How Miami's Defense Dominated Texas A&M

The first playoff game inside the walls of Kyle Field didn't exactly go as planned for the Texas A&M Aggies, as one of the best offenses in the nation could only muster a field goal against a top-notch Miami Hurricanes defense in the 10-3 loss, eliminating them from the national championship picture.

The Aggies found out the hard way that it truly is defense that wins championships, even though they knew the kind of opposition they would be dealing with, as Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. recorded three sacks on A&M quarterback Marcel Reed, despite being dismissed as a threat by A&M offensive lineman Trey Zuhn.

Bain and the rest of the Canes' defense made the Aggies eat their words Saturday, as their defense simply could not be stopped.

What Miami Did To Send Texas A&M Home Early

During a film breakdown with Brooks Austin, a closer look was taken to see truly how the Miami defense took over the contest against the Aggies last Saturday.

Stuffing the Box on Third Downs

Rueben Owens Mohamed Toure Texas A&M Aggies Miami Hurricane — Miami Hurricanes linebacker Mohamed Toure (1) breaks up a pass intended for Texas A&M Aggies running back Rueben Owens II (4) at the goal line during the fourth quarter at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Texas A&M faced 18 third downs on Saturday and could only convert on eight of them, and one reason for that is Cristobal reshaping Miami's third-down defense to crowd the box and stop the small runs, and it worked to near perfection.

The big rushes on third downs by quarterback Marcel Reed and running back Rueben Owens slowly faded over the course of the game, further limiting the damage that the offense could do over the course of the contest.

Texas A&M only had 89 rushing yards on the day, even with Le'Veon Moss back in the lineup.

Taking Away the Deep Ball

Aside from the 59-yard moon ball that Marcel Reed delivered to Mario Craver early in the second quarter, there wasn't really a huge passing play through the air for Texas A&M, forcing the Aggie passing game to go with more of a punches and bunches kind of plan rather than the gunslinger mentality.

Making Marcel Uncomfortable

Outside of bowl games and rivalry games, Marcel Reed had never played in a playoff game before Saturday. To be fair, neither had Miami, but with how much they were forcing out of him in the pocket throughout the day, you wouldn't have been able to tell.

Rueben Bain Jr. sacked Reed three times, and the Hurricanes defense overall took him down seven times.

They forced short scrambles and throws that no quarterback wants to make, including the interception with 27 seconds left in the game that ended it all for Texas A&M in the 2025 season.