MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes should have taken a knee. They took a disastrous loss instead as Georgia Tech turned a huge mistake by the home team into a last-second football miracle.
Haynes King threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Christian Leary with two seconds remaining after Miami turned the ball over with the game all but won, and Georgia Tech stunned the 17th-ranked Hurricanes 23-20 on Saturday night.
The Yellow Jackets went 74 yards in 24 seconds, just after the Hurricanes had the option to kneel down, likely run out the clock, win the game and remain unbeaten. Instead, Don Chaney fumbled the ball away — Miami argued he was down, but referees disagreed — and the Jackets pulled off a stunner as they returned to Atlantic Coast Conference play a week after getting routed at home by Bowling Green.
“We should have taken a knee,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said.
Said Georgia Tech coach Brent Key: “We kind of thought they were taking a knee.”