Miami wide receiver CJ Daniels has been here before. A year after leaving Kyle Field in a walking boot as an LSU receiver, the veteran pass catcher now gets a College Football Playoff shot at Texas A&M with Miami and a chance at real redemption.
No. 10 Miami (10-2) travels to No. 7 Texas A&M (11-1) on Dec. 20 in a first-round CFP game at Kyle Field. For Daniels, it is the place where his lone LSU season started to unravel and where his path to Miami really began.
CJ Daniels on IG 👀 pic.twitter.com/ssMsDvuQMe
— CanesMuse (@canes_muse) December 8, 2025
CJ Daniels has unfinished business against Texas A&M
Daniels arrived at LSU in 2024 after a monster run at Liberty. With the Flames, he caught 106 passes for 1,959 yards and 21 touchdowns over four seasons, including 55 receptions for 1,067 yards and 10 scores during a breakout 2023 campaign that earned him second-team All-Conference USA honors. When he hit the transfer portal the first time, LSU won a battle that reportedly also included Miami in the mix, a decision that left Hurricanes fans wondering what might have been.
In Baton Rouge, Daniels became a trusted target. He finished 2024 with 42 catches for 480 yards across 11 games and 10 starts. But the year kept getting interrupted by injuries. He nursed a knee issue early in the season, then in Week 9 at Texas A&M he managed just two catches for 17 yards before exiting with a lower leg injury. He spent the second half on the sideline in a walking boot and was ruled out. LSU went on to lose in a dramatic finish, and Daniels never quite became the red-zone weapon many expected in purple and gold.
After that season he entered the portal again and this time Mario Cristobal finally landed him. Miami announced Daniels as a transfer in December 2024, pitching him as the veteran outside threat a young receiver room needed with Xavier Restrepo and others moving on.
On the field, the sixth-year senior has given Miami exactly what it hoped for. Daniels has 35 catches for 391 yards and seven touchdowns in nine games this season, ranking among the team leaders in receiving scores.
The story has not been perfect, though. A series of "little nicks," as Cristobal put it, sidelined Daniels for three straight games late in the regular season.
That brings us to where we are today. Texas A&M has a disruptive defense that leads the nation in third-down stops and has piled up more than 40 sacks, yet the Aggies have been vulnerable on the back end.
In a game where Miami quarterback Carson Beck needs his weapons to produce, the veteran will be one of the key players to watch.
Daniels knows exactly what Kyle Field feels like. And this time he walks in as Miami's veteran, with a bigger role, a bigger voice in the locker room and a chance to swing a playoff game that sends the winner to the next round with a shot against Ohio State.