The McShay Show - CFP Semifinal Reactions: Beck Delivers in Miami's Dramatic Win over Ole Miss

Episode Date: January 9, 2026

Join Todd and Muench as they react to the semifinal matchup of Ole Miss vs. Miami in the College Football Playoff. 0:00 Welcome to The McShay Show! 0:35 (10) Miami defeats (6) Ole Miss: 31-27 6:30 Trinidad Chambliss' performance 9:50 Carson Beck delivers and his draft stock is rising 15:54 CFP semifinal preview: (5) Oregon vs. (1) Indiana [-3.5] 17:05 Takeaways from Miami's CFP semifinal win 25:30 Join us tomorrow night! The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Todd McShay Guest: Steve Muench Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, Daniel Comer Social: Alysha Tsuji Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's no time for the weary. We got 105 days until the NFL draft. Let's get that face up. Let's go. How you doing, buddy? Mets you good. I'm great, man. All right.

The thing, would you talk? Welcome back in. Here we go. We had to reset it. Give me your thoughts. I've talked too much. I feel like we've talked about it a lot already. I feel like it's cool the way that it played out.

But Miami scared me a little bit tonight because they all, this whole run, I was like, are they going to forget who they are? The McShea show is presented by Fanduel. FanDuel's got it all. Same game parlays, quick bets for jumping in live, and your way so you can build the bet that fits your play. Plus, don't miss out on all the action during the rest of the college football playoffs. Download the Fandul app or head to fandul.com slash McShay to get started.

Must be 21 and older in President Select States, or 18 and older in President, D.C., Kentucky. or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Help-Help.com. Call 1-88-78-9-777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Getting to where they've gotten right now, they've remembered what their identity is. Run the Rock, play great defense. Run the Rock, play great defense, get solid play from your quarterback, get Malachi Tony the ball in space and this is the recipe for you to get to the championship. And then all of a sudden I felt

like they were getting cute with some of the passes and all of that when all they had to do was run the ball. And then the pre-snap penalties, the late hits, the drop passes on offense, the dropped I&Ts. This game, a ton of credit to Ole Miss

and that defense especially for being just a gutsy performance considering how long they were on the field. But Miami was, they were the toughest opponent what they had tonight was themselves. And they better clean it up. And if they do, they've got a shot, but they better clean it up

and they better remember who they are. Because if they do that, they're a competitive team. They could win this whole thing. But there was a stretch in this game where I thought to myself, you have allowed this, you've allowed Ole Miss to hang around

and now you're in trouble because Trinidad Jamblis doesn't care. He doesn't have a pulse and he will keep coming at you. And to the very last nap he did tonight. I mean, hats off to that kid too, to the very last nap he played. played his ass off and it almost caught up to Miami.

Just looking at Fandau real quick. Oh, they just took it down for a second. It was interesting. Indiana to beat Miami is the closest odds is the, is like almost one to one. I don't have the numbers went jumping up. Indiana beat Miami is plus 120. Oregon to beat Miami is plus 270.

Miami to beat Indiana is plus 400. Miami to beat Oregon is plus 500. Do with that as you will. I just wanted to see if they had any odds early on for what the matchup would be. This was a wild game, man. This was a fun game. It was awesome.

It was sloppy at times. It felt stunted at times, right? It felt like it just couldn't. Like, it was kind of mirrored. Like the first half kind of mirrored. Like the first half kind of mirrored the second half. I'll look it up right now. But I think it was three points.

It was three nothing Miami after the first quarter, right? And then 27 points were scored in the second in the second quarter. Then three points for Ole Miss in the third quarter. And then 25 points were scored by Miami. Yep. It was the second and the fourth quarter with all the fireworks. It wound up being 58 points in this game. old miss scored 27 points and had the football for 18 minutes they had the one key one lacy run in the

first half and besides that they didn't do much at all they had three different three field goals and then the second half Miami continued to possess the ball in the third quarter but they couldn't finish a drive they had a couple bad pass interference calls they had a a late hit. On Chambliss, they had offensive penalties at horrible times. Mm-hmm. And it wasn't like one after another. It was like right when you thought Miami was about to kind of pull away,

there was something that happened, a penalty, a mistake, a drop, a drop interception. You know, like this game was Miami Beatle miss by 14 or 17 points tonight. Except they felt like it. Except they didn't, right? Yeah. And so, yeah, part of it is Miami, you take the blame. They played sloppy in a lot of ways. Part of it is this old miss team is as much about resiliency as it is Lane Kiffin and the offense.

Remember how bad this defense was for half the year? They didn't have to score 40 and still like feel like it was a close game. their run defense. We talked about halfway through the year. We did a tape truth on them. Where it was, you know, they can get better, but here's what they got to do. And they kind of hit on it tonight.

They move around so much. They get caught out of gaps. And it was happening in the first half. And they kind of cleaned it up in the second half. They were much better. But, I mean, they were, that defense was atrocious at times this year. And then for this playoff run,

much better. I want to give a couple nods, okay? First of all, I want to give. I want to give a sincere nod to Trinidad Chambliss. Like, my hats are off to you, young man. I don't know that there's a better story in all of college football to be brought in as the 200 plus, 230th, 250th ranked transfer portal quarterback

to come into the SEC and to show the onions that you did throughout the entire season. To absolutely have that meltdown in front of the nation's eyes and you can see it in your eyes in the fourth quarter of Georgia and to have it inside of you because of everything you've gone through and the faith you have and the hard work and everything you have inside of you and to bounce back from that

and to become the guy that everyone looks to and says, oh, he's going to deliver in the fourth quarter and to do it over and over and over again when your program needed you the most. And for your head coach to leave in the manner in which he did, the guy who brought you in and believed in you and you don't bat an eye. Yeah, Ole Miss, I'm coming back.

Help me get that transfer portal. Send out 90 plus pages of medical documents because I want to be back here. Because I love it here. This is my new home. You guys have embraced me and I'm going to give you everything I got. And to go out tonight with no Kiwan Lacey

for the vast majority of this game outside that 72-yard touchdown run because of the hamstring injury, he's suffered on that play. And to have to carry this, team when not a whole lot was working and to have your to put your team up by driving them down at the end of the game and even to have that shot inside the 40 yard line to take and throw a hail Mary because of a couple great throws you made yeah he threw two darts at the end he threw

two darts to get him down there there isn't a better story in college football in 2025 so while this is like going to be impossible to overcome in the next I don't know how many hours and how many days. I hope people will understand what he, what he did, who he is, and how badly the, I think the NCAA will miss the mark if they don't give this young man an opportunity who missed time because I believe there's a lung or some sort of condition or issue that health-wise back in 2022. Just a wild, wild west of people doing horrible things behind the scenes all over the place.

This guy's what's good in college football. He wants to come back. let's bring him back okay agree all right so that's that and and and pete golding like my goodness man we're all in love with you now man i i can remember sending meetings with them and i told you like scruffy just kind of a mess been in the film room like a sailor on like the sailor's mouth times four be like he this guy may never be a head coach he may not be the next like saving tree guy, but man, I love sitting in his meetings and I learned stuff from him. To see him now doing this and leading young men the way he is is really cool too.

Let's bring it back to Miami though, because this is the story. And this is a coach in Cristobal who's been deservedly maligned for poor clock management and not handling situations well late in games. And more so or just as much so, latent seasons his teams collapsing. And his team started to collapse late in the season, and they found it inside with the help of Carson Beck and the leadership of Bain and Messador and all those guys in Keante Scott.

And with this freshman Energizer Bunny that just won't quit, Malachi Tony. This is an awesome fun team to watch. And we documented earlier on the show everything that Carson Beck has been through and got here and you can love them, you can hate him. I've seen him grow and mature, right? And the thing I want to say about Carson Beck is he finishes the night, 23 of 37 for 268 with two touchdowns, one interception, which was not on him. It was just batted in the end. The thing I want to say about Carson Beck, my problem with him, and we joke about the Lamborghinis and the Cabiners and the Twins and the social media and all that stuff, we do.

No, listen, but this time I'm serious. Carson Beck is big, tall, strong-armed, can make all the NFL throws, and on paper, you say, yeah, I like him. It's always been about trust with Carson Beck, right? Do you trust him? Right. Do you trust him in key situations?

Do you trust him to protect the football? Do you trust him if a receiver does something wrong or a coach does something wrong in the post-game interview? He's not going to say something. Do you trust that he's going to work like he's supposed to work? that he's going to have his teammates back and they're going to have his back, do you trust him?

And without trust like a relationship in life, at quarterback, you got nothing. I'm starting to trust Carson Beckmore. And I told you it was fewer than 300 passing yards and two games combined in the college football play after the first two rounds. But I'm watching him pull the ball back instead of throwing him into harm's way.

I'm watching him make good decisions because he understands the game situation, his defense is playing well. He's got a back who's absolutely possessed. and Mark Fletcher, Jr. Today, my job is to not screw it up. Let those guys win. Make a throw here or there for the last two outings.

Tonight, Fletcher was awesome. Another game. His number, 22 carries 133. And I looked it up coming in. Fletcher had three games all year. And I know I'm bouncing around here, but stay with me. Fletcher had three games all year with over in 10, that he hit 90 yards rushing or more. Three in 10 that he played, two that he missed because of injury.

In the college football playoff, all three games he's gone 90 or above. In the first two games, it was 36 carries for 262 yards. And so you add these 22 carries, you got 58 carries in three games, man. For it, I'll do the quick math, 370, no, 3905 yards. Just shy 400 yards and three games. That should be their identity. That's when they're at their best. But let me just finish on Beck and you carry it where you want.

As an NFL evaluator, I'm seeing the guy, now he's kind of, he's running around and doing some more things. It looks a little bit more mobile. He looks like he's playing more free. I'm trusting him more. He's still got the arm. The deep ball stuff is not where it needs to be right now. But I'm not talking about first round. But I'm talking about on day two in a class that has Mendoza, Dante Moore,

Ty Simpson, and then what? Garrett Nussmeyer. I think he's telling himself in the mix in that top five. I'm not saying he wasn't already. But like for me, I, I'm coming along and I've been very, very resistant on Carson Beck. I think you're right. I think that he's climbing right now.

And it'll be interesting to see what the performance in the championship game does for him. But I think you're right about that. You know, the other thing that I'll say, are you, are you, are you done with back there? I'm done. I don't have to say another word tonight and I'm good. We talked a lot at the end of the game anyways, but like Messador and Bain, kind of quiet tonight, right? kind of game planned. I think Indiana and, you know,

Oregon will look at that and say, try and take away some things from that. I expect them to have bigger performances, but if you're looking at another draft angle for this, we're going to get Dante Moore versus Fernando Mendoza in this semifinal. And then one of those quarterbacks is going to have to go up against this Miami defense. I mean, there's storylines everywhere.

I don't know the nature of that injury. That's true. That's true. They were quiet. I thought Ole Miss had a great game plan for them. But I doubt that they're going to be quiet for two games in a row. They're just too good. Yeah.

And it's hard. We're going to watch the tape, right? And we'll be back on Monday. We're back tomorrow night, by the way, everyone. And I'm not going to waste a lot of time promoting or anything like that. We've had a wild week and it's been awesome. The Ty Simpson thing was unexpected. And we came and broke it in.

And a lot of people were watching that. And we appreciate all your support. We had the mock dress. after early in the week. That's best show we've done all year and since last year's draft. And now we've got tonight and we've got tomorrow night. We're breaking in similar situation. If you're here tonight, you better be back.

Tell a friend. Pass the word along. Tomorrow night's going to be more exciting. And I don't know how you beat this. But to be able to watch the top two quarterbacks with these stakes on the line, it's like the senior bowl on heroin. I don't, not promoting. I'm just saying.

I don't know what's wilder. That take or me saying they should let them score. One of us, those are the worstakes we had all year. It's a rarity outside of like an all-star. You get to see this, right? And in this kind of moment, right before the draft, with one of the two players still up in the air, reportedly, Pete Thamble's still saying, like,

there's people in the building who still think Dante Moore could, whatever, I'm just saying. But yes, we said, I mean, it's kind of been like this elimination thing where they knocked out Ty Simpson and now you get more versus Mendoza. And now Beck is like, hey, hey, remember me? Come, hey, come down to my place. Come beat me in my place. You know, that's going to be cool. Steroids is better.

Yes, I get it, lead better. But I just don't like to be. And male Kamele Kuiper's always there to the two bad takes, Todd. drugs are bad. I know, I know, I know. I was just joking. I was just joking. But you get my point.

McShay after dark, by the way. I don't know if you've seen this before. When we start, like, when the wheels are coming off for both of us, they start saying McShay after dark. I love it. Yeah, that's, I mean, that's what. So Keel and Marion, I just want to give you this on him. What a night. Atlanta, Georgia kid, six foot,

195. Like you said, a veteran been grinding. it out. Seven for 114 in a touchdown tonight. I'm here to tell you, 36, 33, 13, 79, 96. He had 116 against that atrocious Syracuse defense, 77, 18, 330, 8, 81, 729. Those are his receiving totals before the semifinals in the college football playoff. That's pretty awesome to wait your turn step up when cj daniels goes down but like now daniels's back and to still be the guy in the biggest moment is really cool and good for miami for recognizing a guy that caught 24 passes at b yu last year 44 passes over the last two years is a guy that could come in and help

yeah you know good point good for them for seeing that and i bet that you know you play at b yu you better block and the way those receivers were blocking tonight. I mean, there's just, you know, there's all these like little storylines involved there. Massive moment for Cristobal. For what he's been building. Massive. By the way,

at any point, let me ask you this. Ray Lewis. By the way, the edge looked good. I think the edge could still go out and play, man. He looks, he's, he's always been the coolest dude ever. And he looked great tonight. You got the edge. You got, you got, you got Ray

Lewis, you got Michael Irvin running around. They're talking to players on the sideline. Michael Irvin's going up to Malachi, Tony, during the game. And at what point, it reminded me of Pete Carroll. Michael Irvin is the only person involved that doesn't know that he's not really on the staff. And good luck telling him. Right.

But it reminds me a little bit of those Pete Carroll Trojan themes with all of those, but they embraced it. And it's a tough thing, man. Yeah, exactly. Those Pete Carroll teams, they embraced it. So are the, is this, it seems like this might. team's embracing it. There was, I do at moments wonder, like, is this maybe not the best thing? But they seem to be doing the same thing. They seem to be embracing it. They seem to be leaning into,

yeah, we are that. We are back. We're okay with that. We're not going to run away from that. We're not going to be scared of that. We're going to embrace the history here in what we could be. It's kind of interesting. I mean, there was, I mean, both silence. I mean, Cam Ward was out there, too. I mean, they had tons of guys of Bulls Islands. I think Patrick Willis could still play too. The line pregame from from Ray Lewis.

And by the way, if you want to see how horrible people are and just in general and how little fun people have in life and people just don't get it, go check out the comments. I just don't like, 804,000 impressions on this tweet.

Like just a funny thing pre-git. game I noticed. They had the mic in the camera right on him. And I was because it was interesting because you get Ray Lewis sitting right there, right? And the coin flip goes up and Ole Miss, we want the ball. And immediately,

I'm like, what's Ray got to say about this, right? And he looks over to the defensive captain who is there. And someone said, he said, bet, I heard him say, they want that. They want that? Okay, they want that. You know? Yeah. Kind of like, okay.

you good with the fact that they want they want the ball and i just thought it was an awesome moment 8004 000 impressions normally don't get that much unless it's like a major thing uh i mean you would have thought i committed murder it's because you know ray lewis this killer the bu bupah bupah i'm horrible the jets take the other day i ruined kids lives I'm like, can we just have some fun, please? Yeah. Can we just have some fun? Yeah.

Can this team win it? Yes. 100% they can. Tell me, I get eight minutes to get off of this show, and we're not everyone who's on our chat, I love you dearly. We're not going to midnight tonight, and I know you guys like to get to 1 a.m. on Saturday nights.

We're not getting to midnight tonight, Cinderella loses the slipper, and I'm Cinderella, all right? But I just want you to tell me how they could beat Indiana if Indiana wins. What is it about this team, Miami, UC, that they can beat Indiana? Well, first of all, that's going to be a tough game. I want to be clear about this. If I had to say who I would like in that game, I would take Indiana. But the question is, can Miami win this?

And here's the formula for that. It's that, first of all, Miami has a championship defense, even if they don't. won the championship. To me, that's a championship defense. Most personnel scheme-wise, it's just a championship defense. They can throw a lot at Mendoza. So we'll just start there. Then we'll go to the offensive side of the ball. I think the key will be how well do you run against that outstanding Indiana run defense?

And I would say that Miami actually kind of matches up well there, in my opinion, and that they have the big boys up front to just not mess around and just get downhill on them. Yeah. I mean, Indiana's, those guys are quick and they get into gaps. and it's difficult for you in terms of identifying assignments, but you simplify things and you get a hat on a hat. And I think Miami, I'm not saying Miami will run the ball super well, but they could run the ball well enough.

And then you get Carson Beck to just be the, you know, be the guy he needs to be, which is make sound decisions, distribute the ball, don't try to do too much, make a couple key plays, maybe run for a first down or two like you did tonight. You know, all of that comes to play. And then the other thing I will say, Malachi Tony in the return game, keep an eye out.

Just if can he make, can Malachi Tony find a way to get his fingerprints on that game? Like he's done so many times this year. And it could come in the form of the return game. Again, I like Indiana in that game. What do you think this red would be? It literally just came out this second. And I don't have one for,

it's a hypothetical on Fandul. Fandul is the best man. How great. Indiana by four. Oh, by the way, hey, shake my hand. Congratulations. I just noticed this. When I went in, I saw the bet slip and we apparently won some money tonight.

Oh, nice. I wasn't even, I forgot we even, our picks for Fanduel this week. By the way, you're following me on Fandual, seven and one now. Don't make all the jokes you want about why doesn't McShay just mention Aaron Hernandez before he signs off tonight. The role he's on and the Ray Lewis stuff and the jet stuff and all of that. Have fun. If you're seven and one and Munch is on a little run too right now.

But congratulations. Indiana by four and a half. Indiana by five and a half. But you're really close because, yeah, because it's negative minus 101. So it's trending towards four and a half. Early money is on Miami. Yeah, I think Miami's very early.

And it's just a hypothetical, obviously, because Oregon, oh, here we go, Oregon. What would it be? It literally just popped up. This is awesome. Oregon, Miami. What's the spread? Oregon three and a half.

Dan Comer, our trusted and wonderful editor, basically runs our show. He just popped in the chat with my Aaron Hernandez prop bet just hit. What did you guess? Three and a half Oregon. Two and a half. Okay. Remind people who you like tomorrow.

Who's your fan duke? Tomorrow night. I got Oregon tomorrow. I think it's really tough to beat the same team twice. I think that Oregon will make some adjustments. I have a ton of faith in that Oregon defense. Again, Indiana is outstanding. When I say this, it takes nothing away from Indiana.

I've just been on Oregon all year. I love Dante Moore. I think they're healthier than, well, you know, I just like Oregon. I think defensively people are maybe sleeping on that defense, and I think the corners have gotten a little bit better than they were in the first game. I don't know. I just like Indiana. I mean, I just like Oregon.

I picked Oregon, but I feel like I'm talking myself into it. I know. I feel like I'm talking as we get closer, I'm starting to get a little more nervous. I think even the ones who have been believers as you and I have been for a long, long time now,

I still think we might be underestimating that this team is just awesome. It's a freight train. I fully understand that. I just think Oregon's really good too. Like, I just, I don't know. It's going to be interesting.

I'll be absolutely stunned if we break in tomorrow night and it's a too, I don't want to say two score. If it's out of hand either way, I'll be blown away. Like I can't envision Oregon running away from Indiana. I just don't think that that can't happen. I could see Indiana.

Yeah. But I think tomorrow night when we break in with five, seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, we're going to have another situation like this, back and forth. And honest to goodness, like what would be better? The top two quarterbacks in the NFL draft getting ready to come out going head head to head down marching down the field back like we

just saw chamblis back chamber you know like more mendoza more mendoza you know yeah oh this has been a fun ride love everyone in that chat even the ones who are horrible to me um yeah they the chat's gotten a little got a little tougher on us but that's good but they're like my best they're like my best friends in the world and my family they will get they will get on us and they will bust but if anyone else from the outside comes in like they will have our they're allowed to nobody else is and i appreciate that about them i'd like to surround myself with people just like that um all right it's 1157 i've so tempted to ask you something else it seems like yeah you going ask me go ahead no i don't i actually don't have anything

i mean who's the MVP tomorrow night dante more and it just shakes everything up i got to i i like Like Oregon, here's the one I got for you. Roman Hemby, Indiana. Okay, nice try. Join us tomorrow night. Five minutes remaining in the game. I tried, Marissa. I know.

I know. I know. And Dan and Tucker were wishing that you did it. 1157, just about 1158. Appreciate everyone being here. Love you guys. See you tomorrow night. Bye.

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