College Football analyst Booger McFarland scolds Miami and Mario Cristobal

During halftime of the Alabama at LSU game ABC/ESPN game analyst Booger McFarland called Miami a very poorly coached team that are never prepared. Miami suffered its first loss of the season 28-23 at Georgia Tech on Saturday to fall to 9-1.

Miami allowed 271 rushing yards and Georgia Tech was seven of 10 on third down to pull the upset on fourth-ranked Miami. The Hurricanes fell behind 28-16 early in the fourth quarter. Cam Ward threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Restrepo with 6:07 left in the game to cut the Miami deficit to 28-23.

Miami got the ball back with 1:52 remaining on its own 19. After an incomplete pass, Ward fumbled on second down to give the ball back to Georgia Tech. As they did all afternoon Georgia Tech completed an 11-yard pass on third down and eight and were able to run out the clock from there.

Multiple decisions by Cristobal could easily be questioned. Miami turned the ball over on downs three times inside the Georgia Tech 40-yard line. Two of those drives ended inside the Georgia Tech 30 yard line that would have been easy Andres Borregales field goals.

"Booger McFarland at halftime of Alabama versus LSU "Miami is a very poorly coached football team. Mario Cristobal has to ask why his teams are never prepared." Also said can't rely on Cam Ward to save them."

- ABC CFB Analyst Booger McFarland

Miami also went for two trailing 21-16 in the third quarter. That is seven points Miami could have had in a game it lost by five. Any or all of those decisions would have changed the course of the game and it doesn't mean Miami would have won. Cristobal discussed those decisions in the post-game press conference.

The second-guessing against Georgia Tech is ironic after clock mismanagement led to a late downward spiral in a 23-20 loss to the Yellow Jackets in 2023. Miami is 5-1 in the ACC with the loss. The Hurricanes are still in the race for a berth in the ACC Championship game on December 7.

Ward rallied Miami from double-digit second-half deficits to earn wins versus Virginia Tech, California and Duke. Cristobal has been criticized for his game and clock management throughout his career. Particularly with Oregon and Miami. The prevailing thought is that Cristobal is an elite recruiter, but not a great gameday coach.

With games left versus Wake Forest on November 23 and at Syracuse on November 30, Miami can still win out, finish 11-1 in the regular season and have an excellent chance at making the ACC Championship game and the College Football Playoff. The next CFP rankings are released on Tuesday night on ESPN.