DALLAS – Carson Beck threw an interception in overtime at the goal line and T.J. Harden scored from 1-yard out in overtime as SMU shocked No. 10 Miami 26-20 in overtime effectively ending the Miami Hurricanes chances at a playoff berth. It marked the 6th time under Mario Cristobal that Miami lost a game as a double-digit favorite.

A series of questionable decisions, poor clock and game management and a plethora of penalties led to Miami blowing a game it should have won easily. The Canes lead 20-17 with the ball and a chance to put the game away. Instead, the late game play calling once again allowed SMU to get the ball back and march down the field kicking a game-tying field goal with  25 seconds to play. However, it wasn’t without controversy and more game management issues by Mario Cristobal and his staff.

Facing a 4th and 8, Cristobal called for a time out despite the fact that SMU had no timeouts available. The Mustangs were rushing to the line, but rather than allow the frantic play to get snapped, Cristobal called for a late timeout. However, Marquise Lightfoot didn’t hear the whistle and hit QB Kevin Jennings who clearly had pulled up. While Lightfoot did not knock Jennings down, two officials thought the hit was enough to warrant a penalty giving SMU a first down. Whether or not Lightfoot heard the whistle or not is irrelevant. Everyone else pulled up on the play except him.

Cristobal argued the penalty and even blamed the officials in the post game press conference for the call, but it was Cristobal who waited until the last second to call an unnecessary timeout that will come back to haunt the Canes in the 2025 season. This is another brutal decision by Cristobal and undisciplined play by a  Hurricanes team that committed 12 penalties for 96 yards. It marked the third time in four games the Hurricanes committed at least 9 penalties or more which has proven to be a disaster for Miami. Rather than own it, Cristobal was spreading blame on everyone besides himself.

The Mustangs marched down the field to get into field goal range to tie the game, but once again, with a chance to win the game with a timeout in the bag, rather than attempting to win the game in regulation, Cristobal took a knee to send the game to overtime despite the Mustangs terrible secondary.

Cristobal said after the game that with the time left he wasn’t going to take a chance.

Beck finished the game 26 for 38 for 274 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. While fans may blame Beck for the final interception in overtime where it appeared that freshman wide receiver Malachi Toney ran the wrong route, the first interception early in the game came after JoJo Trader dropped a perfectly thrown ball by Beck that would have given Miami around 20-yard gain or so. Trader bobbled the ball and the Ahmaad Moses intercepted the ball setting up a Mustangs touchdown on the next play tying the game at 7.

Beck dealt with pass catchers who dropped 5 passes on his 12 incomplete passes, including the drop by Trader, a drop by Mark Fletcher, Jr. on the first possession that helped end a drive, a drop by Elija Lofton at the end of the first half that would have been a touchdown and given Miami a 14-7 lead at halftime. Instead, Miami went into the break with a 10-7 lead. A huge punt return by Malachi Toney set up the opportunity.

The Mustangs opened the second half marching down the field for a 14-10, but Miami responded immediately with a drive of its down capped by a touchdown pass from Beck to tight end Alex Bauman who also dropped a pass earlier in the game. That gave Miami a 17-14 lead, but once again, it was Cristobal’s decision to turn down opportunities for points which proved costly once again.

Leading 17-14 with the ball at the SMU 29, Cristobal decided to go for it on 4th and 1. Fletcher was stuffed for a loss of 1 and the Mustangs went down the field and tied the game at 17 going into the 4th. Rather than having a 20-14 lead, the Cristobal decision once again cost points. Beyond the brutal decision making, the penalties that Miami committed were devastating throughout the game. Pre-snap penalties plagued Miami all game long along with two blatant holding calls on Francis Mauigoa, the second one that was declined by SMU late in the game.

Miami was able to take the lead 20-17 with 9:34 to play, but once again, a short yardage failure cost Miami on 3rd and 1 as Marty Brown got stuffed for a loss of 1 which happened multiple times behind the vanilla and bland offensive approach. SMU missed a field goal on its ensuing possession and the Canes had a chance to put the game away, but failed to get a first down on a 3rd and 8 following a 3-yard run by Fletcher and a loss of 1 on a pass play to Trader who did score Miami’s first touchdown of the game for a 7-0 lead, but after his drop was largely forgotten the rest of the way.

Beck was looking for Keelan Marion down the field who seemed to be interfered with, but the flagged was picked up and Miami was forced to punt. Had it not been picked it, the call would have been offsetting penalties because of Mauigoa’s holding penalty on the play.

The Canes were forced to punt which led to the disaster down the stretch.