Greg McElroy: ‘Miami is their own worst enemy’

On Saturday, Miami suffered its second loss of the season, falling 26-20 to SMU. It was a mistake-ridden performance for the Hurricanes, whose College Football Playoff hopes are now in danger. On Monday, ESPN’s Greg McElroy weighed in on Miami’s troubling performance.

“Miami, they are their own worst enemy,” McElroy said. “… You look at the penalties, you look at the penalty yards. Twelve penalties, 96 yards, and directly, just gift-wrapped the game to SMU on the game tying drive. And, all the statistical advantages that Miami could have had, completely negated because of penalties and undisciplined play.”

Penalty problems are nothing new for Miami. The Hurricanes have committed 64 penalties this season, costing them 507 total yards. Penalties plagued Miami last season as well.

In the 2024 campaign, the Hurricanes lost an average of 67.5 yards per game due to penalties, the second-most in the ACC. Miami’s most costly penalty on Saturday occurred with 1:08 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Miami defensive lineman Marquise Lightfoot was called for unnecessary roughness when he hit SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings despite a timeout being called before the play. At the time, SMU was fourth-and-9 on its own 48-yard line.

The mistake gave SMU a first down and ultimately allowed the Mustangs to force overtime. Of course, Lightfoot wasn’t the sole reason Miami lost. In the Hurricanes’ opening possession in overtime, quarterback Carson Beck threw an interception, his second of the game.

Before overtime ever occurred, Miami’s coaching staff opted to run out the clock instead of attempting to quickly march down the field and kick a game-winning field goal. Consequently, the game ended up with a mind-boggling box score.

“If you look at this game, this was a hard one to sum up for Miami,” McElroy said. “To have 400-plus yards of offense and just 20 points—huge issue. To have such a massive advantage in time of possession—huge issue. SMU, prior to overtime, had negative rushing yards, yet still won the game, even though they were completely one-dimensional offensively.”

In the Hurricanes’ two losses this season, they’ve committed a combined 21 penalties. Now, Miami could miss out on the CFP again despite arguably having the most talented roster in the ACC.

On Saturday, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal will look to lead his team to a bounce-back performance as they square off against Syracuse at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN.