This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/2Pollaski2Furious on 2024-08-27 15:17:06+00:00.
Well guys, the penultimate entry is here. I just want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read all these, and enjoyed, and commented. I’ve enjoyed reading comments, and I’ve definitely enjoyed people’s predictions as to what entries are going to be at the top of this list.
I’ve also seen a lot of games that are ultimately not going to be on this list. There’s a few possible reasons for it. First, I had to remember it- my initial list consisted of about 170 games over the past 20 years, and even then I’ve clearly missed a few, especially older ones. Of course, I had to value it enough to make the cut, and I tried to get a good variety of types of tank jobs, as well as choose games that were interesting and entertaining to recall and write about. I know not everyone is going to agree with all of it, but I do sincerely hope you enjoyed it.
With that said…
2: MIAMI-FL HURRICANES (lost to Georgia Tech 23-20) [2023]
Q: How is Mario Cristobal like Mance Rayder from Game of Thrones?
A: They both got burned for refusing to kneel!
Not a whole lot was expected for Miami to begin the 2023 season- the Canes ranked just 56th in my preseason amalgamated rankings. Things changed after a week two win over Texas A&M (once again proving this is a dumb sport) and the Hurricanes shot up into the polls, and rose to #17 after beating Bethune-Cookman and Temple. Miami enjoyed a bye week before preparing to host the Yellow Jackets as 20-point favorites.
Not much had been expected of Georgia Tech in Brent Key’s first season either, and the Jackets were delivering. While they had notched a win over what turned out to be a pretty terrible Wake Forest squad, the previous week had seen them humiliated by Bowling Green far more than the 38-27 final score had indicated. Needless to say, not much was expected of the Jackets against the surging Hurricanes.
“Not Much” is also a very apt description of the first half. Miami’s first drive ended in a turnover on downs after their fourth down… I think it was supposed to be a screen… blew up. Georgia Tech didn’t even get their first non-penalty first down until three minutes into the quarter, and that drive ended when Haynes King rolled out and threw across his body directly to Francisco Mauigoa for the interception. 10 plays later, Miami gave it right back when Tyler Van Dyke threw about five yards behind his receiver in the end zone. Finally, Miami managed to get close enough to kick a field goal to end the half up 3-0.
After an pair of punts to start the second half, Miami finally got going for real, with Van Dyke hitting tight end Riley Williams over the center, and Williams managed to batter his way just over the goal line for a 22 yard touchdown to give the Canes a 10-0 lead. Now Georgia Tech’s offense finally got in gear as King led them down the field, finishing the drive off himself with a six yard run up the middle to cut the lead to three. Two plays later, Amari Harvey jumped in front of a Van Dyke pass for another interception. Jamal Hayes soon burst into the end zone, and just like that, the Yellow Jackets led 14-10. Van Dyke responded with a long bomb to Xavier Restrepo to end the third quarter with the Hurricanes threatening.
Two plays into the fourth, however, disaster struck, when Jaelyn King jumped a slant route and picked off another Van Dyke pass- the third of the game. King streaked down the sideline, and Van Dyke himself barely managed to catch him enough to knock him out at the Miami 15. The tackle proved vital- GT was unable to break past the Miami defense and had to settle for a field goal to make it 17-10. Van Dyke again went to the air, finding Colbie Young down the field for 57 yards, barely tripped up at the Tech 3. Henry Parrish punched it in from there, and the game was tied at 17. Now it was Georgia Tech’s turn for disaster to strike, as King underthrown pass was snagged by James Williams, who weaved his way through a swarm of befuddled bees all the way down to the Tech 14. But just as the Canes had done moments earlier, now the Jackets stiffened up, holding Miami to just a field goal and a 20-17 lead. A first down sack on King ruined Georgia Tech’s next drive immediately, and GT was forced to punt it back with just 5:41 remaining.
Miami turned to Donald Chaney, Jr to kill the clock, and CHaney worked beautifully, keeping both the chains and the clock moving, albeit helped by a facemask call to give the Canes a fresh set of downs. On 3rd and 1 with under two minutes remaining, Chaney punched through again. Even with one Tech timeout remaining, the match was clear- the Canes could run the clock out and escape with a win. But head coach Mario Cristobal elected to hand the ball to Chaney again, who was swallowed up for a two yard loss. GT called their final timeout with 1:18 left- well within the amount of time it took the clock to expire for two kneeldowns. Again Chaney received the ball, getting the two yards he had lost on the previous play, as the clock continued to run.
“You should not be handing this football off. I don’t know what Miami is doing” commentator Tim Hasslebeck mused as Miami again lined up to run.
Chaney took the ball again, and was hit after two yards, turning him around. Still, he dug in his feet and tried to push forward, doing so for two more yards before finally going down on top of linebacker Kyle Efford. And then it happened- the ball squirted out onto the grass. Chaney grabbed it, but before he could finish securing it, GT’s Kyle Kennard player fell on top of it and snatched it away. Disbelief set into Hard Rock Stadium as immediately a referee signaled Georgia Tech ball.
But was it really a fumble? A long review process ensued, and while it was clear Efford’s body had kept Chaney’s knees from hitting, there was certainly a possibility that his elbow had touched before the ball came out. Finally, the referees returned to the field- the play stands, as an outraged howl came from the Miami fans in attendance- although whether at the officials or the coach who had even allowed this to happen in the first place wasn’t quite clear.
Twenty-six seconds remained as Haynes King took a snap he had never imagined he would from his own 26. He immediately threw behind his receiver on a quick out route. On second down, King flipped it down the field, over the tips of a leaping Miami defender right to Malik Rutherford to the Miami 44. Georgia Tech scrambled to line up as the officials reset the ball, and spiked it with ten seconds to go. King took the snap, and rolled out to his right- and then he saw it- Christian Leary had weaved around coverage and stood in a massive pocket with nothing between him and the end zone. King lobbed it over two panicked Miami players heads as Leary caught it in stride, and slid (WHY???) into the end zone as several irate (and stupid) Miami fans hurled trash onto the field.
“It needs to be said- that is one of the biggest coaching mistakes at this level that I have ever seen in my lifetime” Hasslebeck fumed, echoing the thoughts of pretty much every college football fan in America. Not only had the Canes fumbled on a play they had never needed to run, they had just let Georgia Tech cover 74 yards in 25 seconds for the win. As reality set in, the cameras flashed to Miami Matt Lee on the sideline, distraughtly screaming “What the **** are we doing?”
Making history, Matt. Making history.
One second actually remained on the clock, and after a quick kneel on the kickoff, Van Dyke flipped a pass to Restrapo, who began a series of five laterals that got as far as the Tech 35. However, when Jacoby George spun to avoid a Tech tackle, another Tech player knocked his arm, forcing a fumble and Tech falling on it for their fifth turnover of the night and ending the game.
I hate the phrase “broke the internet” but this… this broke the internet. WIthin minutes there were reactions, gifs, memes, and anything else you could think of for content. There were Miami livestreams having rage meltdowns and Georgia Tech livestreams in jubilant disbelief. Heck, that weeks TJOTW voting had nearly 1,000 comments on it, the most ever received. And above it all the question- does Mario Cristobal even survive this? What do you even say to the locker room after committing one of the most egregious coaching malpractices in college football history?
Well, he survived. Miami struggled down the stretch to a disappointing 7-6 (3-5) finish, capped off with a loss to Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl. Interestingly enough, Georgia Tech also finished 7-6 (3-5), but from the other end- after the previous year’s quagmire and the debacle to Bowling Green, managing to even make a bowl with upsets over Miami and North Carolina was invigorating.
And I know that there’s a lot of you who are surprised this is only #2, and thought this was the surefire #1 entry. After all, it can’t be stressed enough: Miami. Had. The. Game. Won. And then they not only blew it, they blew it in a way that took multiple epic screw ups to happen. So yeah, if at the end of the day you think this is the biggest Tank Job of the last 20 years, I totally respect that. On the scale of football debacles, this one definitely goes to 11.
Its just there’s one more that goes a couple notches past that.