Miami decision to not kneel leads to fumble, Georgia Tech last second win

The Miami Hurricanes have been no stranger to crazy and chaotic finishes on the football field over the years. On Saturday night against Georgia Tech, they took things to unprecedented heights, even for their standards.

All the Hurricanes had to do in the final seconds was take a knee and they would have won the game.

But they instead opted to run the football, fumbled, and Georgia Tech recovered. The Yellow Jackets then drove the football 74 yards in the final 26 seconds, thanks to a game-winning touchdown toss by quarterback Haynes King.

He connected with Georgia Tech receiver Christian Leary on a 44-yard touchdown strike in the final seconds to lift the Yellow Jackets to the improbable comeback.

Check out the finish to one of the wildest finishes in college football history. The video sequence below helps to explain it.

Man…. Why didn’t they just kneel the ball and get out of there?

All-time level collapse.
pic.twitter.com/7l9tHHs7tJ

— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) October 8, 2023

The decision to not kneel in the final minute of the game will forever go down as one of the biggest blunders in college football history, something no coach or team ever wants to be associated with.

On the other side of the coin, no matter what Haynes King and Christian Leary do the rest of their college football careers, they’ll forever be linked in that play that will go down as one of the most improbable comebacks in sports history.

Mario Cristobal on the late game collapse by Miami

Following the loss, Miami head football coach Mario Cristobal spoke about the monumental collapse in his postgame press conference. Cristobal, after brief opening remarks, was asked immediately about the decision to hand the ball off and not take a knee with a 3-point lead on 3rd and 10 from the Georgia Tech 25. With around :30 seconds remaining and the Yellow Jackets out of timeouts, a kneel would’ve ended the game, functionally.

“When the drive started, it was going to be 1:57 and we burned about 1:27 off and then it was recalibrated. Should’ve taken a timeout, right there at the end. After we got the first down and talk about two hands on the ball, but that’s not good enough. Just go and take knee. That’s it. Fumble the ball at the 25 and they 75 yards in two plays, so no excuse,” Cristobal said.

He was asked a follow up and made clear he saw in hindsight that the better part of valor was just calling a knee.

“We should’ve taken a knee,” Cristobal said.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.