Criticism poured in after the Hurricanes lost to Georgia Tech because Miami ran the ball instead of taking a knee to end the game Saturday night.
No one was tougher on UM and coach Mario Cristobal than ESPN’s Paul Finebaum on The Matt Barrie Show.
“It will transcend sports, the stupidity of Mario Cristobal. … People are going to be talking about that,” Finebaum said. “There are very few times in our industry when you see something as bone-headed and moronic as what we saw from Miami and Mario. And it pains me to say that because … I keep in touch with Mario all the time, but that’s beside the point. That doesn’t matter. We would be as derelict in our job by not calling him out as he was in his job. I had a head coach text me this morning saying, ‘Have you ever seen a more egregious display of coaching malpractice than that?’ And the answer is no.”
Finebaum said he believes Cristobal is a good coach, but he called the choice to run the ball with Don Chaney Jr. “one of the most inexcusable decisions in the history of college football.”
The Hurricanes’ loss was their first of the year after a promising start to the season. Miami fell from No. 17 to No. 25 in the AP poll after the game. However, UM did secure a commitment from top-100 wide receiver Ny Carr on Sunday.
“This is Mario Cristobal, who has now had two of the plush jobs in college football,” Finebaum said. “What’s so ridiculous is that he had things going, and I don’t know how much he threw away with that.”
Cristobal said after the game that they should have taken a knee to end the game, but he thought UM could have gotten a first down even though a first down was not necessary to seal the game.
“Frankly, his explanation was even worse than his lack of attention during the game,” Finebaum said.
“There’s no explanation other than utter stupidity,” Finebaum added. “How can you not be plugged into that? He’s the head football coach. … There were a million bone-headed decisions yesterday. Pick your game — Jimbo Fisher, Lincoln Riley, going up and down the dial, Eliah Drinkwitz. … But that’s the most fundamental thing. Every high school coach in America knows that. You don’t have to make $10 million a year to be that stupid. You signal it in. You do whatever you’re supposed to do. What do you gain?”
