Mario Cristobal makes admission about end of Miami’s loss to Georgia Tech

Sep 1, 2023; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal looks on from the field against the Miami Redhawks during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Mario Cristobal made an inexplicable blunder at the end of Miami’s loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday night, and the coach is not hiding from the criticism of his decision.

The Hurricanes had 3rd-and-10 and were leading 20-17 with 33 seconds left in their game against the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech had no timeouts remaining, so Miami could have taken a knee and run out the remainder of the clock. They instead handed the ball off to Donald Chaney Jr., who fumbled. Georgia Tech recovered and put together a game-winning touchdown drive with the 25 seconds they had remaining.

Cristobal spoke about the disastrous finish during a Monday appearance on “Audacy’s AM 560 Sports WQAM.” He said there is no way to defend it.

“There’s no way to rationalize it, Joe. It’s the wrong decision,” Cristobal said. “We should’ve kneeled it and we didn’t do it. We got the first down. After that, again, there’s no way to rationalize it. It was just the wrong decision. We should have taken a knee and taken it out of the players’ hands. … This entire program is based and founded on accountability. We gave ourselves a chance to win. Just gotta make that decision to take a knee, that’s it.”

What made Cristobal’s decision even worse is that he once made the same mistake and cost his team a win when he was the head coach at Oregon. He was not asked about that during Monday’s interview, but it probably would not have changed his response.

Perhaps Cristobal has finally learned his lesson. Miami may have actually caught a terrible break on the fumble play, but Cristobal should have never put the Hurricanes in that position. There really is not much else he can say.