NCAA Football

Georgia Tech stuns No. 17 Miami after dreadful play-call mistake

Miami led 20-17 with 33 seconds on the clock before a play call proved fatal

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MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 07: Jamal Haynes #11 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets carries the ball against the Miami Hurricanes during the second half at Hard Rock Stadium on October 07, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Lauren Sopourn/Getty Images)

You're not going to see many play calls worse than this one.

No. 17 Miami led unranked Georgia Tech 20-17 with 33 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. A simple kneel down would've ran out the clock to see the program move to a solid 5-0 on the season.

Instead, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal opted to run on third-and-10, but running back Donald Chaney Jr. fumbled at the Georgia Tech 26-yard line and lost possession.

Then, somehow, Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King claimed the throne with a 30-yard completion to Malik Rutherford before hitting Christian Leary on a 44-yard touchdown with one second left.

Watch the action unfold here:

Speaking after the game, Cristobal said: "We should have taken a knee."

Funny enough, it isn't the first time this situation occurred under Cristobal's watch.

In 2018 as head coach of Oregon vs. Stanford, Cristobal could've called three straight QB kneels to burn the clock to 10 seconds with the Ducks up 31-28 and no timeouts for the Cardinal.

Instead, he called a run play that led to a fumble at the 51-second mark. Stanford would go on to get a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation before winning 38-31 in overtime.

Cristobal threw the game down the drain, and he may have just taken the Hurricanes to unranked territory with it.

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