Mario might have a mess in Miami, but thank him for his part in the Oregon/Washington rivalry

Despite his current struggles, the former Oregon coach was 3-0 against the Huskies.

Every coach has their tick in a press conference after things go wrong. Some get short. Some needle at the wording of questions. And in Mario Cristobal’s case, it was always that stare. The one that, as he listened to a question, implied, “I still remember all that MMA training, pal”

Saw it after Arizona State in 2019. Saw it after the Pac-12 championship game in 2021. And Miami reporters got to see it Saturday night, after the former Oregon coach blundered away a win against Georgia Tech by not having his team take a knee up 20-17 with 30 seconds left.

The Hurricanes ran. The Hurricanes fumbled. A few plays later, the unranked Yellow Jackets walked out of Hard Rock Stadium with a 23-20 win.

Oh right, also saw that stare after the Stanford game in 2018. You know, the one where Oregon was up late, should have kneeled and instead fumbled away a victory?

Yeah, it’s going to be a tough week for Cristobal, who up until that fourth quarter Saturday night had been collecting receipts all throughout Miami. He had flipped last year’s 5-7 debut into a 4-0 start to 2023 — with a top-10 recruiting class committed for 2024.

And now here on Monday, this is his world:

Woof.

This might be an odd choice to open up Washington/Oregon week here on The I-5 Corridor, but we’re getting to the point.