after a 58–0 home loss to Clemson, the worst defeat in school history, the university's athletic director Blake James announced Golden's firing. Golden was 32–25 in his five seasons at Miami and led the program to bowl games in 2013 and 2014. Tight ends coach Larry Scott finished the season as interim head coach. In Scott's first game as interim head coach, the Hurricanes recorded a controversial win over Duke. The Hurricanes used eight laterals (reminiscent of the 1982 Cal-Stanford ending) on a kickoff return with no time remaining to score the game-winning touchdown and stun the Blue Devils by a score of 30–27. However, video evidence showed the play should have been blown dead and not counted as a touchdown, as Miami players who possessed the ball on that play's knee were shown to be on the ground more than once. Although the outcome of the game couldn't be changed, the Atlantic Coast Conference subsequently suspended the game and replay officials for failing to catch the errors and make the correct call. On November 7, Miami defeated Virginia by a score of 27–21. The next week, the Hurricanes lost to No. 17 North Carolina by a score of 59–21. Miami then defeated Georgia Tech 38-21 and Pittsburgh 29–24. The Hurricanes received a berth in the 2015 Sun Bowl, a game they lost to Washington State by a score of 20–14. Mark Richt era (2016–2018) On December 4, 2015, former Georgia head coach Mark Richt was named Miami's 24th head football coach. The hiring generated much excitement and was well-received and praised all across the country. Although he had recently been fired as head coach of the Bulldogs, Richt achieved great successes during his 15 years as Georgia head coach. His teams represented the SEC in three BCS bowl appearances with a record of 2–1, and finished in the top ten of the final AP Poll seven times (2002–2005, 2007, 2012, 2014). His 2008 team also finished in the top ten of the coaches poll. His Georgia teams averaged about nine wins per season, won two Southeastern Conference championship games and reached four more, reached bowl games each of his 15 seasons as head coach and sent many players to National Football League playing careers. Richt had prior ties to the Miami football program, having played quarterback for the Hurricanes under Lou Saban and Howard Schnellenberger from 1978 to 1982