Mario Cristobal livid over controversial non-safety call, per ESPN broadcast

The Miami–Florida State football game is always one of the most heated rivalries in all of college football. Saturday’s edition has already had some controversial calls in the first half. One came when FSU quarterback Jordan Travis appeared to be tackled in his own end zone by a Miami defender. The Hurricanes thought it was a clear safety. Officials did not agree. They reviewed the play and decided it wasn’t a safety. At halftime, ABC’s Molly McGrath caught up with Mario Cristobal to ask him about the bad call and he was livid.

“Well, Sean, I asked Mario Cristobal about that non call on the apparent safety at the end of the half. He immediately started yelling expletives. He was very emotional saying there were two calls in the first half that felt unfair to him. But he said his team….He said the key to success for them was running the ball well,” McGrath said of her conversation with Mario Cristobal.

You can check out the video of the play below.

SAFETY OR NAH?????? pic.twitter.com/sJGHWTHSnO

— NMD Grant (@NMDgrant) November 11, 2023

Florida State ended up winning the game, 27-20.

Cristobal had a number of things to be upset about on Saturday, including the injury to his starting quarterback, Emory Williams, who was injured while diving for a first down late in the fourth quarter. He left the Florida State game with an air cast on his left arm.

Williams has been the starter lately for Miami

As a member of the Class of 2023, Williams was a three-star recruit out of Milton (Fla.) High, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 104 overall prospect in the state, the No. 36 quarterback in the class and the No. 629 overall prospect in the class.

Before going down in Saturday’s game with his injury, Williams completed 8 of 23 passes for 175 yards, while tossing in two touchdowns with no interceptions. It was second start of his career (he started against Clemson). He’s appeared in five games so far during the 2023 season.

Williams was splitting reps in practice all week with Tyler Van Dyke.

As far as Van Dyke is concerned, he has completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 2,057 yards, while tossing in 16 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.

Head coach Mario Cristobal recently spoke about Van Dyke handling his latest struggles against NC State.

“He’s good. He’s tough, he’s resilient,” Cristobal said. “I don’t know how much social media affects him or people in general. That can never be a factor. That has nothing to do with the work that needs to be done. The team itself, the areas to improve, teammates, goals – all that kind of stuff.”

In the 14-point loss in Raleigh, Van Dyke had his second straight game with no touchdowns and only picks. In total, he finished 21-38, a season low completion rate of 55.3%, against the Wolfpack for 173 yards and three interception.

Van Dyke’s dropoff has coincided with Miami’s recent 2-3 stretch, although he missed the victory over Clemson due to injury. In his last four starts, the Hurricanes have gone 1-3 as he has completed 63.3% of his passes for just over 1,000 yards and only five touchdowns compared to 10 picks.

Williams got the nod on Saturday instead.

Nevertheless, though, Van Dyke is just pushing forward according to Cristobal. He may not be performing at his best but, still, that hasn’t hindered him from trying to be at his best in every way for himself and his teammates.

“He is very determined to be the best teammate he can possibly be and the best player he can possibly be,” Cristobal said. “He’s being Tyler Van Dyke.”

On3’s Nick Kosko also contributed to this article.