In his preview and prediction for the first-round playoff game in College Station, Joel Klatt circled the quarterback matchup between Miami’s Carson Beck and Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed. That then went on to play out in the game in the Hurricanes’ win over the Aggies.

Klatt reacted to the 10-3 win for No. 10 Miami over No. 7 Texas A&M in the College Football Playoff during his show on Sunday. He, in doing so, discussed the results of that quarterback battle, as he thought Beck, despite having lesser numbers, played the better game than Reed, who had better stats but was much less efficient, on Saturday.

“What I also thought was interesting in this game is that I felt like the better quarterback won the game,” Klatt stated. “And yet, Marcel Reed’s numbers outside of the two interceptions would suggest that he played better than Carson Beck, because Beck’s numbers weren’t great. They really weren’t. And yet, Beck played winning football, and Reed didn’t. And that’s really the bottom line.”

“Which one would just play clean? Not better, but clean and I was very specific with that language. And that’s exactly what happened,” said Klatt. “Now, I picked the wrong team. I thought Beck was going to be the one that made mistakes, on the road against that pass rush, and that never materialized. Beck played really solid and clean, and that’s what his team needed because they were able to win the line of scrimmage. Meanwhile, Marcel Reed did not. So, he made some plays, yes, but three big turnovers – the fumble in what you could argue was close to field-goal range, he throws an interception, and then he throws a second interception late when they have a chance to tie the game or win with a two-point conversion.”

Beck, statistically, produced one of his worst games of the season, being 14-20 (70%) for only 104 yards and the lone touchdown of the afternoon that was more of handoff than throw anyway. Yet, staying within his role in the offense, the Hurricanes did enough around him, with the run game, offensive line, and on defense, to get the win at Kyle Field. Meanwhile, on the other side, Reed was 25-39 (64.1%) for 237 yards, while rushing for 27 more. However, he himself turned the ball over three times at the position – with a fumble in the first quarter, an interception in the third quarter, and a game-sealing interception being within five yards of the end zone with less than thirty seconds left – with each one hurting even more considering it was a one-score loss for the Aggies.

As Klatt put it, Beck “protect(ed) the football and play(ed) clean, because he played within the details of the offense” in victory. Reed then, in defeat, did not, with “a lack of detail” and as he “just didn’t execute”.

“I see a rash, unfortunately, of really poorly-coached quarterbacks in college football. It’s just the truth. And now, you see that come to fruition when you get matchup games, and you see evenly-matched teams, and one guy plays clean and one guy doesn’t? And you’re like, oh, that’s just detail,” said Klatt. “Detail is coaching, because, as a coach, you’re watching film, and what you see on that film, you’re either coaching or allowing. Take that for what you want.”

Miami did a lot of things right to get the road win in the playoff over Texas A&M. The quarterback spot, regardless of how the box scored may read to an extent, was one of those aspects, as it’s part of what has now sent Miami to the Cotton Bowl in advancing in the CFP.

“Beck played better than Reed, and now Miami moves forward,” said Klatt.