How The CFP Committee Baked Malachi Toney's Absence Into Miami's Latest Ranking
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It was a busy late night for the College Football Playoff committee chair, Hunter Yurachek, as the second CFP Rankings had been revealed.
Many teams plummeted while others climbed. For the former No. 1 team in the country, Miami (801, 6-0 ACC) fell to No. 7 after losing to then-No. 11 Notre Dame in South Bend by a touchdown.
However, the questions turned to how Miami dropped six spots after the performance they put on in the second half and understanding how they looked without Heisman contender Malachi Toney for the first time this season.
It was the sole metric that caused the Hurricanes to fall so much because it was the only game the Canes had played without the superstar receiver.
"We only have one game to evaluate Miami without Malachi Toney," Yurachek said. "So we can only use that metric.
"I will say, let's give credit to Miami and the way they played in that game because they found out about Malachi Toney, my understanding, is on Wednesday, most of their great prep for Notre Dame was done before that happened. "Notre Dame jumped out to a 24-3 lead. Miami cut to it seven on a couple of occasions."
Yurachek continued explaining how the committee got to Miami being No. 7 by comparing them to other teams and Miami not having a signature win under its belt. However, the respect is still there, even without Toney on the field to finish the regular season.
"Then some things that happened around Miami in the rankings, we talked about that,” Yurachek said. "Then some things that happened around Miami in the rankings, we talked about that. Georgia had their big win at Ole Miss. Utah, their win over BYU. Alabama won at LSU, Texas at Missouri, UCLA at Minnesota.
"You had that combination of Miami losing as the No. 1 team, then some five teams behind them having some really signature wins. The committee thought that moving those teams ahead of Miami was the right thing to do in this ranking.
"We still have a lot of respect for Miami. They have a lot of talent. Their offense seemed to find their way. They hit the tight end, I think, for nine receptions in that game, and had another receiver that caught seven. A lot of talent on that team with or without Malachi Toney."
To make things clear, Cooper Barkate is the receiver who had 10 catches against the Fighting Irish, while Elija Lofton, the tight end, had seven for 113 yards.
Moreover, the idea that the game was only looked at in the first half isn't true. The committee looked at the full game and understands that Miami came back, even with some questionable calls at the end.
“We're looking at the entire picture of the game,” Yurachek said. “The committee watched that game and was well aware that Notre Dame was up 24-3. Miami cut that lead on two occasions to 7. They had a potential touchdown that was ruled not a touchdown by the officials. We're cognizant of the flow of the game, what happened in the game, that Miami got down and came back.
“The fact that they lost that game, again, was just one of the pieces of the puzzle to move them back to 7. But there are some things that happened right behind them with Georgia, Utah, Alabama, Texas, and UCLA that the committee felt like they deserved to be ahead of Miami, along with Notre Dame.”
At the end of the day, Miami still controls its own destiny, starting with Duke (7-2, 6-1 ACC) to start a three-game home stand to close out the regular season. Miami wins out, and they are in, even if they might lose a game to Wake Forest in the ACC Championship.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.
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