Matchup: Miami at Texas A&M

Date: December 20th, 2025

Location: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

Kickoff: 11:00 a.m.

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Through the strength of their 11-1 record over the course of the 2025 regular season, Texas A&M punched the first College Football Playoff ticket in program history. As the No. 7 seed, the Aggies will host the Miami Hurricanes to begin their postseason campaign.

Texas A&M will hope to bounce back from the disappointing loss to Texas to close the season by defeating an extremely talented Miami team. The Hurricanes failed to make the ACC conference championship, losing out thanks to tiebreakers, but managed to secure an at-large bid. That bid didn’t come without controversy, but the Canes still have a wealth of talent on the roster.

The last time Texas A&M and Miami met resulted in a 48-33 victory for Miami at home in 2023. The Aggies defeated Miami at Kyle Field the year prior and will hope to repeat that history by securing another win over Miami at home.

Miami jumps off the tape as a team that is extremely good in the trenches. On the defensive side of the ball, the Hurricanes are headlined by Rueben Bain at defensive end but possess a complete and dangerous rotation, including Ahmad Moten on the interior. The strength of this defensive line has allowed Miami to rank top ten in the country in rushing defense. The Canes also excel at rushing the passer, making Saturday’s contest a massive challenge for the Texas A&M offensive line.

If the Aggies do have an advantage when they possess the ball, it’s the receivers. I believe the game plan will be to spread out Miami by getting the ball to KC Concepcion and Mario Craver in space, allowing the two gifted pass-catchers to rack up yards after catch.

Getting anything going in the running game will be a challenge, but if the Aggies can get Marcel Reed in a rhythm and force Miami to address the outside, I think they might be able to find a little traction rushing. The pending return of Le’Veon Moss could also add an extra spark to the run game.

On the defensive side of the ball for Texas A&M, this contest comes down to muddying the picture for Carson Beck and playing with much better discipline in the run game. The run fits can be pointed to as the biggest downfall for the Aggie defense back in that 27-17 loss to Texas. The good news is, Miami’s rushing offense hasn’t been very potent in 2025. Of course, that was true for the Longhorns as well. If Texas A&M’s run fits aren’t better in this one, the Aggies are in real trouble. One piece to keep an eye on for the run fits will be Scooby Williams. A&M has been more disciplined when Scooby is on the field, and if he’s healthy enough to go, I think that’s a major boost.

In the passing game, Texas A&M has to confuse and pressure Carson Beck. When Beck is able to get the ball out quickly, Miami’s passing attack is dangerous. The Canes do a great job of protecting Beck as well. However, when Beck is forced to get off script, he struggles to process defenses. That flaw was on full display in Miami’s losses to SMU and Louisville as Beck threw a combined six interceptions over those two contests.

The Aggies need to disguise coverages to slow down Beck’s processing on Saturday. It’ll be tough to get pressure on Beck against this offensive line, but if he holds on to the ball, eventually someone will get home. If the Aggies can do that, turnovers will come, and Texas A&M will limit the damage caused by one of the best receivers in the country in Malachi Toney.

Ultimately, I think Texas A&M comes out on top in what should be an absolute nailbiter of a contest. I’m taking the Aggies to win 28-27 at Kyle Field.