No. 6 Miami lost a chance at the ACC title and might have fallen out of College Football Playoff contention with a 42-38 loss at Syracuse on Saturday.
The Hurricanes kicked a 27-yard field goal on fourth-and-goal to cut Syracuse’s lead to four with 3:42 to go. However, Miami never got the ball back as Syracuse got four first downs to run out the clock.
The third first down came via a brutal mistake. Defensive tackle Ahmad Moten jumped offside to give Syracuse a first down with 1:52 remaining. The Hurricanes had just one timeout remaining at that point, and a wide receiver sweep by Trebor Pena for a first down two plays later sealed the victory for Syracuse.
The Miami loss means Clemson will play SMU for the ACC title. The winner will be in the College Football Playoff.
The Hurricanes gave up 28 points in the second half after taking a 21-0 lead less than 18 minutes into the game. Syracuse got two touchdowns before halftime, and then outscored the Hurricanes 21-7 in the third quarter to take their first lead of the game on a fumble recovery TD by defensive back Devin Grant.
Syracuse QB Kyle McCord was 26-of-36 passing for 380 yards and three touchdowns on the day his previous team, Ohio State, lost 13-10 to Michigan and threw for fewer than 200 yards. Miami QB Cam Ward was 25-of-36 passing for 349 yards and two scores, but his Heisman candidacy is now over. It’s hard to see Ward having a chance given Travis Hunter’s greatness and a second November loss for the Hurricanes.
The field goal that took Miami out of the playoff?
It’s hard to understand why Miami coach Mario Cristobal decided to kick the field goal instead of going for the TD with less than four minutes to go. Yes, Miami needed 10 yards to get the score and had gotten pushed back because of an offensive pass interference penalty. But Ward has been the best quarterback in college football and the Miami defense was not stopping Syracuse’s offense in the second half.
The field goal also didn’t do much strategically. The Hurricanes still needed to score a touchdown to take the lead after the kick. A Syracuse field goal would have kept the lead at one possession, but a failure on fourth-and-goal would have also pinned the Orange deep in their own territory.
There’s no guarantee that Miami scores a TD if it goes for it on fourth down. But it’s a decision that could loom large for the College Football Playoff.
Miami now needs to rely on an at-large berth to get into the field and doesn’t have a signature win. The Hurricanes’ best wins are over Duke, Louisville and Florida. The Blue Devils have the best record of any of those schools at 9-3.
If Clemson beats SMU in the ACC title game, the Mustangs could get in as an at-large team. If SMU is an at-large, it’s very possible that Miami misses out on the playoff entirely after being the top-ranked ACC team since the first set of rankings were released at the start of November.
