Decisions in defeat make Cristobal look a bit conservative
When you’re coaching in the same town as swashbuckler, risktaker Mike McDaniel – and you attempt five field goals and then punt when you’re trailing by eight near midfield late in the game – you’re going to look as conservative as Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis did Saturday at Texas A&M.
You’re going to look even more conservative, as Cristobal did, when your team doesn’t score a touchdown for the first time in 76 regular-season contests.
Were Cristobal and Gattis too conservative Saturday in College Station? Probably.
But the bigger issue was pace and clock management – an area where blame is shared among players and coaches.
We’ll get to the ‘was-Miamitoo-conservative’ question in a minute.
The big “game management” issue Saturday was the Hurricanes allowing way too much time to slip off the clock between plays during their drive that ended with a fourth and 24 punt at their own 39 with 3:09 left and UM down 17-9. (It was originally 4th and 19 from the 44 before Miami committed an illegal-formation penalty.)
On that possession, there were 34 seconds between plays in one instance, 33 in another, 43 in another.
Tyler Van Dyke often got his team to the line fairly quickly but took too much when he got there. Clock management simply must be better, with Van Dyke, his teammates and Gattis all sharing responsibility for that, and Cristobal needing to reiterate the importance of not frittering away valuable time.
And speaking of timing ... With UM’s offense struggling so badly Saturday, why didn’t UM go up-tempo at all, simply to try something new? Van Dyke said Tuesday he would welcome playing more up-tempo and that Gattis has that available in the offense.
As for whether Cristobal and Gattis are too conversative, here are a few points to consider:
The big second guess was going for a field goal on fourth and 4 at the A&M 16 with 8:32 left. Andres Borregales’ 34yard field goal cut the deficit to 17-9.
I would have gone for it – because it was too risky to assume you will get the ball back, score a touchdown and make a two-point conversion – but I don’t consider the decision an egregious mistake.
Some might question punting, down eight, with 3:20 left. But context is needed here; before the penalty, Miami had a fourth and 19 on its own 44, its defense had played well, and the chances of a conversion were slim. A case could have been made to go for it, but punting wasn’t outrageous.
The other field goal attempts came earlier on a fourth and 4 at the A&M 10 (Borregales hit from 28), a fourth and goal at the A&M 4 (Borregales hit from 22), and two misses – a fourth and 9 at the A&M 31 and a fourth and 16 at the A&M 18 (that was one blocked).
The most questionable of those decisions was trying the 22-yarder with UM at the Aggies 4-yard-line and down 17-3 with 4:04 left in the third. On the previous play, UM surprisingly ran the ball on a third and 6 from the A&M 4, with Jaylan Knighton picking up two yards. Why not pass there?
“They came out in a threedown defense, so they had eight guys in coverage,” Gattis said. “We ran the ball great all night.
Taken individually, each of
those handful of “conservative” decisions can be justified. But collectively, they leave the impression that this staff wants to play it safe.
And anything semi-conservative that Cristobal and Gattis do will look ultra-conservative when Miami loses, and when McDaniel is used as a comparison.
Against Baltimore on Sunday, McDaniel went for a first down in the first half on a fourth and 1 from Miami’s 34-yard line and again on a fourth and 1 from the Dolphins’ 45, converting both.
Not all fourth-down attempts are created equal, but it’s notable that of every FBS team that has at least one loss this season, only Texas A&M and Iowa have gone for it less on fourth down than UM, which has tried twice and failed both times, including Van Dyke’s incomplete pass on fourth and 4 from the A&M 40 with 30 seconds left.
At Oregon, Cristobal’s 2018 and 2019 teams went for it 28
and 25 times on fourth down, ranking in the top 40 in the country in this category.
Those numbers dipped dramatically in his final two seasons. In 2020, Oregon went for it on fourth down six times in seven games (converting three) in a 4-3 season; only three teams attempted fewer. But the big caveat is Oregon played fewer games in that COVID season than a lot of FBS teams.
Last season, Oregon went for it on 19 fourth downs (making nine); 93 teams went for it more on fourth down. But only 12 teams punted less and Oregon tried just 16 field goals.
So Cristobal has not been super conservative throughout his career. But he doesn’t compare to McDaniel in aggressiveness and risk-taking.
Cristobal and his staff have done so much right – in recruiting, instilling discipline and raising the quality of play of UM’s defense and offensive line.
But here’s hoping that Cristobal and Gattis develop some of
McDaniel’s boldness.
DOLPHINS CHATTER
After just one target (and one catch for one yard) in the opener, tight end Mike Gesicki
had four targets and four catches for 41 yards, including a touchdown, on Sunday. Gesicki hasn’t complained this season (or asked for a trade) with a different role.
“It’s not about me,” he said. “We have two all-world receivers. Jaylen Waddle had 19 targets [on Sunday], Tyreek
Hill 13. Those guys are spectacular players.”
Gesicki said McDaniel “pulled me aside before the game and said that on the first third down, I would have an opportunity.”
Nobody on the team seemingly takes more joy in Tua Tagovailoa’s success than Gesicki. Why so?
“Because he’s dealt with so much criticism from people that aren’t in the building, people that don’t know the play call but they’re still going to say anything they want because it draws attention to [be] negative,” Gesicki said. “That’s the world we live; people want to be negative. People want to hop on the bandwagon. If I was him, I wouldn’t let them.”
McDaniel said one reason Kader Kohou started at cornerback in the second half Sunday ahead of Nik Needham was that Kohou “had that look about him in the second half and we felt we could feature him. He rose to the challenge.”
Betonline has improved the Dolphins odds’ to win the Super Bowl from 40 to 1 (less than two weeks ago) to 25 to 1 after Sunday’s win. Only 10 teams have shorter odds. Miami is tied with Denver for 11th.
The teams with shorter odds: Buffalo, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Green Bay, the L.A. Chargers and Rams,
San Francisco, Baltimore and Minnesota.