‘A lot of self-inflicted issues’ prove costly in Hurricanes’ overtime loss to SMU
The Miami Hurricanes only have themselves to blame.
That’s the mentality they’re taking after a 26-20 overtime loss to the SMU Mustangs on Saturday afternoon — a defeat that puts a massive wrench in their season goals of competing for an Atlantic Coast Conference title and being in contention for the 12-team College Football Playoff.
“A lot of self-inflicted issues for us,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “Just didn’t have enough to overcome it.”
Added freshman receiver Malachi Toney: “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board.”
And quarterback Carson Beck: “We just have to be more disciplined.”
The damage was done, though.
Miami had 12 penalties called against it for 96 yards. It’s the second time this year with at least a dozen penalties. The other was against the Louisville Cardinals — the Hurricanes’ only other loss so far this season. Ten different players committed at least one penalty each — including six different offensive linemen.
Three stand out as game-defining moments.
The first two came on Miami’s third drive of the game. The Hurricanes, up 7-0 at that point, had marched down to the SMU 23-yard line and looked to be in position to add to their lead.
And then Toney was called for offensive pass interference to move Miami back 15 yards. Two plays later, right tackle Francis Mauigoa was called for holding. Just like that, second and 8 from the SMU 23 turned into third and 33 from the SMU 48. Instead of the chance to get at least three points, Miami had to punt.
The other came on SMU’s final drive in regulation. The Mustangs had fourth and 9 from their 48-yard line. One final play from Miami’s defense — which overall held its own on Saturday — and the Hurricanes would escape with a win.
It looked like they had it too.
Except they didn’t.
Hurricanes edge rusher Marquise Lightfoot appeared to have the game-sealing sack on the play, but Miami called timeout before the play. Lightfoot subsequently was called for unnecessary roughness, which extended the drive.
“We were using the timeout and Marquise didn’t hear the whistle,” Cristobal said. “He’s just playing football. So I’m not sure why that’s called in such a critical situation when we’re trying to stop playing, right? It’s really loud. I imagine people should step in and prevent players from moving forward finishing a play, but it didn’t happen. So we were called for a personal foul.”
Seven plays later, and SMU’s Sam Knelter hit a game-tying 38-yard field goal with 25 seconds left to force overtime.
The Mustangs won it 11 plays later, with Beck throwing an interception on Miami’s overtime possession and SMU’s T.J. Harden capping the Mustangs’ 25-yard drive with a 1-yard run into the end zone.
“Really tough to lose like that,” Beck said.
But the mistakes extended beyond penalties.
Sophomore receiver Joshisa Trader bobbled a pass down the right sideline in the second quarter that was ultimately intercepted and led to SMU’s first touchdown of the game.
Tight end Elija Lofton dropped a pass on third and goal in the second quarter that forced Miami to settle for a field goal on a drive that started at the SMU 9.
There were a pair of special teams gaffes — Keelan Marion returning a kickoff that looked like it was going to go out of bounds and a pair of defenders failing to pin a punt that Dylan Joyce hit to perfection.
“When you make that many mistakes — and they are flat out mistakes — it’s on everybody in the organization,” Cristobal said. “But myself, every coach, every player, when you make that many mistakes as an organization, you allow yourself to be put in a position where you can get beat and that’s what happened today.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2025 at 5:17 PM.
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