Six seconds remaining, down by three points, and about to receive the kickoff. These were the near impossible circumstances that the Miami Hurricanes were facing this past Saturday against Duke, who's ranked 22nd. Nobody could even imagine that about 50 seconds worth of laterally the ball later that the play would be counted as a touchdown and Miami would pull off the upset. Before the game had even become a thought earlier that week, Miami had a coaching change that would put former tight ends coach Larry Scott at the interim head coach position. This was certainly a struggling team coming into this game and they were really given no chance against a team like Duke, which hadn’t lost a game in October in years.
With six seconds left, Duke squibbed the kick off and the ball was fielded at the Miami 25 yard line. At first it looked like an awful attempt to try and duplicate the Music City Miracle. Seven laterals into the play, the ball had been backed up all the way to the four yard line of Miami and Duke was in complete control. Then a flock of Miami players moved to one side of the field. The last lateral was able to make its way over to that side and it was off to the races from there. The Hurricane players couldn’t believe what had happened and they piled into the end zone in celebration. The play was originally ruled a touchdown and it was under further review.
The officials had a few things to look for in this situation. They had to check if any player had a knee down with the ball or if there was any penalty committed on the play. The first time an official came to make an announcement, they had called an illegal block in the back that would have costed the Hurricanes ten yards from the spot. Then the second and final time that the official came out to speak, the penalty was overturned, the play was ruled a touchdown, and Miami had won the game.
Even after the game was over, the play was reviewed many times and there was something that the officials during the game had missed. When trying to return the kick, one of the Miami players had a knee down before the ball had left his hand. Therefore, the play should not have counted and Duke should have won the game. But since the result of a game that has already ended can’t be changed, the refs for the game got suspended indefinitely. Thus concludes the Miami Miracle that shouldn’t have been.
