Too knuckleheaded to kneel.
That’s the only way to frame University of Miami coach Mario Cristobal’s stunning call not to take the win Saturday night with the easiest call in sports. You knew to kneel. I knew to kneel. The entire country knew to kneel.
Georgia Tech coach Brent Key knew most clearly of all that Miami’s quarterback Tyler Van Dyke would take the snap with 33 seconds left, kneel down and let Miami escape with a sloppy win.
“We kind of felt that he was going to take a knee at that point,’’ Key said. “He didn’t though.”
Cristobal allowed Don Chaney Jr. to run the ball into the line and all the feelgood from Miami’s would-be, 5-0 start was lost in a catatonic chain of ensuing misplays. Chaney fumbled at the 26-yard line with 26 seconds left. Georgia Tech recovered. Its offense went 76 yards in four plays, the final 44 on a pass for a score with two seconds left.
Miami inexplicably lost, 23-20.
“We should have taken the knee,’’ Cristobal said. “I’m not going to make an excuse for it. I should have stepped in and said, ‘Hey, take a knee.’ ‘’
This was on Cristoball, too. Just him. No matter if the offensive coordinator called the play, no matter if the running back fumbled it, the head coach’s role is to step in at times like this. Manage the clock. Ensure the win.
The mistake looks doubly dumb because Cristobal did the same thing at Oregon in a 2018 loss to Stanford He didn’t kneel down for that win and Oregon fumbled. Stanford recovered and pulled out the improbable victory.
So, Cristobal didn’t just not learn a hard lesson, but lost this way again in a manner that goes down as the all-time blunder in program history. This was worse than Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie’s miracle touchdown pass that beat Miami in 1984. Miami running back Melvin Bratton, who scored four touchdowns that game, was a ceremonial captain Saturday night, meaning he had a front-row seat to the calamity of epic proportions.
Not kneeling is worse, though. Far worse. It’s a fundamental coaching blunder. Cristobal seemed to have Miami back on track after a troubled first season. They aren’t a great team, but have made foundational strides with talent and performance as the Texas A&M win showed. They’re better. That’s what you wanted to see this year.
Now Cristobal has to stand before them and say he cost them a win. The reputation he came with from Oregon is that he could recruit, as he has. He could build, as he has. He would outwork anyone with an unmatched intensity to resurrect a program from trouble, which was the first prerequisite for any coach coming to Miami.
But could he coach on the sideline?
That was also a question about him. This doesn’t help the answer. This wasn’t some tough, forehead-creasing call involving adjustments to their adjustments or whether to go for it on fourth down or kick a field goal.
This was something any random fan in the upper deck could make. Kneeling down in the “Victory” formation is the easiest call of them all since the New York Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik called a run to fullback Larry Csonka in the final seconds of a 1978 game against Philadelphia.
“Don’t give me the ball,’’ Csonka said in the huddle.
The handoff was botched. Eagles cornerback Herm Edwards picked up the ball, returned it for a touchdown and a reminder was made on what not to do to seal a game. It’s not like this is musty history to dust off. That play is shown all the time on ESPN it was so dunderheaded.
Now, Miami has its version of that. It hadn’t played a good game Saturday night. It was a 20-point favorite, but didn’t play like it. Van Dyke threw three interceptions. They turned it over four times, had a touchdown called back and had costly penalties. Nevertheless, they had the win.
The schedule turns tough now, too. At North Carolina. Clemson. That 5-0 start could have helped insulate them coming up. Instead, they now have to navigate that knucklehead decision not to kneel that goes down as the dumbest decision any coach can make.