Only 30 seconds were remaining on the clock, and the Miami Hurricanes just had to take a knee and run the clock down against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. But Miami head coach Mario Cristobal probably did not receive the memo and chose to go for the jugular.
The Hurricanes engaged the snap and handed running back Don Chaney the ball, who was close to gaining 100 yards for the first time in his college football career. But tragedy struck as Chaney fumbled the ball when Georgia swarmed him from every direction. Now the onus was on the visiting team to go ahead and grab an unlikely win.
To the delight of the Yellow Jacket supporters, they did just that. Quarterback Haynes King threw a 44-yard pass to receiver Christian Leary under double coverage. But he outpaced both Hurricanes players to score the game-winning touchdown. Miami’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end with a 23-20 scoreline.
Just before the Chaney fumble, the commentators could be heard saying, “Why didn’t Mario Cristobal choose to kneel?” Social media is asking the same question. They argue Cristobal’s time management cost the Hurricanes the game.
Most of them took to X (formerly Twitter) to vent their frustration, mostly directed at Cristobal. Few even accused that the veteran head coach’s ego got the better of him.
A few people have told me not giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch in Super Bowl XLIX is worse than what Mario Cristobal just did, and I need to say for the record that y’all are out of your gourds. You’re completely insane
Seattle still needed to make a play to win. Miami HAD WON!
— David Helman (@davidhelman_) October 8, 2023I don’t care that he’s down. Yes me. I’m saying I do not care the refs blew the call. I expect them to suck. What I don’t expect is Mario Cristobal who is making millions of dollars to know less about football than a 3 year old. PATHETIC. FIRE HIM TONIGHT. https://t.co/N8ppFJ8zZ4
— Peter Panagos (@PeteTheGreek13) October 8, 2023The Miami Hurricanes and Mario Cristobal are the biggest laughing stock in college football.
No question about it. Burn it down. What a joke. pic.twitter.com/oLzpQe5K0G
— Hasbulla (@not_hasbulla) October 8, 2023Mario Cristobal failed every single one of his players tonight and you won't convince me otherwise. They will have to live with the embarrassment of this shit for a long ass time because this is going to be remembered for a while.
— Matt Valdes (@MiamiMatt02) October 8, 2023Mario Cristobal is a fucking idiot. Why is Miami not taking a knee on 2nd and 3rd down. They run the ball and what happens, they fumble… This guy is trying to lose games. Georgia tech has zero time outs! take a knee and run the clock out. A pop Warner kid knows this
— Bad Beats King (@BadBeatsKing) October 8, 2023During the post-match press conference, Cristobal admitted that he made a mistake. “When the drive started, it was going to be 1:57, and we burned about 1:27 off, and then it was recalibrated,” he said. “I should’ve taken a timeout. Just go and take a knee. That’s it. Fumble the ball at the 25 and they go 75 yards in two plays, so no excuse. We should’ve taken a knee.”
After the Saturday night fiasco, keen-eyed fans ridiculed Mario Cristobal for repeating the same mistake he made as head coach of the Oregon State Ducks in 2018. They were playing against Stanford and were closing in on a victory, leading by 3 points. Similar to the Georgia game, he did not kneel during the time out.
On that occasion, Oregon’s redshirt freshman CJ Verdell fumbled the ball. Stanford got hold of the ball, and with 51 seconds left on the clock, they went on the other side and scored a field goal that took the game to overtime. Eventually, the Ducks lost 38-31 as Colby Parkinson scored a touchdown.
With this defeat, the Miami Hurricanes’ four-game winning streak came to a sorry end. On the other hand, Georgia Tech is 3 and 3 after 6 games in 2023.
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