What Ohio State should be looking out for in Miami vs. Texas A&M matchup

The Ohio State Buckeyes will have their eyes glued to the television this weekend.

On Saturday, Dec. 20, the Buckeyes, who have the weekend off due to being allotted the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoffs, will watch as No. 7 Texas A&M squares off against No. 10 Miami (Fla.). The winner of the matchup will face off against Ohio State in the quarterfinal round of the CFP in the Cotton Bowl Classic.

Both teams present a tough challenge for the Buckeyes, who are in their first year participating in the playoffs.

Statistically, Miami, while being the lower seed, comes in as the favorite. They are playing their best brand of football right now, winning the last four games they've played. Led by quarterback Carson Beck, he's helped propel this team to just a two-loss season at a 10-2 record while throwing for 3,072 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Miami's only two losses have come to Louisville and SMU within a three-week span by a point differential of nine. While they weren't blowouts, they were disappointing and a reason why they nearly missed out on being selected to compete in the CFP.

The program's PFF grades do show they are a great team, especially in the trenches on both sides of the football. The rest of the position groups, in comparison to Texas A&M, are leaps and bounds the better side.

Miami vs Texas A&M Roster Grades Comparison♨️ pic.twitter.com/wD7pXdNRZN
— PFF College (@PFF_College) December 19, 2025

For the Buckeyes, they'll be looking to see if the Aggies are able to find any exploitations in the Hurricanes' offensive or defensive lines, alongside the passing game.

Texas A&M does have really good linebacker play; that's a key area of their defense that's helped carry them to this point in the season. That group, led by Taurean York and Daymion Sanford, has combined for 166 tackles, 26.5 tackles for a loss and two of the team's three total interceptions.

Ohio State has had trouble at times with good linebackers, especially those who drop back in coverage in the passing game and add an extra defender across the middle of the field.

At this point in the season, each team is going to be giving their best and not hiding any of their secrets. Ohio State will have to be on the lookout for any trickery that each team decides to use, while also seeing any secret weapons the programs have hidden.

Another important part of each teams' game is their red zone play.

Miami's defense has allowed just 25 trips into the red zone this season, an impressive mark. While Texas A&M has allowed 32. Both teams have really strong bend-don't-break defenses that try to force you to make the big play or beat them over the top. Doing that against Texas A&M will be much easier than doing that against Miami.

Offensively, each team has been really consistent at finding the end zone once they get within the 20-yard line.

The Buckeyes will be on the lookout for any tendencies either team has once in the redzone, and who they like to go to the most. For Miami, it'll more than likely be Malachi Toney, who's lethal in the rushing and receiving attack. For Texas A&M, it's their two 800-yard-plus receivers, Kevin Concepcion and Mario Craver, who quarterback Marcel Reed loves getting the ball to this season.

Everyone's seemingly favoring Miami over Texas A&M, but the best matchup for the Buckeyes, and the one every Buckeye faithful should be hoping for, is the Aggies to take home the win.

It'll be hard, but its the CFP, anything can happen.

Texas A&M will host Miami on Saturday with an early kickoff scheduled for 12:00 p.m. EST.