- - Miami surprises Texas A&M in CFP with defense, Malachi Toney touchdown

Erick Smith, USA TODAY December 20, 2025 at 8:36 PM

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The home teams were dominant in the first year of the College Football Playoff. This year? Not so much

No. 10 seed Miami used an opportunistic defense and got enough offense to pull out a 10-3 win at No. 7 Texas A&M. The victory by the Hurricanes came one day after Alabama rallied for a historic comeback defeat at Oklahoma.

Miami with its first victory in its first playoff appearance advances to the quarterfinals and a meeting with Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 31.

"I think it was important, first, to get in the playoff," Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. "Then to go and win at a place like this, right, 100 plus thousand people, on the road, a team that was arguably top 2 or 3 until their last game, and to get it done in this type of environment, we needed that."

Miami running back Mark Fletcher Jr. breaks free on a run against Texas A&M during the first round of the 2025 College Football Playoff at Kyle Field.

The defensive struggle was scoreless at halftime. Amid windy conditions at Kyle Field, the first 30 minutes included a lost fumble and missed field goal by Texas A&M and two missed field goals by the Hurricanes.

The first drive of the second half produced points. Three completions by Carson Beck got Miami into Texas A&M territory. A 24-yard run by Mark Fletcher created a goal-to-go situation before the Hurricanes settled for a 21-yard kick from Carter Davis.

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The Hurricane defense was stingy throughout. An interception of Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed on the next possession set up Miami in scoring range, but that threat was thwarted by another missed field goal by Davis.

The Aggies needed 52 minutes to register their first score. A methodical 16-play drive of 67 yards stalled at the Miami 17. Randy Bond split the uprights from 35 yards to tie the game at 3 with just more than eight minutes left in regulation. It was his 71st career field goal for Bond, tying the school record.

A minute later, the Texas A&M defense made its biggest play of the day with Dalton Brooks stripping Miami receiver Malachi Toney near midfield. Daymion Sanford pounced on the ball for first turnover by the Hurricanes. It was just the second lost fumble of the season by Miami.

But defensive lineman Reuben Bain sacked Reed on third down to force a punt. It was one of seven sacks for Miami as its defensive line was difficult for Texas A&M to block in the run and pass game.

On the first play of the ensuing play, Fletcher sprinted 56 yards to Texas 30. It was the longest run of Fletcher's career.

"I just told the O-line and the wide receivers and tight ends, just put a hat on somebody and I'm going to be gone," Fletcher said of the run. "I'm going to be gone. I'm going to handle the rest. That's the reason it opened up like that."

Fletcher, who finished with 172 yards on 17 carries, then ripped off a 12-yard run to put Miami into field-goal range. But they didn't need a field goal as Toney, who was upset after his earlier turnover, took a short pass from Beck and ran around the end for a 15-yard touchdown on third down for the game's first touchdown with 1:44 left.

"You saw the entire team just go right to him after the fumble," Cristobal said. "Everybody trusts him. A lot of the reason why we're here today is because of his play making ability. He brings so much energy to the team. They trust him. They love him.

Texas A&M drove deep into Miami territory before an interception by Bryce Fitzgerald in the end zone fittingly ended the last threat by the Aggies. It was Fitzgerald's second pick of Reed in the game.

"They were able to find a drive and we were able to respond, and we just weren't able to finish," Texas A&M coach Mike Elko said. "We weren't able to get it done. We came up five yards short. That's something we'll have to live with throughout the offseason."

Beck finished with modest numbers, completing 14 of 20 for 103 yards.

Texas A&M outgained the Hurricanes 326-278. Reed threw for 237 yards in the team's second loss in a row after opening the season with 11 consecutive wins and rising to No. 3 in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

"You hurt for those kids because you know how hard they work, you know what they put into this thing," Elko said. "People will try to knock at what they did and what they accomplished, and that won't be fair to them, and they'll have to deal with that."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miami defeats Texas A&M in CFP with defense, Malachi Toney touchdown

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