CFB Playoff Saturday

Kyle Kirms
14 hours ago
6 min read

MIAMI @ TEXAS A&M - 12 PM

Miami's first time playing for a National Championship since the big one in 2003. Now obviously... years ago, there were no playoffs. You either went to the Natty or you didn't. Texas A&M has never played in a national championship game or a playoff game.

Miami looking to make history.

Winner of this game is gonna see the defending champions.

So can Miami move the ball on this Aggie defense? Now we gotta talk S Bryce Anderson and LB Scooby Williams returning from injury for Texas A&M. Those were originally starters and they've both been out a while. I gotta say... I'm not sure how much it moves the needle for me in this game. Bryce Anderson hasn't played since Week 3. Scooby Williams kinda lost his starting job.. the other two LBs have played really well.

Miami's offense finished out the season strong after a couple shaky showings against Louisville and SMU.

Carson Beck's been almost perfect. He's thrown 11 TDs to 1 INT in this span.

And if you're thinking "well Kyle Syracuse and NC State have trash defenses"... ok that's fair. Well look what happens when we just isolate the last two games. Both on the road... @ Blacksburg and @ Pitt in the cold. Tough environments.

Now you could say Texas A&M's defense has been dominant at Kyle Field and that's a fair point. The strength of schedule is pretty crazy though. They haven't seen one elite offense at home all year. Miami's offense will be by far their toughest opponent in this building.

Texas A&M's defense is powered by creating havoc... getting into the backfield... but Miami's offense has done a great job keeping defenses from disrupting their rhythm.

It's supposed to be a windy day in College Station but I don't think that has much of an effect on Miami's offense. Carson Beck doesn't throw the ball downfield much. It's not like the Cam Ward Miami offense. Just 13.3% of Carson Beck's pass attempts were 20+ yards... which is 96th in the country amongst starting QBs.

Texas A&M doesn't blitz much as a whole... but they do tend to send extra rushers on 3rd downs... Beck's been solid against the blitz this year making quick reads and protecting the football.

On the other side of the ball, we've got injury updates.

THE POSSIBLE RETURN OF LE'VEON MOSS.

MIA DB KEIONTE SCOTT SET TO RETURN. HE HASN'T PLAYED SINCE WEEK 11. CB OJ FREDERIQUE JR. SET TO RETURN. HE HASN'T PLAYED SINCE WEEK 9. CB DAMARI BROWN QUESTIONABLE.

We've got some chirping on this side of the ball.

Now we know this Miami defensive line is one of the best in the country. This pass rush is elite. On paper, Marcel Reed is definitely equipped to handle it though. I'm not sure if the big downfield explosive throws will be there with the wind... but he's a great athlete with great escapability.

The question is... do we think Texas A&M can run the ball in this game? This is an offense that wants to run the ball... and after running the ball pretty easily for most of the season, we saw them really struggle to get things going on the ground in their last 2 SEC games.

I'm not sure if I trust A&M to run the ball in this game... which means there's a ton of pressure on Marcel Reed to be a one man show in this one against one of the best pass rushes in the country.

We just saw Texas take the run away from this offense a few weeks ago. Marcel Reed was running for his life in this game. He led the team with 71 rush yards. If Miami takes the run away like Texas did... I think we'll see Texas A&M's offense struggle again.

I think both defenses are gonna control this game... so I agree with the total being bought down... but I'm definitely worried about the big plays. Both these defenses have had problems with explosive plays. So how can I take an under in a game we might see home runs?

I make the game 3... so at +3.5, it's a lean towards Miami but I can't get there. But this place is gonna be a circus. Kyle Field sellout 102,000 in attendance.

TULANE @ OLE MISS - 3:30 PM

Here's the situation.

Coaching situation makes this playoff game a bit less exciting. Sumrall's already spending time in Gainesville recruiting for 2026.

(The new head coach is Will Hall, who's currently the passing game coordinator)

Apparently Sumrall has held up on his word that he wouldn't flip any of Tulane's recruits to Florida.

Lane Kiffin drama... DC Pete Golding will serve as head coach throughout the playoffs.

These teams play frequently. It's actually one of the longer existing College Football rivalries. Been pretty one sided though.

Rematch from Week 4 in the same exact building. First College Football Playoff appearence for both programs. Ole Miss first 11 win season.

It was, by far, the worst game of the season for Retzlaff.

It looks like Tulane will still be without WR Bryce Bohannon. This will be the 4th game he's missed (listed as doubtful). Ole Miss CB Antonio Kite questionable. He's been out since Week 12. That's their main CB.

Good news for Tulane is Retzlaff really found his groove later in the season. He got off to a really slow start... but Tulane did have a functioning passing attack down the stretch.

In fact, the offense as a whole was strong down the stretch. Jamauri McClure emerged as the RB1. He's got over 400 yards rushing in the last 4 games.

I gotta say tho... plaing FAU, Temple, Charlotte, UTSA... slightly different than going into Oxford. Now this year's Ole Miss defense is definitely not nearly as good as last year's... but they seemed to get it together down the stretch.

Ole Miss hasn't had the strongest pass rush this season... but they put a ton of pressure on Retzlaff in the first meeting (45%)... and they've been heating up down the stretch.

Remember Golding is still there. So I would imagine the Ole Miss defense will continue the hot streak they were on to finish out the season.

And on the other side of the ball, are we expecting Tulane to make stops here?

One of the strengths of this Tulane defense has been the pass rush... Chambliss has been one of the best QBs in the country handling pressure this year.

Ole Miss had zero problems moving the ball on this defense earlier in the season. This was only Chambliss 2nd start too.

Now Tulane's defense has played better down the stretch... but their strength is stopping the run. Maybe they're able to keep Lacey from killin em. We've seen this secondary have problems. I don't see how they're able to cover Ole Miss receiving weapons. Ole Miss TE Dae'Quan Wright is most likely going to play. He's been banged up but he's listed as probable.

Lane Kiffin situation makes this one weird... but in my opinion, Ole Miss should blow em out. Ole Miss or over.

JAMES MADISON @ OREGON - 7:30 PM

The situation.

Oregon back in the College Football playoff... we all know what happened last year.

You would think a home game against James Madison should be a layup for the Ducks to snag their first playoff win. James Madison was struggling offensively against Troy for most of the Sun Belt Championship game. Remember, they scored 2 touchdowns in the final 6 minutes. Final score isn't a great indication of how that game went.

Another game with a coaching dilemma.

JMU should really struggle to move the ball in this one. Oregon has shown us you can run the ball on em... and James Madison does have a strong run game so I suppose there's a path.

The talent gap might just be too big here. The only defense James Madison's seen all year that's even close to comparable to Oregon would be Louisville back in Week 2... and they did absolutely nothing in that game.

Now we do need to point out that James Madison's offense really started cliquing in the 2nd half of the season. The current James Madison offense is definitely better than the Week 2 James Madison offense that played Louisville... but against who?

Now the good news for James Madison is... their defense is great. We need need to know the status of those WRs. Oregon's played the last few games without their 3 star WRs. Dakorien Moore, Gary Bryant Jr., Evan Stewart. TE Sadiq is back as well.

JMU's defense has been great... but the competition is just way different. I mentioned how Louisville's defense might be somewhat comparable to Oregon's... the offense is not even close. DT Immanuel Bush is gonna play.