On Saturday afternoon, the Miami football program's freefall continued with an inexplicable road loss to SMU in overtime, giving the Hurricanes their second loss in three weeks and effectively eliminating them from college football playoff contention. It was another rough game from quarterback Carson Beck, who threw a brutal interception in overtime that helped SMU significantly in their winning effort.
One controversial moment occurred late in the fourth quarter when Miami was called for a personal foul on a fourth down, one that helped SMU extend their drive, which they ultimately used to tie the game and send it into overtime.
After the game, head coach Mario Cristobal put the blame on the officials for his team's second straight defeat.
“We’re trying to see what they’re in,” Mario Cristobal said, per Dan Morrison of On3 Sports. “So, we’re using a timeout. Marquise didn’t hear the whistle. He’s just playing football. I’m not sure why that’s called in a critical situation. We’re trying to stop a play. It’s really loud. I imagine people should step in and prevent players from moving forward and finishing a play, but it didn’t happen. So, we were called for a personal foul.”
Another loss for the Hurricanes
Just two weeks after losing at home against the Louisville Cardinals in stunning fashion, the Miami Hurricanes fell victim to another upset-minded opponent on Saturday in SMU.
Earlier this season, the Hurricanes looked like a legitimate contender to win the national championship, having knocked off some elite opponents like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Carson Beck was playing a Heisman Trophy level after transferring from Georgia over the offseason, and the Miami receiving core seemed to be doing just fine despite the amount of talent they lost from last year's team.
However, in the present day, the Hurricanes' playoff hopes are officially on life support, with the team needing to not only win out but get a lot of help from their ACC friends in order to realize that dream.
Miami will next take the field on Saturday against Syracuse.
