The Miami Hurricanes snatched defeat from the jaws of victory late Saturday night.
Miami was mere seconds away from closing out a sloppy but resilient win over Georgia Tech at Hard Rock Stadium before disaster struck and the Yellow Jackets pulled out the victory.
Here are three things learned from Miami’s first loss of the season:
Inexplicable coaching mistake directly leads to loss
The Hurricanes had the ball on third-and-10 with less than 40 seconds left. Georgia Tech had no timeouts remaining.
Miami chose to run the ball with Don Chaney Jr. instead of taking a knee to run the clock out. Chaney fumbled, and the Yellow Jackets recovered. They drove 74 yards in 26 seconds to win.
The sequence of events is dumbfounding. Miami had a 99.9 percent chance to win, according to ESPN’s metrics, but still lost. The decision drew the ire of the sports world.
After the game, UM coach Mario Cristobal offered an explanation for the error, which was similar to one from his tenure at Oregon.
“The drive started, it was going to be at 1:57 and we ran about 1:27 off,” Cristobal said. “And then it was recalibrated. We should’ve taken a timeout right there at the end. Thought we’d get the first down, and we talked about two hands on the ball. But that’s not good enough. Just should’ve told him to take a knee. That’s it. Fumbled the ball at the 25, and they went 75 yards in [four] plays. So no excuse.
“We should’ve taken a knee.”
Georgia Tech coach Brent Key, the beneficiary of the mistake, was surprised at his own luck.
“Yeah, we kind of felt that he was going to take a knee at that point,” said Key, who worked with UCF for a decade earlier this century. “He didn’t, though.”
Van Dyke’s turnover-filled night
Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke was having an excellent season entering Saturday’s game. The veteran quarterback had done an great job protecting the ball and was one of the top-rated QBs in the nation.
In a mirror image of his two-interception game against Middle Tennessee State last year, Van Dyke threw three interceptions Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets scored 10 of their 23 points on the ensuing drives. The short fields provided by Van Dyke’s interceptions gave the struggling Georgia Tech offense life.
Van Dyke ended the game 24-of-36 passing with 288 passing yards and a touchdown. He earned a 78.7 offensive grade from Pro Football Focus. But the veteran quarterback put much of the blame for the loss on himself.
“I can’t put us in those situations,” Van Dyke said. “Three interceptions, giving them those close fields and they were able to capitalize on them. I put us in those situations. I can’t force the ball, make dumb decisions. I’ve just got to be better.”
Kinchens makes crucial error in return
Hurricanes All-American safety Kamren Kinchens returned from injury Saturday night. The Miami leader missed the past two games after suffering a scary injury against Texas A&M last month.
The standout safety made several key plays, but the night was defined by the final one.
With 10 seconds left in the game and Georgia Tech needing a touchdown to win in regulation, Kinchens moved in and allowed Yellow Jackets receiver and Edgewater High alum Christian Leary to get behind him. Leary, an Alabama transfer, made the game-winning catch and slid, untouched, into the end zone.
GEORGIA TECH LAST SECOND TD VS MIAMI pic.twitter.com/c1187R19lX
— Colton Denning (@Dubsco) October 8, 2023
