Miami’s Diaz on ‘hardest situation’ at FSU: Has a team up by five ever let opponent score?
In his weekly Monday WQAM interview with hosts Joe Rose and Zach Krantz, University of Miami coach Manny Diaz was asked if in hindsight he would do anything differently Saturday against Florida State, or if he “second-guessed anything” at all.
The Hurricanes (5-5, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost 31-28 at FSU (4-6, 3-4) in the final 26 seconds and face Virginia Tech (5-5, 3-3) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in UM’s final regular-season home game.
“The hardest situation, and we talked about this with the players yesterday, was to let them score or not let them score down on the goal line,’’ Diaz said of FSU’s first-and-goal from the Miami 1-yard line with 45 seconds remaining after the Canes had taken their first of two remaining timeouts.
“That was really the toughest,’’ the coach said, “trying to figure out even historically... We’ve got a company that provides us with analytics. Has anybody ever even let anybody score up by five? Has that even happened?
“That scenario, where the odds of them being able to punch it in are probably pretty good at the 1. But you watch the way our guys were fighting, and [FSU] had an issue trying to jam it in there against our goal-line defense early in the game.
“That’s the back and forth on that one. You could see it. Because obviously we could just let them walk in and get the ball back to our offense at the worst, down by three, and save our timeouts.”
Travis stopped
After the first timeout, FSU quarterback Jordan Travis was stopped by linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. and defensive end Deandre Johnson.
“We don’t let people score,’’ Flagg said, when asked after the game if at any point the players had decided it was best to let the Seminoles score.
UM took its second timeout with 36 seconds left, came back and on the next play the Canes again successfully held Travis without a gain. But cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was called for an offside penalty and FSU had another shot on second-and-inches. This time, Travis got his yard and touchdown, followed by his two-point conversion rush to make it FSU 31, Miami 28.
Horrible choice
“You’re in a situation at times as a leader where there are no great alternatives,’’ Diaz said. “You’re simply choosing between the best worst alternative, and that’s kind of the way I feel about that sequence there. But our players were up for the fight.
“If you watch those plays and the way they were fighting and clawing and trying to keep those guys out of the end zone. Man, it’s tough to say, ‘Hey, you know what, let’s stop fighting.’ That’s a really hard one.”
But the play that haunts Diaz the most, of course, is the fourth-and-14 that FSU converted before the tough decision at the goal line.
“It’s not complicated,’’ Diaz said. “The odds say you should stop them at fourth-and-14. And that’s the regret, man. That’s the play. That’s what it came down to. That’s the Miami-Florida State, the play that Miami generally makes at the end of the game. And this time we didn’t make it and that’s the part that leaves us all heartbroken.”
