Sure, The U is back, but that nebulous distinction hardly takes the sting out of Miami’s 27-21 National Championship Game loss to Indiana at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night.
In nearly every aspect, Mario Cristobal’s team played well enough to win, but special teams gaffes cost the Hurricanes 10 points in a six-point loss, and Carson Beck’s late-game interception felt all too predictable for the fifth-year senior. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but these four Canes played about as well as they could, and certainly deserved better than a gut-wrenching loss on their home field in what, for at least two of them, is their last time suiting up for The U.
Mark Fletcher Jr. was about as dominant as a running back could possibly be, with just 17 carries. And the fact that he only carried the ball 17 times is certainly worthy of the criticism that Shannon Dawson will undoubtedly draw in the wake of Miami’s loss.
Still, when Fletcher did get the ball, Miami exerted its physical advantage along the line of scrimmage. The offensive line got movement, especially running to the edges and the 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior running back ran over, through, and passed Indiana defenders all night.
Fletcher finished with 17 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns, but even that statline doesn’t tell the full story. He also generated 0.51 EPA/carry with a 59 percent success rate. That’s absurd efficiency. You can easily make a case that Fletcher was the best player on the field on Monday night, and with the way he ran the ball all postseason, he certainly deserved better than a gut-wrenching loss.
If Miami was going to be competitive against Indiana, it was going to need its stars to show up, and Rueben Bain Jr. did not disappoint. He and Akheem Mesidor took turns victimizing Indiana’s right tackles, first Kahlil Benson, then Adedamola Ajani, after Benson was benched at halftime. And when they ended up on the other side, matched up with Carter Smith, one of the best left tackles in the country hardly offered a whiff of resistance.
Bain finished with just a 6.5 percent pass rush win rate (PFF), but has three QB pressures, a sack, and 2.5 tackles for loss. He was a dominant run defender and impossible to keep out of the backfield. He had a game-wrecking performance. Unfortunately for Indiana, it came against the game’s best quarterback, who continued to find answers.
For as good as Bain was, cementing his place at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft, Mesidor, a fringe first-rounder, was not to be outdone. Mesidor added two sacks and 2 tackles for loss of his own with an 11.5 percent win-rate and four pressures.
For a defense built around dominant edge rushers to play to its ceiling, those players have to take over games. Indiana couldn’t block Bain and Mesidor. It forced them into the run game and to live with RPOs all night. It led to Mendoza’s worst performance of the CFP, but he still managed to have his greatest moment on the game-winning touchdown run.
Indiana did an exceptional job of tackling Miami’s receivers in space, which is no easy task, especially for a defense that plays with three linebackers as often as the Hoosiers do. They limited CJ Daniels, Keelon Marion, and the rest of Miami’s receiving corps to 39 yards after the catch. Malachi Toney had 103 and averaged over 10 yards after the catch per reception.
Toney caught 10 of Carson Beck’s 19 completions for 122 yards and a touchdown with a long of 41. He was as dynamic as ever, a true field-tilting force with the ball in his hands, and his late score gave Miami life after Mendoza’s fourth-quarter heroics. But, he wasn’t targeted at all downfield, finishing with a 2.2 average depth of target. When the game was on the line, he probably should have been.