There were many critical plays in the CFP Championship Game that proved to be the difference between Miami winning its sixth national championship and Indiana finishing 16-0. When Dylan Joyce had his punt blocked and the Hoosiers recovered it for a touchdown, that was definitely a critical that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.
The special teams unit shouldered the blame for the loss because of the blocked punt and an earlier missed field goal. But football is a game of inches and, as the videotape showed, Miami was mere inches away from a major special teams play that would've resulted in a Hurricanes touchdown.
While recording @BearBetsPod today our Miami expert @chrisfallica mentioned he believed the punt Toney fielded near the 5 yard line was a trick play that never materialized. Bear is correct. Look at this thing. Miami would have scored if the punt wasn’t so good. pic.twitter.com/N7yup1pcdr
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) January 20, 2026
The Hurricanes were *this* close to a special teams TD
The play came at 6:34 of the third quarter with Indiana leading 10-7 and punting from their 41. Malachi Toney is deep, but the Hurricanes receiver lined up on the right outside is the key. When the punt is made, he peels off of his blocking assignment, staying to the outside numbers, clearly setting up a backwards pass play. Had Toney had the appropriate time to execute on his end, he would've had an open receiver on the other side of the field with nothing but 95 yards of green grass in front of him.
So what happened?
Well, the punt was perfect. It was just high enough for the coverage to get downfield in time, it was deep (55 yards) and it was in a tight corner, forcing Toney to field it at the 4-yard line without the proper time to execute the play. Without the help of that all-22 video, it just looks like Toney made a bad mistake — and, with hindsight being 20-20, he probably should've let the ball bounce and hoped it went in the end zone for a touchdown. But there was a reason for what seemed like a bad play and Toney simply wanted to execute it, which is why he fielded the ball.
Had Miami been able to pull off that play, it's would have been a touchdown and a 14-10 lead. Instead the Hurricanes went three-and-out and got the punt blocked, which Indiana recovered for a touchdown and took a 17-7 lead. The blocked punt was not only one of the most important plays of the game, but it was a true 14-point swing.