Mario Cristobal Explains Why He Went Into Overtime Against SMU
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CORAL GABLES — The Miami Hurricanes are holding on to the edge of their seats as they prepare for one of the biggest days of this season with the College Football Playoff rankings nearing.
The Hurricanes are still reeling from it's loss from SMU, but they have moved pasted it. Now the Hurricanes must answer for what happened in the game so they can better prepare as they take on a looming danger in Syracuse.
However, there is still a lack of trust in the offense for the Hurricanes. Against the Mustangs, UM had a chance to take the game and win it down the stretch with 25 seconds left and a timeout. However, Mario Crisotbal had another idea.
"There are two trains of thought," Crisotbal said. "Try to get a return and put yourself in position to try and score and their kicker, we charted as 45 percent of his kickoffs were returnable and we thought we had a good scheme and good returner.
"We figured if we could pop a return and still have one timeout, we could do similar to what we did against Virginia Tech last year. Pop a return and get a couple plays in and take a shot with the field goal. When you are at the 25 yard line or inside the 25 yard line with 25 seconds, statistically the analytics say the negatives are larger than the positives. There are more risks than rewards."
Because of that passive nature, the Canes went into overtime and where forced to make plays that they couldn't do. The defense feel flat after stopping the rush all game up until the overtime period.
The Hurricanes are now looking to turn that around. They are learning to adapt during the middle of the season for the first time in the Mario Cristobal tenure. Because, if they don't they will be in massive trouble.
Now the Hurricanes turn their attention to the Orange as 28.5 point favors in this contest. Another game the Hurricanes can't blow becuase they know if they do, their season is over.
Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.