The dominant Miami offensive line was a major reason that the Hurricanes advanced to the College Football Championship Game. Miami dominated Southeastern Conference teams Texas A&M and Mississippi and Ohio State of the Big 10 on the line of scrimmage during their CFP run.
David Hale of ESPN posted to X on Tuesday statistics that illustrated the dominance Miami had on the OL throughout the 2025 season. Per Hale, on non-blitz dropbacks, Miami allowed pressure 16.6 percent of the time, the best rate among power four programs.
Notre Dame was the only Power Four team that had a non-blitz pressure dropbacks rate of less than 20.0 percent. Hale also noted that the average in the Atlantic Coast Conference was 37 percent. Hale closed his post to X by stating it was "Just an insanely good year for the Canes up front. Gonna be hard to replace."
Per Pro Football Focus, Miami kept quarterback Carson Beck clean on 85 percent of his dropbacks. That was the highest rate for a Power Four QB in over 10 years. Miami was third nationally among Power Four programs in 2025, allowing 3.63 tackles for loss and 10th, permitting 1.25 sacks per game.
On non-blitz drobacks, Miami allowed pressure 16.6% of the time -- best rate among P4s. ND was only other P4 < 20%. The next best in the ACC was SMU at 25.2%. The ACC average was 37%. Just an insanely good year for the Canes up front. Gonna be hard to replace.
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) March 31, 2026
Pass protection improved during CFP run
Per PFF, Miami was first nationally in 2025 with an 87.4 pass blocking grade. On over 2,000 pass blocking snaps, the top six OL for Miami allowed only three sacks. The other sacks were attributed to the OL beyond the top six, skill position players blocking, or on Beck himself holding the ball too long.
Right tackle Francis Mauigoa, who will be an NFL first-round pick later this month, anchored the Miami OL with an 88.8 pass blocking grade, allowed only two sacks in 2025 and did not allow any sacks over the last seven games of the season. Left tackle Markel Bell was graded the fourth-best OL in the ACC by PFF.
After leaning on the running game in a first-round CFP win at Texas A&M and quarterfinal win over Ohio State in the quarterfinal at Cotton Bowl, Miami passed more often in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal victory over Mississippi and the loss to Indiana in the National Championship Game.
Mississippi had three sacks with Beck having 37 pass attempts in the Fiesta Bowl. Indiana had only one sack as Beck had 32 pass attempts in the National Championship Game. Mauinoa, Bell and guard Anez Cooper are all projected to be selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, illustrating the talent and production the 2025 Miami OL had.