Georgia Tech pulls off improbable win after Miami fumbles, could’ve taken knee

Georgia Tech rallied to beat No. 17 Miami 23-20 on Saturday, thanks to a Haynes King 44-yard touchdown pass to Christian Leary with one second remaining in the game. Here’s what you need to know:

• Miami led 20-17 with seconds remaining, had possession of the ball and Georgia Tech was out of timeouts.
• Instead of taking a knee on third down, the Hurricanes ran the ball and Donald Chaney Jr. fumbled, allowing Yellow Jackets defensive lineman Kyle Kennard to recover it.
• Georgia Tech went on a four-play, 74-yard touchdown drive in 26 seconds to win the game.
• Miami falls to 4-1, while Georgia Tech improves to 3-3.

Why didn’t Miami take knee, run out the clock?

Coach Mario Cristobal and quarterback Tyler Van Dyke didn’t offer an explanation. But each took blame for their roles in a horrific loss. Cristobal said Miami didn’t play to its standard and played frustrated.

“We should’ve just bit it and (took) a knee,” Cristobal told WQAM after the game. “A lot of things you’d like to have back. But you can’t. Gotta move forward. Got to move on.” — Manny Navarro, Miami football writer

Were Canes trying to get Chaney past 100-yard mark?

Chaney broke the 100-yard barrier for the first time in his career on his final carry. Cristobal was asked afterward if that was the motivation to hand the ball off to him instead of taking a knee. He shook his head no. Asked if he thought Georgia Tech had any timeouts left, Cristobal also said no.

“We should’ve taken a knee,” he said. “We were moving the pile. We had a pretty good drive going. Not gonna make an excuse for it — say I should’ve done this or that. Sometimes you get carried away with it, finish the game running. But I should have just stepped in and said take a knee.” — Navarro

Backstory

Cristobal made a similar mistake in 2018 that cost his team the game while he was the coach of Oregon. With the Ducks leading 31-28 over Stanford at home near midfield, former Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert could have knelt to run the clock down to 16 or fewer seconds before punting the ball.

Cristobal instead had running back CJ Verdell run on 2nd-and-2 but the redshirt freshman fumbled. The Cardinal eventually evened the score at 31 after taking possession with 51 seconds remaining, making a game-tying field goal as time expired. Stanford ended up winning 38-31 in overtime.

Required reading

(Photo: Jasen Vinlove / USA Today)