What just happened?
It’s a reasonable question to ask with how the No. 7 Miami Hurricanes’ 38-34 come-from-behind win over Virginia Tech on Friday night happened.
On the final play of the game, Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones sent a Hail Mary attempt to the end zone. A slew of Virginia Tech receivers and Hurricanes defenders leapt for the ball. Chaos ensued.
The referees originally ruled the play a 30-yard, go-ahead, walk-off touchdown to Da’Quan Felton, but the call was overturned after a lengthy review.
The call ended the game and kept Miami undefeated at 5-0 and 1-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Virginia Tech fell to 2-3 and 0-1 in ACC action.
There were a lot of emotions and reaction. Here’s what was said about the play from all sides.
ACC’s official statement
“During the review process of the last play of the Virginia Tech at Miami game, it was determined that the loose ball was touched by a Miami player while he was out of bounds which makes it an incomplete pass and immediately ends the play.”
Miami Hurricanes’ reaction
▪ Head coach Mario Cristobal : “I saw an incomplete pass. That’s all I can say.”
When asked again about the emotions as they waited out the review, Cristobal said he was thinking about the “liability issues that come with that, with the cardiac condition of everybody on the sideline, I’m sure. It’s wild. [In] college football, you’re never all the way clear and easy to win a game, you’re never all the way out of it. It just keeps going. We did talk about it that you don’t leave a game like this in the hands of the officials because you might be disappointed. At the end of the day, we just found a way to win.”
▪ Quarterback Cam Ward : “Just pain. You ain’t got no control of the game. You leave it up to the white hats; that’s a position you don’t want to be in. At the end of the day, I’m just glad we got to win.”
Was he concerned the call wouldn’t be overturned?
“I thought it’s gonna be overturned,” Ward said, “just because everybody was out of bounds. If the ruling didn’t get overturned, I don’t know. That whole situation was just pain. Hopefully we don’t get in that situation again.”
▪ Linebacker Francisco Mauigoa : “There was a lot of emotions. We weren’t sure. We kept looking up to the jumbotron, and I think the ref made a right call. I think those guys did their job, and made the right call because it was clear.”
As for what his teammates who were part of the pile thought?
“I think we were confident that he didn’t catch the ball,” Mauigoa said. “They said, ‘No, he didn’t catch the ball. He didn’t have full control there.’”
▪ Wide receiver Xavier Restrepo : “I was praying. God took care of it. The refs made the right call and we played as hard as we could.”
▪ Defensive lineman Malik Bryant : “The emotions were definitely high because we put a lot into it. We just always want the outcome that we wish for. That’s what we got.”
Any concern it might not get overturned?
“I don’t really worry about that,” Bryant said.
▪ Tight end Elijah Arroyo : “I can’t even put it to words, honestly. I’m sitting there. I was nervous, happy, excited. It was a crazy feeling.”
Virginia Tech Hokies’ reaction
▪ Head coach Brent Pry : “That’s a tough one right there, the way the game ended. I hope they got that call right. To take that and overturn it and take that from our kids, our coaches, our fans, I hope they got it right. I’m very proud of our team and our coaches. [We] are much closer to the team that we need to be, week in and week out. Miami is a very talented football team. We needed to play our best. Incredibly disappointed for our team right now, but I’ll take our players, our coaches and Lane Stadium any day.”
“I ran over and said, ‘how did you rule it?’ He said, ‘touchdown.’ Normally, when you look at something that long, it does not get overturned. I didn’t think there was enough evidence to overturn it. So, like I said, I hope they got it right.”
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