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…