Manny Diaz sends clear message to Butch Davis and FIU after flopping

During his weekly stint on Hurricane Hotline on Tuesday night Miami head coach Manny Diaz stated the frequent flopping by FIU turned the game into a farce. The Panthers were not the first team to feign injuries to slow down the Hurricanes offense.

Florida Internation flopped at least five times by a consensus count in their 30-24 victory over Miami at Marlins Park on Saturday. Appearing on Hurricane Hotline Tuesday Miami head coach Manny Diaz called the strategy by FIU a farce and stated that Georgia Tech used the same practice at least once versus Miami.

While the FIU fan base was ecstatic with the victory against the Hurricanes they should be more embarrassed about the lack of sportsmanship their team showed. The flopping by the FIU defense, faking hamstring, cramping or injuries due to dehydration were to slow down the Miami offense.

The most egregious part of the FIU game plan to feign injury was that after the game when Panthers coach Butch Davis was asked about it he felt it was wrong they received boos when DeeJay Dallas didn’t. It was determined on Wednesday that Dallas dislocated his elbow and will be out for the remainder of the season.

Dallas might have played his last down in a Miami Hurricanes uniform. The junior is eligible for the NFL Draft and has a decision to make. He became a father during the 2019 offseason. The flopping and faking injury to slow down the game should clearly be a rule of emphasis in 2020.

"“It turns the game a little bit into a farce…When you are at a competitive edge and you are competing during the course of a drive and you have to stop and then the focus becomes why are we stopping? Is that something you want your team to be represented by?That doesn’t give us a reason to not perform, but the officials’ hands are tied because they are not allowed to judge intent. That is something in college football that we have to try and look at in the offseason and find a better way to legislate…It is not the first time we have seen that this year.I remember Georgia Tech did the exact same thing in Hard Rock Stadium. We have seen that a couple times this year. It is not how we want our guys to play and how we want our guys to be represented.”"

Diaz was clearly sending a message across town to Davis and the FIU football program. The Panthers made a mockery of their win, the game and rivalry with Miami and college football. FIU is not on Miami’s schedule in the future. As long as Diaz is the head coach at Miami and Davis is at FIU it’s tough to see the rivalry renewed.

There is a right and wrong way to win in sports. This often, if not always straddles the line. The flopping went far over it. The message Diaz sent about what he wants from his players, program and university spoke loud and clear about the respect the Hurricanes will demand how they play the game.