Mario Cristobal questions officials on Marquise Lightfoot unnecessary roughness flag

The Miami Hurricanes made the trip to Dallas, where they dropped their second game in two weeks, this time at the hands of the SMU Mustangs. For a season that started with so much promise, it’s clear that frustration is now building for head coach Mario Cristobal.

One frustrating play in particular came in the fourth quarter. SMU was driving late, down by a field goal and trying to tie up the game. The Hurricanes had them in a fourth down and 9 from their own 48. Then, just before the ball was snapped, Mario Cristobal called timeout. It was hard to hear the whistle, though, and edge rusher Marquise Lightfoot made it into the quarterback, pulling up late but not before he was hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty.

Flag on Lightfoot and SMU gets an automatic first down! pic.twitter.com/M1AwbeG9Ca

— Grant Speaks (@GrantSpeaks1) November 1, 2025

After the game, Cristobal was clearly frustrated with the call by the officials. He’d explain why he called the timeout in that situation, while also making it clear that he would like to see a higher bar to calling a game-changing personal foul.

“We’re trying to see what they’re in,” Mario Cristobal said. “So, we’re using a timeout. Marquise didn’t hear the whistle. He’s just playing football. I’m not sure why that’s called in a critical situation. We’re trying to stop a play. It’s really loud. I imagine people should step in and prevent players from moving forward and finishing a play, but it didn’t happen. So, we were called for a personal foul.”

That drive would, of course, end in an SMU field goal. That made kick sent the game to overtime, where Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck would throw an interception. From there, SMU with all the momentum ran downhill into Miami, winning on a short touchdown rush.

Miami now has two losses on the season, both of which are in ACC play. With two losses, Miami is seventh in the ACC standings. There remains one unbeaten team in conference play and five teams with just one loss in conference play, including Louisville and SMU, who both hold tiebreaking wins over Miami now.

Mario Cristobal reveals Miami told officials that SMU was mimicking snap cadence

That late unnecessary roughness wasn’t the only frustration Mario Cristobal had with the officiating. He also felt that SMU was mimicking the snap cadence and shared that he told officials about it.

“It’s the things that we work on daily. It’s the things that we’ve made a point of emphasis. But, obviously, we’re not getting a result, so we’re not coaching it, teaching it and executing it well enough. The verbal stuff, we had some issues with their stems and movements,” Cristobal said.

“We tried to report when our cadence is being mimicked, but that didn’t get any traction. That happens in football, so no excuses. There’s not enough discipline as it relates to just holding our water and not jumping offsides.”

Miami finished the game with 12 penalties for 96 yards. That’s compared to four penalties for 40 yards for SMU. It wasn’t the only reason why Miami lost, but it did turn out to be a massive part of the game.