined 12-team bracket over tidy elegance, thank you much.
This mucky tussle goes into the Sickos Hall of Fame. First-ballot selection. You think Miami cares? That’s a badge of honor. You say ugly, the Hurricanes say defensive masterpiece.
It’s on to Ohio State.
Miami defense gets it done against Texas A&M in rugged CFP win
Sickos don’t need touchdowns, not when you’ve got Texas A&M’s punter overshooting his target on a fourth-down pass. Why not gamble with a fake punt? It’s not like Miami could take advantage of the field position. Wiiiiiidddeee right, went the field goal!
The passes from Miami’s Carson Beck and the Aggies’ Marcel Reed sailed wide left, wide right or simply soared beyond their mark.
Reed’s scrambles counted as the Aggies’ best offense. Handoffs up the middle and jet sweeps became Miami’s best bet.
When Texas A&M finally scored with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter, the fans in maroon roared as loudly as they had since the pregame, and a cannon fired, and the sickos mourned the loss of a shutout.
And you can say the defenses played well, and that’s true. And you can say the wind that whipped the flags and rattled the goal posts created difficult passing conditions, and that’s also true.
And you can say the quarterback play was downright unsightly, and that’s true, too.
Committee vindicated as Miami wins, while Notre Dame sits
Just when you thought the football gods finally would supply a touchdown, Miami’s speedy punt returner streaking up the sideline got stopped short of pay dirt by a diving Aggie’s side-swiping right arm. Still, only 25 yards were needed for a score. That proved 25 yards too many. Miami’s offense reversed five yards, and the field goal went, you guessed it, wiiiiiidddeee right!
The sickos doubled over in delight.
Notre Dame fans must have hate-watched this magnum opus of punts and gaffes and 2-yard runs, but, the fact remains, the Irish lost to both of these teams. And, so, the Irish can pretend they would have marched into this howling stadium, with the wind whistling, and scored five touchdowns. The Irish can say that, without a shred of evidence, but with full conviction, because aggrieved teams always go undefeated in the games they don’t play.
The CFP selection committee went undefeated with its last-two-in selections. Raise a glass to the committee, or at least lower your voices, because first Alabama, then Miami, ventured into two of college football’s fiercest lions’ dens and emerged with a pelt.
The playoff’s first two games unfolded in 180-degree fashion, but that’s sport for you, isn’t it?
This sport belongs on college campuses, and it’s only fair that one of college football’s most impressive and colossal cathedrals got to host just the sixth playoff game ever to be played on a campus site.
Ten minutes before kickoff, the stadium started to shake as the decibels climbed. The fans in the crowd of 104,122 began waving their white towels. Then, they began to chant.
Ahhhhh, heyyyyyyyy! Ahhhhhhh, heyyyyyyyyyy! Ahhhhhhh, heyyyyyyy!
The Aggies emerged from the tunnel behind the south end zone, and flames shot into the sky as the sun poured down on a December day created for a playoff game in this football-mad state.
The scene at Kyle Field set a high bar for heaven to clear.
Then, the game began and the tackles piled up, and so did errant passes and the turnovers and the blunders, and the sickos watched Miami’s defense cast the Aggies into the fire.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.