Late fumble ends No. 4 Miami's comeback hopes in a surprising 28-23 loss to Georgia Tech

This time, Miami couldn't overcome a second-half deficit.

Cam Ward was sacked and fumbled the ball with 1:36 left as Georgia Tech beat previously unbeaten No. 4 Miami 28-23.

Georgia Tech left eight defenders in coverage on the second-down play, and Ward saw no one to throw to. Romero Height chased Ward from behind and Jordan Van Den Burg won the ball back.

Miami also never got the ball back after Ward's fumble. Eric Singleton ran for the first down on third down and slipped in front of the end zone after Miami used its two timeouts. This allowed Georgia Tech to easily pass the time.

The Hurricanes entered the game 9-0 and landed in the top four of the CFP premiership rankings due to their uncanny ability to overcome second-half deficits. Already this season, Miami had erased a 10-point deficit against Virginia Tech and a 25-point deficit at Cal, and trailed by 11 points early in the second half against Duke a week ago before shutting out the Blue Devils.

However, the magic ended on Saturday. Even though Miami gave its fans hope that another comeback was in sight.

After a Miami TD was negated by a penalty, Georgia Tech stopped Miami on a third attempt in the fourth with just over 10 minutes left. However, the Yellow Jackets were unable to increase their lead of 28:16 at the time and Miami got the ball back just a few minutes later.

It took just 2:17 for Miami to score and cut the lead to five when Ward hit Xavier Restrepo for a 38-yard touchdown.

Georgia Tech was then stuffed on a third down near midfield and elected to punt. This gave Miami the chance to complete the comeback. Instead, Ward fumbled on the second play of the drive.