CFB world reacts to Miami’s latest coaching debacle

Miami’s football team dropped its second straight game on Saturday night, falling 41-31 to North Carolina. And while this loss wasn’t quite as bad as the one that came one week prior against Georgia Tech, it did feature another confounding mistake from a coach.

Trailing 14-7 late in the second quarter, the Tar Heels drove deep into Hurricanes territory. Facing a fourth-and-one on its own 20, North Carolina lined up to go for it. But the fourth down play never occurred. A Miami penalty gave the Tar Heels a first down. But this wasn’t simply a Hurricane biting on a hard snap count and jumping offsides. In fact, no Miami player committed any penalty. So, what happened?

The Hurricanes seemingly had some issues with substitutions and took a time-out, which seemed unnecessary. North Carolina had used substitutions. As such, the official was standing over the ball, giving Miami a chance to answer. But with apparent communication issues between the bench and the players on the field, the time-out made some sense. Better safe than sorry.

But before the time out was granted, Hurricanes defensive coordinator Lance Guidry was on the field. That is an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. And this wasn’t a ticky-tack situation, with officials penalizing Guidry for being a step or two on the field. When the penalty was thrown, Guidry was inside the numbers.

North Carolina scored a touchdown three plays later. Miami did manage to retake the lead with a field goal as time expired at the end of the second quarter. But the Tar Heels dominated the third quarter, scoring three touchdowns to open up a 35-14 lead.

This mistake wasn’t as bad as Mario Cristobal’s against Georgia Tech. But a second huge mistake by the Miami coaches in two games — both losses — got the attention of the college football world.

[Photo Credit: ABC]