With 41 sacks, Texas A&M shared the regular-season sacks title with Oklahoma.
Yet, the rankings committee placed Mike Elko’s team at No. 7 in the College Football Playoff, specifically citing a rush defense ranked 34th nationally, just below Bill Belichick’s North Carolina, as a key weakness.
Analyst Feels Texas A&M’s Rushing Defense Could Be in Trouble Against Miami’s Running Backs
During a college football playoff segment on ESPN’s sports program First Take, college football analyst Harry Douglas spoke about the Texas A&M-Miami first-round clash on Saturday.
He said that despite having an elite pass rush defense that jointly leads the nation in sacks, Elko’s Aggies have a weakness that Mario Cristobal’s Hurricanes can exploit during the game.
Douglas said that Texas A&M has trouble holding off opponents’ rushing attacks. In the Aggies’ lone setback against the Arch Manning-led Texas, the defensive line allowed 218 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
This is concerning because the Longhorns are ranked 12th in the SEC in rushing, and they exploited this weakness to secure the win.
In a 31-30 win against South Carolina, Texas A&M was outrushed, 121-64, and if not for Marcel Reed’s arm and the Gamecocks’ passing woes, the Aggies would not have recovered from a 30-3 deficit in the second half and snatched the win. Notre Dame and Arkansas rushed for a combined 404 yards, but Texas A&M had enough offense to win those games.
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Douglas noted that Miami’s offense, particularly running back Mark Fletcher Jr., can exploit Texas A&M’s defense. If the Hurricanes’ offense opts to run the ball on third-and-short, Fletcher could have a field day running the football.
“I’m looking at Mark Fletcher. I’m looking at the Miami offense. If you can rush the football effectively and you live on third-and-2-to-5 versus third-and-long so pass rushers can’t get off because they can do a great job in sacking the quarterback, I believe Miami is going to be good,” Douglas said.
.@HDouglas83 believes Texas A&M could be on upset alert against Miami 👀 pic.twitter.com/Tm7zJHwoxN
— First Take (@FirstTake) December 19, 2025
The former Louisville standout also mentioned Miami’s wide receivers, freshman Malachi Toney and transfer CJ Daniels, who can make life miserable on Texas A&M’s safeties and cornerbacks if they are given good looks and well-placed passes.
“Oh I haven’t mentioned Malachi Toney, who is a phenom freshman, CJ Daniels who is a transfer, those two guys together being able to catch the football, run routes, Carson Beck, if he can be on top of his game, I have Miami upsetting Texans A&M,” he noted.
Douglas concluded that everything boils down to Miami’s quarterback, Beck, who has tons of experience to excel in the College Football Playoff. If Beck shows up with his full arsenal, Reed and the Aggies could be in a world of trouble.
Texas A&M and Miami will battle for the right to face No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. Kickoff is set at 12 p.m. ET, with ABC covering the showdown on network television and Fubo will feature the game on live stream.
