CFB Semifinal Thursday 1/8
- Kyle Kirms
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
MIAMI VS OLE MISS - 7:30 PM
These teams got the job done.
So Miami's made it to the semifinal but it certainly hasn't been their offense that's gotten them here.
The good news is... Ole Miss is gonna be the easiest defense they've seen so far. MISS EDGE Kam Franklin listed as questionable in concussion protocol. CB Antonio Kite returned for the Tulane game.
Now the Ole Miss defense has definitely earned our respect. They're playing way better than they were back in September and October.
Now the criticism of that would be the quality of opponent. In the 2nd half of the season, Ole Miss only played 2 offenses ranked in the top 70 of PPA/play. Tulane is 42 and Georgia is 25. Ole Miss did a good job against Georgia's offense... but Georgia's offense had been kind of a mess. That was actually the best offensive game Georgia played in over a month... since the Charlotte game.
And Miami's offense... it hasn't been good in these playoffs games... but Carson Beck has been pretty efficient. It's pretty clear that Cristobal thinks Miami's best path to a Natty is running the ball and playing defense.
And honestly... Carson Beck's playing the best football of his career right now. He had that 2 INT game against SMU.. threw an INT in overtime that cost em the game. Ever since then, he's been great.
And honestly.. I think he'll have run support in this one also. I know the run game hasn't been excellent the last 2 games... but Fletcher wears defenses down.
Remember... stopping the run is the weakness of this Ole Miss defense. Ohio State and Texas A&M have better run defenses than Ole Miss does. I know they've been great against the run down the stretch... but what rushing attacks have they seen?
The question is on the other side of the ball. Can anyone stop Trinidad Chambliss? And can anyway score points on Miami's defense?
DT Ahmad Moten Sr. is questionable. He only played 19 snaps in the Ohio State game. Miami is saying they're "very confident" he plays. CB OJ Frederique is probable. CB Damari Brown has a shot at returning. If he plays, it'll be the first time Miami has their top 3 corners on the field since October.
MISS RB Lacey has been upgraded to probable. (Announced he's returning next year)
These are Ole Miss offensive stats from playoff games.
Chambliss went off last week.
Now the only defense Ole Miss has seen this year that's on Miami's level would be Oklahoma... and the Ole Miss offense didn't look all that great in that game.
Miami's pass rush is a lot better than Georgia's... it might even be better than Oklahoma's. Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor are problems on the edges. Miami leads the country with 46 sacks this year. 12 sacks in the first 2 playoff games.
If you're playing Ole Miss here... you're playing the Chambliss magic... cuz this guy looks unstoppable.
But Miami's defense isn't invincible... we did see Sayin making some throws on em in the 2nd half.
We can't ignore what this unit is doing though. They had Ohio State shutout at halftime. Statistically, this is the best Miami defense we've seen since the 2001 National Championship team.
