The late-game decision not to take a knee has been the primary focus of why the Miami football team lost to Georgia Tech on Saturday night. The inexcusable decision by Mario Cristobal and Shannon Dawson not to take a knee was followed by a Don Chaney Jr. fumble and multiple breakdowns in coverage on the following drive.
After the Chaney fumble, Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King had an incompletion, followed by a 30-yard completion to Malik Rutherford, a spike to stop the clock and ultimately the game-winning 44-yard touchdown pass to Christian Leary. Leary got behind Kamren Kinchens in coverage for the TD.
As a 20.5-point favorite over Georgia Tech, the Miami football team should have never put itself in a position to lose to the Yellow Jackets. Miami outgained Georgia Tech 454-250. Georgia Tech went 74 yards in four plays over 25 seconds on their game-winning drive. Miami dominated Georgia Tech defensively for the first 59:27.
Miami put itself in a position to have a few key plays decide the outcome of the game versus Georgia Tech. There were multiple opportunities throughout the game for Miami to create distance between itself and Georgia Tech. The inability to finish drives with touchdowns allowed Georgia Tech to stay in the game.
Turnovers
The Miami football team had five turnovers to just two for Georgia Tech. Three of the Miami turnovers, including the fumble on the last drive, came inside the Georgia Tech 30. If Miami had scored on either of the first two drives to at least the Georgia Tech 25 yardline, the outcome could have been different.
Tyler Van Dyke had by far his worst performance of the season. Van Dyke was 24-36 for 288 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Georgia Tech took possession at their own 25 and the Miami 26 and 15 following the interceptions. The Yellow Jackets scored 16 points off of Miami turnovers.
Inability for the Miami football team to finish drives
The Miami football team had nine drives into Georgia Tech territory. Three of the drives ended in turnovers, one was on downs, one punt, two field goals and two touchdowns culminated the Miami drives into Georgia Tech territory. Getting into the opposition’s half of the field and scoring 20 points usually won’t be good enough.
Mario Cristobal tells us there is no way to rationalize the decision to run the ball. Says it was the wrong decision.
— The Joe Rose Show (@JoeRoseShow) October 9, 2023
Coach with us right now on @560WQAM
Defensive breakdowns on the last drive
Even after the fumble by Chaney. Miami was in a position to win the game. Georgia Tech had no timeouts and had to drive 75 yards in 26 seconds. The final drive was four plays. That included an incompletion and spike. King had a 30-yard completion to Malik Rutherford to put Georgia Tech in position for the game-winning TD.
On the game-winning 44-yard TD pass, Christian Leary got behind Miami All-American safety Kamren Kinchens to give Georgia Tech the improbable win. Regardless of what happened before the last drive, in that situation, the defense has to do everything possible to keep the receiver in front of them.
Summary
Good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose. At 4-1, Miami is trending towards a good season. Miami’s response after a tough loss could determine their fate over the final seven games of the season. On Saturday, Miami was bad versus Georgia Tech. Coaching, offense and defense were all to blame for the loss.