Miami Defense Carries Hurricanes Past Texas A&M in CFP Debut

Miami didn’t do much on Saturday that was worthy of winning a road College Football Playoff game at Texas A&M.

The Hurricanes had just 69 yards of offense in the first half, 278 yards in the entire game and scored just one touchdown with less than two minutes left.

Kicker Carter Davis -- who had missed two field goals all season -- made just 1 of 4 field goals on a windy day in College Station, Texas.

And yet, the No. 10 Hurricanes (11-2) won their CFP debut over the seventh-seeded Aggies (11-2) for one main reason.

Because their revamped defense delivered its best game of the season on the biggest stage, allowing just three points in a 10-3 win while making a strong case for first-year defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman to win the Broyles Award.

Texas A&M’s offense, which entered the day 14th in scoring offense (36.3 points per game) and 20th nationally in total offense (454.4 yards per game), managed just 326 yards against the Hurricanes.

Miami tied its season high with seven sacks and racked up nine tackles for loss against an Aggies offense which had allowed 12 sacks all season (tied for 11th nationally) and led the nation in tackles for loss allowed (34).

“One of the messages going in was just play one play at a time. At some point they were going to make someone miss. At some point they were going to have a play,” Hetherman said postgame. “It was just respond and then just keep playing one play at a time. I thought our guys did a really good job of handling that today in a tough environment.”

Need I remind you all how messy the situation Hetherman inherited was? Last year’s Miami team had a Heisman finalist quarterback in Cam Ward who broke the single-season program records for passing yards (4,313), touchdown passes (39) and completion percentage (67.2%).

That team finished two spots outside of the 2024 playoff because of its lacking defense, which ranked 68th in scoring defense (25.3 ppg) and allowed nine plays of 50-plus yards, tied for 105th nationally.

Against Power Four teams, that Miami defense allowed 30.5 points per game. The secondary was a major liability, which resulted in the team not being able to get stops when needed as it dropped two of the final three games of the regular season to waste a 9-0 start and arguably the most talented QB in program history.

Miami’s defense showed Saturday -- as it has a lot throughout this season -- that it is the strength of this year’s team. A new defensive coordinator and scheme, seven defensive back transfer additions plus a bunch of returning defensive linemen who will play on Sundays culminated on Saturday in one of the more impressive team defense performances in recent memory which put the Hurricanes as close to “back” as they’ve been in a long time.

“It's amazing what Coach Hetherman has done for not only the defense but the program, just turning us around and the monster he instills in us every day, being excited and being violent,” Miami defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. said. “ ... From the first snap to the last, the defense came to play, and that's the way it's going to be, especially when you've got somebody like Coach Hetherman, somebody like that, coaching us every play just to come out and give our best.”