No. 10 Miami is traveling to College Station to take on No. 7 Texas A&M in Saturday's first-round of the College Football Playoff. The Hurricanes were a late entrant into the bracket, qualifying for the playoff thanks to an at-large bid in the final rankings of the season.
The Hurricanes will be thrown right into the fire, traveling to a hostile road environment at Kyle Field to take on one of the best teams in the SEC.
Miami has a real shot of going on the road and earning a chance to advance to the Cotton Bowl, but only if they take care of business in four areas.
Let's dive in.
Win the Battle at the Line of Scrimmage
The matchup between Miami and Texas A&M will feature two teams that are fesity in the trenches. You won't find an ACC team better on both sides of the ball on the line of scrimmage than the Hurricanes, and Texas A&M has had their fair share of success on the lines of scrimmage as well this season.
The team that wins the battle up front will gain an early upper hand in this contest. Miami is likely the best (or one of the best) offensive lines that Texas A&M has gone up against all season. But the Hurricanes will have their hands full. The Aggies lead the nation in sacks with 41 on the season defensively.
Meanwhile, A&M's offensive line has allowed just 34 tackles for loss, which is the best in the FBS. But Miami's excellent pass rushers in Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor could certainly have something to say about that.
This game could either be a slugfest or a scoring bonanza. The battle in the trenches will tell the tale either way.
Limit Carson Beck's Turnovers
Miami quarterback Carson Beck has done an excellent job protecting the football this season.
Well, with the exception of two games.
Beck has completed 74.7% of his passes this season for 3,071 yards and 25 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. Six of his 10 interceptions came in Miami's two regular season losses to Louisville (four picks) and SMU (two picks).
Which version of Beck will Miami get on Saturday? If it's the one that showed up 10 times out of 12 this season, the Hurricanes will be in good shape. But if Beck is stricken with the turnover bug like he was in the two losses to the Cardinals and Mustangs, it could be a long day for the offense.
Produce Explosive Plays Offensively
As mentioned above, Texas A&M's pass rush has been excellent all season long, but Miami's best moments have come via explosive plays. Freshman wide receiver Malachi Toney has been a breakout star, hauling in 84 catches for 970 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 11.5 yards per reception. When Beck is looking for a big play in the passing game, Toney is the obvious candidate.
But for all the talk about how good A&M's been up front, they've also given up their fair share of chunk plays in the running game as well. The Aggies have allowed 58 run plays of 10 or more yards this season, which was third-to-last in the SEC.
The Hurricanes will deploy a 1-2 punch in the backfield of Mark Fletcher Jr. and CharMar Brown behind their excellent offensive line, and there could be some opportunities to break the game open on the ground.
Limit Texas A&M's Rushing Output, Especially With QB Marcel Reed
Texas A&M averages 192.7 yards per game on the ground, good for 25th nationally. Miami's rushing defense ranks seventh nationally, allowing just 2.9 yards per rush and 86.8 yards per game.
Something's gotta give here.
The primary concern Miami's defense will have will be accounting for the extra hat in the running game by way of Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed. He does his fair share of damage on designed quarterback runs, but his improvisation when plays break down in the passing game has proven to be incredibly difficult to defend. Reed has carried the ball 89 times for 466 yards and six touchdowns. His rushing output is behind leading rusher Reuben Owens, who has 618 yards on the season.
A&M could also be getting star running back Le'Veon Moss back on Saturday. He's questionable for the game at time of writing, but could suit up and go for the first time since suffering a leg injury in October.
Miami needs to stifle A&M's rushing attack to have any legitimate shot at taking down the Aggies and advancing to the CFP quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Miami Can Beat Texas A&M in First Round of College Football Playoff.