Georgia Tech had zero timeouts and were staring at a second consecutive loss with under 40 seconds to go against Miami. The Hurricanes faced a 3rd and long and decided to run the football.

Don Chaney Jr. fumbled, and the Yellow Jackets ensued to rip the hearts out of Hurricanes fans with a late game-winning touchdown. Offensive Coordinator Shannon Dawson took the blame for the play call Monday afternoon:

"What we did at the end was the wrong decision. I called it," Dawson said. "It is what it is. Wish we would have done something different, but we didn't so got to live with it."

According to ESPN metrics, Miami had a 99.9 percent chance to win the game. Head Coach Mario Cristobal, who has been taking the brunt of the blame for the all-time blunder, took full responsibility.

"I made the wrong call. I take full ownership in not taking a knee and giving them an opportunity to have a couple of extra plays and preventing us from sealing the win."

Even with the decision made Miami had a chance to right its wrongs with a defensive stop with 26 seconds left. Georgia Tech started its drive at its own 26-yard line. Four plays later the Georgia Tech offense was celebrating in the end zone.

Defensive Coordinator Lance Guidry second-guessed his decision-making on the touchdown play.

"Went out there just in base defense, nickel defense," Guidry said. "I knew that they needed a field goal to tie and a touchdown to win, so you can't get too soft, so we played regular coverage. We rushed a little bit, got an incompletion on the first one. The second one I actually thought [TeCory Couch) was going to pick. And we had 15 seconds left I was kind of going through my mind. I really wanted to pressure him, was what I really wanted to do, because he really had two plays. If he throws an out-route or anything like that, they can line up and kick a field goal. We ended up running regular coverage, and we got some movement on him, and he moved out of pocket. He moved out of the pocket, and the receiver broke off the route. Hindsight, as a coach, you always trying to like...what could I have done? I really should have pressured him at that point."

Now with the damage done and a quest for an undefeated season dashed, Miami now has to regroup and prepare for its first road game in the conference. The Hurricanes will travel to North Carolina to face the 12th-ranked team in the country. According to Cristobal, the team has put the Georgia Tech game behind them and is looking forward to the next challenge.

"We expected a good response today," Cristobal said. "There's a lot of conviction in our preparation and processes. The guys are very eager to get back to work and prepare for this weekend's opportunity."

Miami will face Heisman trophy Drake Maye at quarterback along with other playmakers that include Tez Walker, who was granted eligibility after a recent battle with the NCAA.

"He's a true NFL quarterback," Guidry said. "Can throw the ball on time. Can create time with his legs. Got great accuracy. Can't fool him, even though we going to try to fool him. But he's really good, receivers are a good crew, offensive line is experienced, and tight ends are combo guys. They block well, but they run better pass routes, and they're running backs are physical runners. They're not scatbacks, but they run through arm tackles. It'll be the best offense we faced yet, I think."

After an emotional loss, many staffs in the past lost the locker room but the coaches are confident that the team will support each other to move through the season.

"I think supporting your teammates is critical," Dawson said. "You can't just be good teammates and love each other when things are going good. That's not the way life is. The true test of your character is how you treat your teammates and how you treat people around you when things are bad. So right now we got the right people in the building."

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