Miami's 70-point beatdown of Florida A&M serves as indictment against FCS buy games

In college football's player compensation era, high-level Power Four and FCS programs are barely playing the same sport. So what's the point of playing against each other? Sep 11, 2026 at 9:43 am ET • 5 min read No. 7 Miami set a new ACC record by piling up 856 total yards in its 77-7 win over Florida A&M on Thursday night, even after the teams agreed to shorten the fourth quarter to 10 minutes. It was just one of several records established as part of a non-competitive Power Four vs. FCS game that served little purpose aside from padding Miami's stats and Florida A&M's wallet.The Rattlers earned a $720,000 check, per the Tallahassee Democrat, for taking a historic beating after getting just three full days of rest following a Sunday loss to South Carolina State. Florida A&M lost several key players to injury in the South Carolina State game, including its top quarterback and starting center.Those absences and the quick turnaround made Florida A&M particularly ill-equipped to compete with a Miami team that closed as a 59.5-point favorite. The Hurricanes had no trouble covering that spread while tying a school-record for points and setting a new school record for first downs with 42. Florida A&M finished with just four first downs, marking the first time in the modern era an FBS team has finished with a first down advantage of 40-5 or better, according to Sports Reference data. The Rattlers' only touchdown came on a 72-yard fumble return for a touchdown with 6:40 remaining just as Miami was driving to potentially take an 80-plus-point lead. Miami's offense faced just three third downs the entire game. Awkward endingEven after agreeing to the shortened fourth quarter, Miami did not relent. After getting the football back near midfield with a 77-7 lead and less than a minute remaining, the Hurricanes didn't take a knee.Instead, third-string quarterback Dereon Coleman handed the ball to reserve back Jack Whitehouse on consecutive plays, gaining another 26 yards for Miami and shattering the previous ACC record for total yards of 845, which was set by Louisville in 2016.First-year Florida A&M coach Quinn Gray called a timeout after Whitehouse ran out of bounds with 14 seconds left in apparent frustration over the 'Canes unwillingness to simply let the carnage end. Miami still refused to take a knee after the timeout as Whitehouse ran for another 10 yards. Then came what appeared to be a terse postgame exchange between Gray and Miami coach Mario Cristobal. It was an awkward ending to a glorified scrimmage for the Hurricanes before they open ACC play at Wake Forest next Friday. What Miami gains from FCS gamesCristobal explained afterward what apparent value Miami gets from the program's annual tradition of paying non-competitive FCS programs huge sums of money to travel in for a beatdown."We had an opportunity to play a lot of guys to see how they fit in and what their roles can be moving forward," Cristobal said. "Nowadays in college football, that's invaluable. You have to play guys and you really can't look at the clock and the scoreboard. You just have to continue developing your roster, which I think we attempted to do that tonight." Miami's starters were mostly done at or before halftime as the 'Canes went into the break with a 49-0 edge. By game's end, three quarterbacks had attempted at least six passes, six different running backs had carried the football and 16 Hurricanes had caught passes. Defensively, 26 Miami players recorded some sort of statistical contribution, and even more played. "You would love to have another quarter of football and not even worry about the scoreboard," Cristobal said. "I adamantly support playing players deep into games that have to be developed. Those guys that played tonight, they work just as hard as everybody else. Those guys are itching for time."Except for the COVID-impacted 2020 season, the Hurricanes have played an FCS opponent every year since 2007. They are not unique on that front. Buy games are common practice throughout the sport, and they provide a vital source of revenue for the FCS opponents. But are they really a good value proposition for schools like Miami? The case against FCS buy gamesIn college football's player-compensation era, where everything is about maximizing revenue to pay for talent, the case against FCS buy games has never been stronger. For starters, paying the FCS team is costly. In addition to the $720,000 Miami paid Florida A&M, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that the 'Canes forked over another $40,000 for the Florida A&M band to make the trip By playing FCS opponents, schools water down their season-ticket packages and league TV inventory, which are vital sources of revenue. Buy games are also a blight on strength of schedule. A Miami team that slipped into the College Football Playoff by the narrowest of margins last season with two losses should tread carefully when it comes to that issue.Playing a weak ACC schedule, Miami's margin for error is slim. A No. 7 date with No. 3 Notre Dame on Nov. 7 is Miami's only scheduled game against a currently ranked team. With a loss against the Fighting Irish and one slip-up somewhere else, Miami will likely find itself on the wrong side of the CFP cut line (unless it wins the ACC title game). Without a win over the Fighting Irish or an automatic bid, what merits would a potential two-loss Miami team have to stand on? Why not bolster your strength of schedule by removing the FCS opponent to schedule a game against another Power Four foe? Or, at the very least, a decent Group of Six team.It would help if the CFP was more transparent about how its "record strength" metric works and the extent to which it's factored into the selection process. When it was announced last year, it was suggested that record strength would give less credit for wins over bad teams and more credit for wins over good teams.If that's truly the case, playing FCS opponents should be even less appealing than ever for ACC and Big 12 teams with legitimate playoff aspirations. If they want to hold a candle to the schedule strength credentials the Big Ten and SEC enjoy, then ACC and Big 12 teams need to cut out the FCS fluff and play respectable nonconference opponents. But here we are with Miami playing Florida A&M a week after BYU and Texas Tech opened against FCS opponents and a day before Louisville hosts Villanova.Cristobal and other coaches like getting their reserves reps in meaningless games? OK, cool. In a sport itching for new revenue-creation opportunities, why not make those preseason games? Pay the regional FCS opponent to come in and break up the monotony of preseason practice. Sell tickets and put the stream behind a paywall on the athletics website. Coahes are too paranoid about revealing schematic secrets to do it.But everything else is changing in college sports, and these nonsensical matchups between elite programs and FCS teams need to be part of the status quo that gets upended.