Hurricanes’ decisions to go for it on fourth down prove costly in loss to Georgia Tech

Mario Cristobal on three occasions Saturday opted to keep the Miami Hurricanes offense on the field on fourth down against Georgia Tech when the team was in field goal range.

All three times, the decision backfired, and the missed points proved costly in the No. 4 Hurricanes’ 28-23 upset loss to the Yellow Jackets.

The three instances:

▪ Late in the second quarter, Miami had 4th and 3 on the Georgia Tech 23-yard line trailing 14-10. Instead of going for a 41-yard field goal — a distance kicker Andres Borregales had already hit from earlier in the game — they kept the offense on the field. Quarterback Cam Ward dropped back to pass from the shotgun, rolled to his left, slipped while being pressured and barely got a throw off. It was incomplete, intended for Xavier Restrepo.

“The fourth and three early in the game, we felt very confident about our fourth-down package,” Cristobal said. “Felt that we had something that we could not only have a first down on, but score on. We’ve been aggressive all year, and that one, we were aggressive today, but that one did not work out.”

▪ On the first drive of the second half, still down 14-10, the Hurricanes had fourth-and-1 from the Yellow Jackets 39-yard line after opening the drive with seven consecutive runs by Damien Martinez. It would have been a 57-yard field goal attempt from that spot. Instead, the Hurricanes ran a play-action pass, with Ward rolling to his left, and his toss fell incomplete to running back Mark Fletcher Jr.

▪ Finally, early in the fourth quarter, with Miami down 28-16, a fourth-and-6 from the GT 12 became fourth-and-16 from the 22 after a holding call on a would-be touchdown pass. Ward was sacked to force the turnover on downs.

“You want to be able to make it a game,” Cristobal said of the final call. “That’s exactly what the chart says and how we want to come back and be able to put ourselves in position to win. So we don’t second guess that one at all.”

The Hurricanes entered the game having converted 10 of 13 fourth-down attempts this season.

More notable stats from Miami-Georgia Tech

▪ The 271 rushing yards were the most the Hurricanes have allowed in a game since giving up a school-record 554 rushing yards on Dec. 12, 2020, against North Carolina. The 5.6 yards per rush made it the third time this season Miami has allowed an opponent to average more than five yards per carry this season (also 6.44 by Virginia Tech and 5.05 by Louisville).

▪ Georgia Tech went 9 for 14 on third down overall on Saturday against Miami, who entered the game with the 12th-best third-down defense in the country. The Yellow Jackets were just the second team to convert more than half of their third-down attempts against the Hurricanes this season (Virginia Tech also went 9 for 14 on third down).

▪ A sign of how Miami’s defense was feast or famine on Saturday: Georgia Tech’s four touchdown drives, combined went for 38 plays and 296 yards (7.8 yards per play); the Yellow Jackets’ other five full possessions (excluding the two that ended each half) totaled 18 plays and 47 yards — including four three-and-outs.