The Miami Hurricanes Lost the National Championship Game

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Roy Bellamy
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Heisman Trophy, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl
3. 12:00 – 15:00: Curt Signetti

Notable quotes from "The Miami Hurricanes Lost the National Championship Game"

• Roy said at the beginning of that drive, Roy doesn't speak very much and he said at the beginning of the drive, here comes an interception.

  about Roy Bellamy · at 1:38

• They win the Fiesta Bowl. They win the Cotton Bowl. There's just no situation on earth where I'm going to criticize Miami today more than I'm going to praise the season they had.

  about Cotton Bowl · at 3:16

• Those three plays, those two completions and that run were why he won the Heisman Trophy.

  about Heisman Trophy · at 5:55

• Fernando Mendoza's game. This was why he won the Heisman this year. I honestly think Kurt Signetti did not have his best game. I thought he was kind of sloppy with his…

  about Curt Signetti · at 13:06

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Curt Signetti — Person · Referenced coach (Indiana head coach; play-calling/quotes postgame) · 1 mention · first at 13:10
  Credited/blamed for key fourth-down decisions and timeout usage; also cited for postgame comments alleging missed roughing calls and Miami playing dirty.
• Roy Bellamy — Person · Referenced attendee/friend of hosts (fan at game; 'jinx' figure) · 1 mention · first at 1:14
  A running bit: blamed for predicting a Beck interception before the drive, which others treat as a curse/jinx and a reason for anger.

Concepts & topics

• Heisman Trophy — Concept · 1 mention · first at 5:57

Places & events

• Cotton Bowl — Event · 1 mention · first at 3:16
• Fiesta Bowl — Event · 1 mention · first at 3:16
  They win the Fiesta Bowl. They win the Cotton Bowl. There's just no situation on earth where I'm going to criticize Miami today more than I'm going to praise the season they had.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 I can't believe this sentence. Indiana football completing the greatest college football season ever played. Uh just crushing if you are Miami to lose at the end that way. About as close to a championship as you can get. Indiana played the game you needed them to play and you couldn't win it anyway because you got a blocked punt and an assortment of small undercut you. But I do think that all of that is something that should be celebrated. Like I'm not going to sit here and nitpick about a delay of game penalty or the kicker or messing up a decision in a game between two great teams and one of them had to lose. Uh I do wonder and Carson Beck said that his ears were ringing at the end. That hit he took on second and 15 that got a penalty. I don't think he was right after that. And I do think it needs to go into the math on he throws his first interception after that. The first turnover of the game, right? Mendoza

0:59 didn't fumble at all this season. Correct. He he went the entire season without fumbling one time. Fumbling and losing it. A lost fumble.

1:05 Yeah, lost fumble. Uh crazy game, crazy night. But let me get your thoughts here as we go to a bunch of people who were at the game. Uh Tony has said he's never forgiving Roy Bellamy.

1:17 What happened with Roy? We'll get to that in a second. We'll get to that in a second. But Tony was telling me before the show, I'm going to be on my deathbed and I'm gonna say in 2026 Roy did that thing and wherever it is is the beyond. I'm never going to forgive him.

1:33 I can't and and I'm forg you know I love to forgive people. I can never forgive Roy.

1:38 Uh Roy said at the beginning of that drive, Roy doesn't speak very much and he said at the beginning of the drive, here comes an interception.

1:45 Oh boy. Before the Canes even before the Canes even got the ball, might might I add. Okay. before the Canes even get the kickoff, he said, "Here comes the Carson Beck interception." And I'm sitting at Dead Flamingo a couple of miles away, shocked, flabbergasted that that would even come out of his mouth, that he would even think that thought. Okay.

2:02 Well, Lucy Lucy thought that thought. Lucy, yeah, to be fair, I think everybody thought that thought.

2:08 Lucy, I've seen this before. Lucy doesn't trust Carson Beck. What are your thoughts, Greg? Because I'm not I'm not going to sit here and criticize and be overly critical of the University of Miami for losing a game against the team that took on all comers this season and dismissed everybody. They took out everybody. Like Notre Dame's about the only one they didn't take out.

2:28 Yeah. I I don't think there's any form of loss last night that wouldn't haunt and hurt Mario forever. Like he's never going to get over last night. But I think this one hurt even more because they except for a couple of notable exceptions. They played Mendoza very well. He didn't he didn't alone be

2:49 and Sarat and Serat and but but the and it wasn't just the interception toward the end of the game that crushed everything. It was the the punt block uh touchdown they gave up. It was a missed makeable field goal. They could have won that game despite never leading in that game. and and that's going to haunt Mario forever. But to your point, I give them enormous credit. This was a successful season. It was a watershed season. They make their first playoff. They they win the Fiesta Bowl. They win the Cotton Bowl. There there's just no uh uh situation on earth where I'm going to criticize Miami today more than I'm going to praise the season they had.

3:28 Indiana hadn't won a bowl game since the Copper Bowl in 1991. Hadn't won a bowl game of any kind. as low, you were there. And to to Lucy's point, Beck only has six losses, but the reason he has this reputation and the reason Roy said that and the reason Lucy feared it is because four of those losses, he's got a chance to win it in the end of the game and throws an interception. That's what happens. And so, the latest one obviously the most crushing.

3:52 That was uh that last night was one of the best sporting experiences I've ever had in my life. I I have nothing nothing but praise for that that Hurricanes football team. I think the Canes fan should be so proud. Like short of winning the whole thing, this was an incredible incredible season. It could not have gone any better. I I couldn't have imagined a scenario where the Canes did not play their best game, did not play a perfect game and would have a chance to win last night. They didn't play close to a great game and they were right there in the end. I had such a great time. The Canes fan should be so proud that like just all heart all heart and guts that Canes team and it's such a bitter finish for the Canes fan. I saw kids leaving the stadium last night crying, you know, and I'm like, man, you you should be just so proud of this team. It was a great great night. I was so happy. And of course, the only, you

4:53 know, the only regret, if you will, is so close. We were all so close to an all-time moment. And ju just so so close.

5:03 Well, we got the alltime moment for Indiana. You see the stats. This is going to be hard to explain to people who only see the box score when you say, "Hey, Mendoza had one of the greatest runs of all time, and the stat sheet says seven rushes for negative eight yards." Uh because that was the only time he used his legs in any meaningful way. Uh Pat Kougan, the center for Indiana, said uh best defensive line I've ever seen. And he says, "We knew it going in." But holy because

5:29 I was surprised Indiana was able to run the ball as well as it was as well as they did. But I was also surprised that Miami didn't win a game in which Mendoza looked like that. Didn't look like the Heisman winner.

5:40 No, he had. But he made the Heisman play. He did. Not only the 12 yardd run, which was epic. Balls called by

5:46 fourth and five twice on that drive. fourth and five. He had two 19yd completions, one on fourth and five, one on third and long. Those three plays, those two completions and that run were why he won the Heisman Trophy.

6:00 That's what Mendoza did this season though. If you look at the Iowa game, if you look at the Ohio State game, there were several stretches this year where he did not look that good. And so, but what was really the difference in this game in this entire season for Indiana is he was able better to any than anybody to take a game where he looked bad and the second you needed him to do something remarkable, you knew he was going to do it. It was automatic.

6:22 It was one of the old I'm sorry, Dan. It it was it it's it's one of the all-time great college football plays you've ever seen.

6:30 Uh that is correct. He referred to Tibo as Mr. Tibo after the game. That was TBOesque. I want to bring in Mike here uh because

6:38 Mike, did you watch a game last night? I want to talk about the idea that Beck says after the game his ears are ringing. You saw on second and 15 he gets hit in the chest. It's called a roughing the passer. He hits the back of his head on the turf. And around here we were asking who's the backup? We were asking is this going to come down to the backup? And then what he does on I I told you this earlier in the Netflix documentary on the Cowboys. Troy Aman played an entire NFC Championship game that he does not remember because of a concussion. And I want to ask you, how fair is the criticism of Beck when he's telling you after the game, my ears were ringing. And the decision he makes is to throw to Marian who's got one catch for six yards and was fairly useless in the entire game. Throws into double coverage when there's plenty of time. And that's not a good decision. And underthrows it.

7:32 Yeah, he got up wobbly. I think it's safe to question whether or not he was right. That's not how you beat the cover two. It wasn't a good

7:40 But it's safe to criticize. I mean, yeah. Yeah. Like there were six plays in that game that, you know, Indiana as advertised, they execute and they made all those plays and Miami didn't. The the block punt, the miss field goal, which is 50 yards. you know.

7:57 Well, the block punt, by the way, Tony, you can't feel that at the five, which of course leads to the block punt.

8:02 Uh Tony, Malachi, Tony can do whatever he wants. Like, we're good with him. Yeah. Like, shut up. Uh Balman, just forget like not whiffing on a block. Like, what the hell was he doing? Like, you're punting out of your end zone. Like, that's one that that honestly hurts the most. Uh those back shoulder throws and the RPOS's had us in hell. Like, those are one v one plays. I will say for all the Mendoza love like he did make the mistake. He did throw the pick six. That was a tailor made house call.

8:30 I don't remember that when it bounced off of Ethan O'Connor's hands. It was at their 40 yardd line. That that was a house call and we we didn't make that play. And you got to make every play. Miami I'm fully confident that Miami's best beats Indiana's best. And Miami just had procedurals, penalties,

8:49 and tackles. So many missed tackles. Look, I Mendoza is like a tough as nails kid, too. Like they they kept they they had us in hell with the RPOS's, but he was being punished for him. And they they stopped running it a little bit in that second half uh because of the punishment that he took. But one thing about Mendoza, I think he's going to be a really good pro. He's accurate. That's a pro throw that he dares you to stop and you can't stop it. I think he's got pro wide receivers, too. But he is tough, dude. Cuz we were hitting him hard.

9:18 Very hard. Signetti said after the game, which puts signetti in uh on Mario's hate list forever, he said there were at least two roughing um penalties that should have been called that weren't. And and he pretty much said uh Miami played a little bit dirty on his quarterback. Really?

9:34 Yeah. Yeah, he did. I mean, clearly early in the game, he catches one under the chin several uh mo several beats after the ball is out of Mendoza's hands. It's unquestionable that he that the that the Miami defense was instructed put a lick on this guy.

9:51 But but in in the parade of reasons why M can be extra crestfallen by last night is that Miami outgainained Indiana in total yards despite running 17 fewer plays. Miami's defense uh held Indiana to four and a half yards uh per play which is not much when you have the Heisman winner and that kind of a ground game. So Miami did not play a bad game. They just had two or three or four crucial things go against them.

10:18 The fourth and five calls uh is a combination of coach and quarterback coming together at the very top of the history of this sport to beat Miami because of what Signetti was calling in those situations. A radio guy for the Washington Huskies tweeted this. a two-star quarterback scrambling for the national championship winning touchdown on fourth down in his hometown against his hometown team after winning the Heisman for the most losing program of all time while his mother with multiple sclerosis screams for joy from her seat is possibly the limit of how good sports can get. And it was uh amazing to watch those two teams after a pretty dreadful first half put on a second half that made half a game a game for all time. It it made half a game a game for all time because of everything that was happening at the end. And you can't ask for more if you're Mario Crystal Ball. Then my highest paid player has the ball in his

11:16 hands at the end and we've got a chance to to win the game because Indiana has finally done the dumb thing of giving the game away on second and one with a false start when they don't do that. Like that that team, do you know how ridiculous it is for that team not to lose fumbles? Like they don't they don't they don't make mistakes and they sure as don't make dumb ones. And so a false start on second and one when all they needed. We don't get the classic ending. We don't get the Beck interception. We get a bit of antilimax because the the the Hooers ran for nine yards on first and 10 when the Hurricanes knew they were going to run the ball to get second and one. Then they get the false start. And so Miami gets the gift the gift of Signetti in that spot saying, "I'm going to kick the field goal on fourth down. I'm not going to go for it." even though Miami fans were terrified that he was going to go

12:04 for it because he ends the game on a single play with the ball in the Heisman winner's hand.

12:08 And the other thing too like man two times where you're on fourth and five and it is a crucial moment he calls timeouts that he probably should have saved for later in the game to like figure out all right boys like what do we got here and it ends up being Mendoza to Becker. What's his name? Becker

12:22 to to in that play where you're like who is this guy? Where did he come from? If you're not watching Indiana you don't know this guy.

12:27 Indiana didn't know him two months ago. Indiana did not know who that was two months ago.

12:32 That's right. Sirat was injured. That required Becker to go in there. Bottom line is you guys were Beck. We were Becker. That's all. Uh no. Uh the the fourth and five run iconic for all of time obviously, but really look at it. As Fernando gets to roughly the line of scrimmage, he's lost at C. He has to cut back across uh the It looks like he's stuck. It looks like it was a bad play call and he makes the play with his legs with the cut back.

13:04 He's done that all year. Like this was Fernando Mendoza's game. This was why he won the Heisman this year. I honestly think Kurt Signetti did not have his best game. I thought he was kind of sloppy with his timeouts, just the management of it, play calling, all of it was like this was not the Kurt Signetti that we've seen throughout the playoff, but it was really Fernando Mendoza who saved his ass. uh you say this, but if you look at that stat line, that is one of the worst stat lines he's going to put up because he's not going to make the mistake of throwing interceptions. So, if I told Mario Crystal ball, look at the box score here. Look at Serat and look at what it is that Mendoza does in this game. He says that's a win. Like that that he would have taken that before the game if id offered it to him.

13:44 He threw he threw the interception. We just didn't catch it. But it's like really not like people kind of look at this. I think a lot of people have watched Indiana in the postseason and did not watch Indiana in the regular season. This was not a Heisman year where where we were particularly blown away with how great Mendoza was. If you saw him against Alabama and Oregon, you would have been. He had several games like that this season where he did not do much, but in the moments where you needed him to be the best player on the field to win the game for you, he did that against Ohio State. He did that against Iowa. He did that against Penn State. That is why he won the Heisman. I didn't come in thinking that this would be the for Fernando Mendoza is better than everyone else on the field. He just is like he's like so pure college football like that's what he is and you saw that yesterday.

14:30 Kane's fans are mad at Carson Beck today. I don't know whether I mean Kane's fans are going to be mad because they lost and the standard and the expectation is win all the time, make me feel good all the time. But I really think that the uh the entirety of this season and that result is above criticism. I don't believe that losing to that team that ends the best college football season there has ever been.

14:57 Not best team, not the best team, but the best season there's ever been. And not the best team just because it's all 25year-old guys who aren't draft.

15:05 I got to tell you, like in terms of I've seen a lot of good teams in person. Savings, Alabama, Clemson, like that's as good a team as I've ever seen in person. Like they they're just really good. Like I was stunned. I know Miami, especially in the second half, had had some success at the line of scrimmage. I was really impressed. Like pregame I was looking like, "God damn, we're much bigger than these guys. Like, how is this going to how is this going to play out?" And everything that I've seen and heard about Indiana came true. Like they just execute. And the the flabbergasting thing was that Mendoza threw that pick six. we dropped it and that they had the the false start on that second one which I was like what how at that point you start thinking like maybe we can do this because it was like a a spaceship landed in

15:49 you were 40 yards from doing it you had 50 seconds plenty of time to score the touchdown and you got the result that you wanted where Indiana was gassed at the end the last two drives Miami Miami being able to score quickly and uptempo offense with wide openen receivers when Mike I don't think there was a more surprising thing to in an evening of surprises. Then the first three quarters, every damn pass Beck threw was being touched by an Indiana defensive back.

16:14 Yeah. How were receivers never He was all He WAS THROWING INTO TIGHT WINDOWS accurately and everybody was always covered in a way that I haven't seen all season.

16:23 Dude, 5'9 D'Angelo Ponds is a freaking sick player. He I I said, "Can we stop throwing at this guy?" Like, he was unreal. Um refs let them play. I was good with that. Like I I like that type of game. They they get there and they they force the the refs to think about it a little bit, but that's what they do. They execute. Their timing is exceptional. They're a really good fantastic football.

16:49 I I I think both things are true. I think you can say Miami might well have won that game if not for a turnover with 44 seconds left. But you can't take uh an iota away from a 16-0 team that had a plus 21 turnover ratio, the best in the nation. I mean, Indiana richly deserves the championship it celebrated.

17:08 But when Mike says it was six plays, right? You got two plays on fourth and five. You've got uh a blocked punt and you've got a field goal hitting an upright. Those are the four for me that I'm like, okay, those are game swingers. I don't know if you want to put an extra

17:23 third down to Becker was crazy. That was Yeah. Like everybody in the building knew what was coming, including our corner, and it's just like, can you stop this?

17:32 Yeah. Uh, Becker is unbelievable. I don't know, that guy just like became Jordy Nelson or Alec Pierce or any other white wide receiver you can think of.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "The Miami Hurricanes Lost the National Championship Game"?

In order: 0:00 Roy Bellamy; 3:00 Heisman Trophy, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl; 12:00 Curt Signetti.

What is mentioned in this LeBatardShow episode?

5 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Heisman Trophy, Curt Signetti, Roy Bellamy, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Miami Hurricanes Lost the National Championship Game"?

The episode runs 18 min; the transcript is about 3,631 words in 50 timestamped sections.

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