- Rather than kneel down to run out the clock, Miami threw the ball and fumbled.
- Georgia Tech took just four plays to score a touchdown in 26 seconds
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Miami football head coach Mario Cristobal accepts full responsibility for the Hurricanes not taking a knee in the final seconds of their last-second loss to Georgia Tech.
Cristobal accepted responsibility despite offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson revealing he actually called down the play in which the ball was fumbled.
“I made the wrong call,” Cristobal admitted.
While leading 20-17, Miami could have run out of time in victory formation and taken a knee to end the game, but decided to call a running play instead.
Halfback Don Chaney then fumbled the ball with 26 seconds remaining, before Georgia Tech took over at its own 26-yard line.
Miami coach Mario Cristobal took full responsibility for mistake against Georgia Tech
Rather than run out the clock, Miami ran the ball and fumbled with 26 seconds left.
It took the Yellow Jackets just four plays – a miss, a 30-yard gain, a dunk to stop the clock and a 44-yard pass with 2 seconds left – to find the end zone and win 23- 20.
The last-second error earned Miami (4-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) its first defeat of the year.
“What we did in the end was a bad decision,” Dawson said. “I called him. It’s like that. I wish we did something different, but we didn’t. You have to live with it. I’m not going to sit here and go through the process with you guys.
“What is said in the headphones is between us and ultimately, I announced the play. And I can live with it. It was not the right thing to do.
Cristobal said immediately after the match that he should have stepped up and asked to take a knee, and didn’t blame anyone else on Monday – saying he took “full responsibility.”
The Hurricanes fell eight spots to No. 25 in the AP Top 25 after the loss, and Cristobal was asked how the team would recover in time to prepare for a trip against No. 12 North Carolina this weekend.
“You do it with honesty and transparency, go and fix the best that we can do and realize the opportunity that is in front of us,” Cristobal said.
“Football is a lot like life. We owe it to ourselves and to our players, to our entire organization, as we do to our own families, to look each other straight in the eye and demand the best, the absolute truth from each other so that we can go forward.
Georgia Tech took just four plays to score a game-winning touchdown after the fumble
Miami has asked the ACC for an explanation as to why Chaney was not rejected and why the play was not overturned after review. Cristobal said the league has yet to give Miami a response.
Commenters and social media users have predictably not been kind to Miami in recent days for the mistake of not kneeling – and for the way Georgia Tech receiver, Christian Leary, got behind two defenders, including All-America safety Kam Kinchens, for the win. score.
Cristobal said the players reacted in the right way, that’s all he could ask for. He also told Chaney, Kinchens and every other player on the court in the final 26 seconds that they were in no way responsible for the final events that led to the defeat.
All the blame, he insists, is his.
“You go through things and sometimes you’re not prepared for things and sometimes you still have conflicts, but the family stays together,” defensive coordinator Lance Guidry said. “And that’s what we preach here.”