Mario Cristobal left South Bend furious after Miami’s 31-24 loss to Notre Dame, and the moment that set him off came late in the fourth quarter when Elija Lofton’s apparent touchdown was wiped away on replay.
The Hurricanes were staring at fourth-and-6 from the Notre Dame 18 when Lofton appeared to haul in a catch near the edge of the end zone. But after Fighting Irish safety Luke Talich jarred the ball loose as Lofton stepped out of bounds, the play was ruled incomplete. A brief replay review followed, and the original call on the field stood.
Cristobal didn’t hide how he felt afterward.
"Really, really disappointed that they negated Elija Lofton's touchdown with two hands on the ball and two feet in bounds, but like we told our team before we left Miami, do not leave it in the hands of the officials because that's what you're going to get out here," Cristobal said in his postgame news conference." I'm pissed off.
It's bullshit, and I'll leave it at that. That's the way it was seen by them.
So I got to live with it and respect it, and our players got to live with it, and we got to do better. Again, don't leave it in the hands of the officials."
Miami quarterback Darian Mensah thought the play had gone the Hurricanes’ way in real time. He sprinted toward Lofton after the catch, believing the touchdown had counted with 3:36 remaining.
"I didn't even see him knock the ball out at the end, so I thought it was a touchdown," Mensah said. "You can't leave it up to one play.
Can't leave it in the hands of the officials. I've got to play better."
Mensah finished 24-of-43 for 276 yards and three touchdowns. One of those scores went to Lofton, and two went to Cooper Barkate, who led Miami’s receivers with 10 catches for 92 yards.
Cristobal later walked back his criticism of the officials.
"I need to be mature and professional about it," he said. "Be very honest about my opinion on it, but not point any fingers except at ourselves and go get better."
Miami was playing without injured Malachi Toney for the first time this season, and the offense didn’t really get rolling until the third quarter after falling behind 24-3.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, got the kind of win it had been waiting for. Behind what was described as a Heisman-caliber performance from CJ Carr, the Fighting Irish landed a signature victory and moved closer to the College Football Playoff.
"It's a special moment," Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said after avenging last season's 27-24 loss to Miami that kept the Irish out of the CFP. "Enjoy the moment, because tomorrow when you wake up it's time to get ready for the next one.
I know it's a big one. This is big.
This is special. I'm not going to sit here and say this was like the other ones.
No, this is different."
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