Mario Cristobal and Miami football took yet another brutal loss to Georgia Tech on Friday night when Derry Norris committed to the Yellow Jackets over the Hurricanes. The manner in which he announced his decision poured salt in the wound.
It was almost as if Cristobal tried to run the ball instead of taking a knee and fumbled.
Oh wait… that actually happened! Miami was winning by three points against Georgia Tech back in October. There were 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
All the Hurricanes had to do was run out the clock. A pair of knees would have done it because the Yellow Jackets didn’t have any timeouts.
Cristobal decided to hand the ball off instead of lining up in victory formation. His running back coughed up the ball. It was recovered by the defense for a turnover. Georgia Tech took over at its own 30-yard-line and eventually scored on a wide-open deep ball over the middle to win the game as time expired.
Very few coaching decisions in college football history are more embarrassing.
That is essentially what happened with Norris. Although he is only considered a three-star prospect, defensive lineman are at a premium in the current climate of recruiting— especially when they are 6-foot-3, 265 pounds.
Derry Norris has value far greater than his rating and 37 schools offered the Florida-native a scholarship. Alabama, LSU, Texas, Ohio State, Florida, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and West Virginia are among them.
However, his recruitment came down to Miami, Georgia Tech and Minnesota.
All signs pointed toward the Hurricanes. It was expected that he was going to stay home.
And that is exactly what happened! Until it didn’t… Norris pulled an oike doke after he put on a Miami hat and threw up the ‘U’ hand signal. He committed to the Yellow Jackets instead!
The hilarious hijinks did not go over well with the folks in South Florida. They pointed to the three-star rating and claimed that Mario Cristobal didn’t want Norris anyway.
Those folks are entirely wrong. Miami lost to Georgia in the fourth quarter, again!