Miami asks ACC for clarity on officiating decisions made in loss to SMU

CORAL GABLES Fla AP Miami has inquired the Atlantic Coast Conference for clarity on a number of officiating decisions made in its loss this past weekend to SMU including a critical -yard penalty in the final moments of regulation Miami lost the encounter - The Hurricanes who were as high as No in the AP Top last month have dropped two of their last three games and are now ranked No Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal stated Miami has not gotten an answer from the ACC It s unclear if any explanations will be coming Certainly we re waiting what the response is as well as on the roughing the passer one which we certainly don t agree with Cristobal mentioned Monday But at this point in time the best we can do is turn it in and hope for a better end next time The Hurricanes Marquise Lightfoot was called for unnecessary roughness against SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings with about a minute left in the fourth quarter giving the Mustangs yards and a first down Miami had called time out just before the fourth-and- play was snapped and the Hurricanes argued to no avail that Lightfoot did not hear the whistle Replays established that Lightfoot who did make contact with Jennings tried to hold the SMU quarterback up after apparently realizing the play was dead That penalty gave SMU the ball on the Miami and the Mustangs went on to kick an overtime-forcing field goal Miami also was incensed about how a pass interference flag that would have aided the Hurricanes was picked up and how functionaries missed a Hurricanes receiver getting tackled in the end zone on a play that wound up as a Miami interception in overtime Miami was called for penalties in the challenge for yards compared with four by SMU for yards The eight-penalty differential tied Miami s biggest of the season it had penalties compared with five by Florida State when those teams played in Tallahassee last month