Miami HC Mario Cristobal Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Mario Cristobal makes inexplicable blunder in Miami loss

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 10/8/23

Mario Cristobal still has not learned his lesson.

Cristobal’s inexplicable blunder on Saturday cost his Miami Hurricanes a win they had in hand against Georgia Tech at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla..

The Hurricanes were leading the Yellow Jackets 20-17 and got the ball back with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter following a Georgia Tech punt. Miami was able to run the ball for several first downs to milk the clock and bring it down to under a minute left. Georgia Tech was out of timeouts with Miami facing a third-and-10 at the Tech 30 with 33 seconds remaining. Rather than kneel down and let all the clock roll off, Miami handed the ball off to Donald Chaney Jr., who had been the Hurricanes workhorse for the entire drive.

But this time, Chaney fumbled and Georgia Tech recovered. Not only that, but Georgia Tech managed to score a touchdown in 25 seconds.

THE SINGLE-WORST COACHING DECISION IN ALL OF SPORTS BELONGS TO THE MIAMI HURRICANES AND MARIO CRISTOBAL pic.twitter.com/r7GJ94T3Ot

— Gerardo Gonzalez (@GGonzalezJr) October 8, 2023

ACC Network analyst Tim Hasselbeck was all over the decision to run a play on third-and-10 rather than kneel.

“I don’t know what Miami is doing,” Hasselbeck said as Miami lined up to run the play on third down. Sure enough, there was a fumble that ensued.

That is completely embarrassing and unacceptable. Unfortunately, it’s all too familiar for those who have followed Cristobal.

In 2018, back when Cristobal was coaching at Oregon, he made the same mistake during a game against Stanford. His Ducks lost 38-31 in overtime because they lost a fumble when they could have just kneeled down.

Will Cristobal finally learn his lesson?

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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