8 CFP Teams, 8 Stats You Need to Know, Players to Watch

Eight teams, four games and one trophy.

The College Football Playoff quarterfinals kick off on Wednesday, Dec. 31, as the Miami Hurricanes take on the defending champion, No. 2 Ohio State, in the Cotton Bowl. Then, the three remaining quarterfinal games are set for Thursday, Jan. 1 with Texas Tech-Oregon, Indiana-Alabama and Georgia-Ole Miss.

Each team has showcased elite play all year, dominating competition while also winning marquee matchups. Below, FOX Sports Research has pointed out one stat to know for each team, along with an offensive and defensive player to watch for. Let's take a look:

Stat to know: the Hurricanes recorded seven sacks against Texas A&M, which is the second-most by a team in a CFP game all-time; Miami has 41 sacks on the year which is tied for the fourth-most in FBS, and the most of all remaining CFP teams.

Offensive star: Malachi Toney— leads all FBS freshman in receiving yards (992) and receiving TDs (8), and is one of two players in the country with 8+ receiving TDs, 1+ rushing TDs and 2+ passing TDs (Makai Lemon)

Defensive star: Rueben Bain— according to PFF, he's the only player in FBS to have over 400 pass-rushing snaps with a pass-rush grade over 90; the other five players to exceed 400 pass-rushing snaps didn't break a grade higher than 78.9, and he also has a run defense grade of 86.7. 

Stat to know: holding opponents to 8.2 PPG, on pace to be the second team since 2000 to hold teams to less than 9 PPG; they are the first team in the Division I era (1973) to hold each of their first 13 opponents to 17 points or less.

Offensive star: Jeremiah Smith— is the only player in Ohio State history to record consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons in his freshman and sophomore seasons; has 28